Editing Robert Hardy (section)

==Early life==
Hardy was born in [[Cheltenham]] on 29 October 1925 to Henry Harrison Hardy, [[1918 Birthday Honours (MBE)|MBE]],<ref>The Schoolmasters' Yearbook and Educational Directory, Year Book Press, 1922, p. 13</ref> of Old Farm, [[Bishop's Cleeve]], [[Tewkesbury]], [[Gloucestershire]], and Edith Jocelyn, daughter of Rev. Sydney Dugdale, rector of [[Whitchurch, Shropshire]], a member of a landed gentry family of [[Wroxall Abbey]], [[Wroxall, Warwickshire]].<ref>Armorial Families: A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-Armour, sixth edition, A. C. Fox-Davies, T. C. & E. C. Jack, 1910, p. 484</ref><ref>Visitation of England and Wales vol. 2, ed. Joseph Jackson Howard and Frederick Arthur Crisp, 1894, p. 107</ref> Henry Hardy was the headmaster of [[Cheltenham College]] and later of [[Shrewsbury School]], and a Major in the [[Rifle Brigade]].<ref>[http://www.filmreference.com/film/79/Robert-Hardy.html Robert Hardy Biography (1925–)<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>Birmingham Daily Post, Saturday, 27 December 1958, p. 5, "Obituary- Maj. H. H. Hardy"</ref>

Hardy was educated at [[Rugby School]] and [[Magdalen College, Oxford]], where his studies were interrupted by service in the [[Royal Air Force]] during [[World War II]]. He trained as a pilot, receiving part of his instruction in the [[British Flying Training School Program]] in [[Terrell, Texas]].{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} Although he visited [[Los Angeles]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=1994-04-10 |title=ROBERT HARDY'S PATH TO 'MIDDLEMARCH' |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-10-tv-44110-story.html |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> when on leave from flight training at Terrell, his later acting career never gained a foothold in Hollywood.<ref name="guardian" /> After service in the RAF, he returned to gain a BA (Hons) in English.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cocks |first1=Claire |url=https://www.oxfordstudent.com/2011/05/19/a-word-whisky-with-robert-hardy/ |title=A word & whisky with Robert Hardy |newspaper=[[The Oxford Student]] |access-date=14 October 2012 |date=19 May 2011}}</ref> On [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'', he described the degree he obtained as "shabby", although he treasured the time spent studying under [[C. S. Lewis]] and [[J. R. R. Tolkien]].<ref name="b017c8gp" />