Editing Robert Hardy (section)

==Career==
Hardy began his career as a classical actor,<ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB |doi=10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000380251|title=Hardy, (Timothy Sydney) Robert (1925–2017) |year=2021|last1=McFarlane|first1=Brian}}</ref> and made an early [[Classical Hollywood cinema|Hollywood]] film appearance in a minor role opposite [[Glenn Ford]] in the 1958 war film ''[[Torpedo Run]]''.  In 1959, he appeared as The King of France in ''[[All's Well That Ends Well]]'' in April 1959, directed by [[Tyrone Guthrie]] at [[Stratford-upon-Avon]], with [[Vanessa Redgrave]] and [[Diana Rigg]] indicated as supporting extras. He subsequently appeared as Sicinius opposite [[Laurence Olivier]] in ''[[Coriolanus]]'' at [[Stratford-upon-Avon]], directed by [[Peter Hall (director)|Peter Hall]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.phyllis.demon.co.uk/theatricalia/01smt/smt5560.htm|title=ROB WILTON THEATRICALIA Stratford 1955–60|publisher=Phyllis.demon.co.uk|access-date=10 June 2012|archive-date=25 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225061443/http://www.phyllis.demon.co.uk/theatricalia/01smt/smt5560.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> In this production, [[Ian Holm]] featured as a "Third Aufidious Servant", Vanessa Redgrave as Valeria, and Diana Rigg as a "Roman Citizen". [[Albert Finney]] featured as a "First Roman Citizen". Hardy then appeared in [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]'' on stage and in television's ''[[An Age of Kings]]'' (1960), and subsequently played Coriolanus in ''[[The Spread of the Eagle]]'' (BBC, 1963) and [[Sir Toby Belch]] for the [[BBC Television Shakespeare]] production of ''[[Twelfth Night]]'' in 1980. Over the years, Hardy played a range of parts on television and film. His first continuing role in a TV series was as businessman Alec Stewart in the award-winning oil company drama ''[[The Troubleshooters (British TV series)|The Troubleshooters]]'' for the BBC, which he played from 1966 to 1970. He won further acclaim for his portrayal of the mentally-unhinged [[Abwehr]] Sgt. Gratz in [[London Weekend Television|LWT]]'s 1969 war drama ''[[Manhunt (1969 TV series)|Manhunt]]''. In 1975, Hardy portrayed [[Albert, Prince Consort]] in the award-winning 13-hour serial ''[[Edward the Seventh]]'' (known as ''Edward the King'' to the American audience),<ref name="guardian">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/aug/03/robert-hardy-obituary|title=Robert Hardy obituary|first=Michael |last=Coveney|newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=3 August 2017}}</ref> which he regarded as one of his best performances. "I thought I'd done a good job there, although I believe the Royal Family didn't like it all. There are always people who don't like what one does."<ref name=Crocker>''All Memories Great & Small'', Oliver Crocker (2016; MIWK)</ref>

Hardy was seen as the irascible senior veterinary surgeon [[Donald Sinclair (veterinary surgeon)|Siegfried Farnon]] in the long-running ''[[All Creatures Great and Small (1978 TV series)|All Creatures Great and Small]]'' (1978–90), an adaptation of [[James Herriot]]'s semi-autobiographical books.<ref name=BBC40818839/> Hardy also made an appearance in the 1986–88 [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] comedy series ''[[Hot Metal]]'', in which he played the dual roles of newspaper proprietor Twiggy Rathbone (who bore more than a passing resemblance to [[Rupert Murdoch]]) and his editor, Russell Spam.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/hot_metal/|title=Hot Metal – ITV Sitcom|website=British Comedy Guide|access-date=4 August 2017}}</ref> In 1993 Hardy appeared in an episode of ''[[Inspector Morse (TV series)|Inspector Morse]]'', playing Andrew Baydon in "[[Twilight of the Gods (Inspector Morse)|Twilight of the Gods]]". In 1994, he played Arthur Brooke in the BBC production of ''[[Middlemarch]]''. In 2002, he played the role of pompous and eccentric Professor Neddy Welch in a WTTV/WGBH Boston co-production of ''[[Lucky Jim]]'', adapted from the novel by [[Kingsley Amis]]. It aired originally as part of the ''[[Masterpiece (TV series)|Masterpiece]]'' series on [[PBS]] in the U.S. and starred [[Stephen Tompkinson]] in the title role of Jim Dixon, a luckless lecturer at a provincial British university.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/19th-april-2003/42/filming-lucky-jim|title=Filming Lucky Jim|first=Richard|last=Bradford|website=Spectator archive|date=19 April 2003|access-date=4 August 2017}}</ref>

Hardy played both [[Winston Churchill]] and [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], each on more than one occasion. He played Churchill most notably in ''[[Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years]]'' (1981), for which he was nominated for a [[BAFTA]] award, but also in ''[[The Sittaford Mystery#Adaptations|The Sittaford Mystery]]'', ''[[Bomber Harris (television film)|Bomber Harris]]'' and ''[[War and Remembrance (miniseries)|War and Remembrance]]''.  On 20 August 2010, he read Churchill's famous wartime address "[[Never was so much owed by so many to so few]]" at a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the speech.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lawless|first=Jill|title=70 years on from WWII, Britain remembers 'the few'|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j1KzYh4FqCKHnpj0MIMFjHv9jNAQD9HN8NEO0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823054705/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j1KzYh4FqCKHnpj0MIMFjHv9jNAQD9HN8NEO0|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 August 2010|agency=Associated Press|access-date=20 August 2010}}</ref> He played Roosevelt in the [[BBC]] serial, ''[[Bertie and Elizabeth]]'', and in the French TV mini-series, ''[[Le Grand Charles]]'', about the life of [[Charles de Gaulle]].<ref>{{IMDb title|0759567}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=August 2017}} He also played [[Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester]], in ''[[Elizabeth R]]'' and took the role of Sir John Middleton in the 1995 film version of ''[[Sense and Sensibility (film)|Sense and Sensibility]]''.<ref name="guardian"/>

Hardy's big screen roles included Professor Krempe in ''[[Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (film)|Mary Shelley's Frankenstein]]'' and [[Minister for Magic]] [[Cornelius Fudge]] in the ''[[Harry Potter (film series)|Harry Potter]]'' films.<ref name=BBC40818839/>

Hardy's voice performance as [[Robin Hood]] in ''[[Tale Spinners For Children]]'', an [[Gramophone record|LP]] from the 1960s, is considered one of the best Robin Hood renditions.<ref>"Tale Spinners for Children: Robin Hood" UAC 11001: "Starring Robert Hardy as Robin Hood with the Famous Theater Company and the Hollywood Studio Orchestra"; cf. also [http://www.artsreformation.com/talespinners/ Arts Reformation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813045512/http://www.artsreformation.com/talespinners/ |date=13 August 2013 }}.</ref> His voice was also the voice of [[D'Artagnan]] in ''The Three Musketeers'' and of [[Frédéric Chopin]], in ''The Story of Chopin''.