Robert Hardy has passed away at 91

[Ms Southworth]

The british actor Robert Hardy has passed away at 91 years of age.

I especially remember Robert Hardy from "All creatures great and small" (1978-1990). I loved that show when I was growing up.

Robert Hardy has played both Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, each on more than one occasion.

He also took on the part of Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge in the Harry Potter movies.

R.I.P., Robert Hardy

 

[Swami]

Very sad news, a very distinguished actor indeed.

Swami

 

[Barbara Fan]

RIP Robert Hardy
I also grew up watching All creatures great and small and loved the books
he has been in so many TV shows and dramas (could be a bit hammy at times tho with the old thespian actor bit!)

 

[Englishboy]

Yes, I will remember him most fondly for All Creatures Great and Small, even if some of his acting could (at times) be a little over the top and gestured.

RIP

 

[Ms Southworth]

Yes, I will remember him most fondly for All Creatures Great and Small, even if some of his acting could (at times) be a little over the top and gestured.

RIP

But wasn't Hardy just portraying the character of Siegfried Farnon?

All the characters in "All Creatures Great and Small" were based on real people, in this case James Herriot's (alias Alf Wight's) business partner in real life, Donald Sinclair.

Robert Hardy chose to met Donald Sinclair in order to make sure to get the character of Siegfried Farnon right. And supposedly, Robert Hardy has stated:
"I was intrigued beyond measure by him. He was a true eccentric and, like all true eccentrics, he had no idea himself how odd he was! He absolutely hated what I did, because he had no idea he was at all like that, but when we'd really got into it and were producing them at high speed, his friends used to come to me and say, 'You've got him, that's him.'".

Thus, it does sound like Robert Hardy deserved an Oscar for his acting in this case!

 

[Ms Southworth]

Did you know that Robert Hardy, Christopher Timothy, and Peter Davison (who played the three vets on "All Creatures Great and Small") did their own "stunts"?

For instance, by sticking their entire arms inside a cow without the use of rubber gloves. After all, the series was set in 1937, so all they had was a bar of soap and a bucket of warm water!

When I first saw the series at the age of 11 or 12, I didn't think much of it (since I'd seen the vets do the same at my grandparents' farm many times). But as I got older and realized that they were taking on these "tasks" as actors, I was (and am still) impressed!

 

[Seaviewer]

I saw him in All Creatures Great and Small but long before that my first experience of him was on a 12-inch record album dramatization in which he starred as Robin Hood. I played that over and over when I was a kid and never even knew what he looked like.

 

[J. R.'s Piece]

He played Alec Stewart, who was one of the troubleshooters in the long-running BBC oil drama called The Troubleshooters. He guest starred in ITC's The Saint and ITC's The Baron. He also guest starred in ITC's Strange Report. He mentions on his DVD introduction for this that Anthony Quayle (Adam Strange in Strange Report) was something of a mentor to him.