# Robert Hardy (actor) R.I.P., August 3rd **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2017, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-hardy-actor-r-i-p-august-3rd/793149 "2017-08-09T04:52:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-hardy-actor-r-i-p-august-3rd/793149/1 "2017-08-09T04:52:15Z")
Many credits, including Cornelius Fudge (Harry Potter movies) and Siegfried Farnon (All Creatures Great and Small). According to his family, he was also “a leading specialist on the longbow”, and “He was an essential part of the team that raised the great Tudor warship The Mary Rose.” > **[Robert Hardy: Harry Potter and All Creatures Great and Small star dies](https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40818839)** > > His family said the All Creatures Great and Small star had a "tremendous life". ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-hardy-actor-r-i-p-august-3rd/793149/2 "2017-08-09T05:01:54Z")
Ohhhhh, I always loved him. He completely made the All Creatures Great and Small series for me. Such a natural way with humor. His work was excellent and I shall miss him. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-hardy-actor-r-i-p-august-3rd/793149/3 "2017-08-09T10:03:04Z")
Hardy played an excellent role in 1969’s TV series _Manhunt_, where he played an Nazi with a heart; this was the first time I really noticed the actor, and he stole the show. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-hardy-actor-r-i-p-august-3rd/793149/4 "2017-08-09T11:09:53Z")
I seem to recall he played Churchill more than once, including an award-winning performance. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-hardy-actor-r-i-p-august-3rd/793149/5 "2017-08-09T13:02:27Z")
Yeah, for a while in the late 70s-early 80s, he seemed to be the go-to Churchill actor. I knew Robert Hardy, and loved him, mostly from _All Creatures_, which was a mainstay on PBS back in the day. It was such an unusual show to my mind, something I couldn’t imagine American television ever producing. Not so much in its subject matter, but in the very hands-on way that the actors were obviously dealing with real animals, and obviously really sticking their hands into some not-so-pleasant places. There was a grittiness to that show, for want of a better word, that made it seem real in a way that typical television shows weren’t. And yet at the same time, it was genuinely funny and sweet, and Robert Hardy showed such range in it. One moment he could be boiling mad over Tristan’s latest screw-up, and the next he could be amazingly gentle and loving as he cared for a sick puppy or commiserated with a struggling farmer who had just lost his entire herd to hoof-and-mouth disease. It was nice to see him turn up later in the Harry Potter films. A very different kind of part, but he always gave an excellent performance. He will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-hardy-actor-r-i-p-august-3rd/793149/6 "2017-08-09T16:29:47Z")
He was a terrifying Charles Augustus Milverton in the episode of that same name in the Sherlock Holmes show from the 80s & 90s. And that was no easy feat, because Milverton had to remind you of a cheery Mr. Pickwick and still be a deadly match for Holmes and Watson. He carried it off perfectly. I also remember him as the genial chatterbox cousin of Mrs. Dashwood in _Sense and Sensibility_. He was brilliant in that, as well. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-hardy-actor-r-i-p-august-3rd/793149/7 "2017-08-10T18:52:09Z")
One of my favorites. He was in an episode of Foyle’s War. Loved him in All Creatures…RIP. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-hardy-actor-r-i-p-august-3rd/793149/8 "2017-08-11T02:34:25Z")
He was excellent in _All Creatures Great and Small_. RIP, Robert. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-hardy-actor-r-i-p-august-3rd/793149/9 "2017-08-11T03:30:17Z")
> [@teela\_brown](#): > > …I also remember him as the genial chatterbox cousin of Mrs. Dashwood in _Sense and Sensibility_. He was brilliant in that, as well. Yes! A great part, and very well-played. > [@MrAtoz](#): > > …for a while in the late 70s-early 80s, he seemed to be the go-to Churchill actor… Even as recently as 2006, when he played Churchill in the _Agatha Christie’s Marple_ episode “The Sittaford Mystery.” I’d hoped he might play Churchill for many years to come. Rest in peace, Mr. Hardy, and thank you for so many memorable roles. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-hardy-actor-r-i-p-august-3rd/793149/10 "2017-08-11T03:34:31Z")
Oops, even more recently (although not on the big screen): [Robert Hardy withdraws from Churchill role in Helen Mirren play - BBC News](http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-21584842) ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/robert-hardy-actor-r-i-p-august-3rd/793149/11 "2017-08-11T15:20:25Z")
I think the earliest thing I’ve seen him in was Elizabeth R, where he played Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. As usual, he stole the show. One of my absolute favorite actors. RIP, good man.