Robert Hardy

Born in Cheltenham, England in 1925, Robert Hardy interrupted his education at Oxford to serve in the Royal Air Force during WWII, training in Texas and even visiting Los Angeles. After the war he returned to Oxford and completed his degree in English Literature, studying under C.S Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Instead of continuing in academia, Hardy was drawn to the stage and quickly honed his craft. In 1959, he played opposite Laurence Olivier in Shakespeare's "Coriolanus."

Although his career was wide and varied, Hardy was known for three main parts. First was the lead role, eccentric vet Siegfried Farnon on the beloved British series "All Creatures Great and Small" (BBC1, 1978-1990). Hardy first portrayed Winston Churchill in 1981, on the BBC mini-series "Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years" (ITV, 1981). He won a BAFTA for his portrayal and went on to play the legendary Prime Minister another mini-series, "War and Remembrance" (ABC, 1988-89), as well a number of movies and plays. His third 'signature' role came in 2002, when he first played Cornelius Fudge, the powerful Minister of Magic, in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (2002). Hardy would reprise his role in the beloved series in three more films: "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004), "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2005), and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2007). Hardy passed away in 2017.