Dr.Robert Hardy CBE, FSA

Photograph copyright Chris Skinner

We would like to thank the well known actor Dr. Robert Hardy CBE, FSA for his support with our event, by providing free of charge a recording of "The Prologue" from Shakespeare's Henry V at his home. The play, contains reference to Azincourt, the speech is used to end the one minute silence observed during our event those who have died in all conflicts.

Short Biography

One of England's most enduringly successful character actors, Robert Hardy is noted for his acting versatility and depth. Born in Cheltenham in 1925, He attended Rugby School from 1939-43, was a member of the Levee and Head of Michell House before going on to Magdalen College, Oxford.  

After serving with the RAF 1944-47, he returned to Magdalen to finish his degree under the tutorship of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien.  A devoted Shakespearean, he joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-Upon-Avon in 1949, since when he has played many classical roles with the RCS, at the Old Vic and on tour in North America. Appointed C.B.E in the 1981 Queen's Birthday Honours List.

A former Trustee of the Royal Armouries and at present a Consultant to and Trustee of the Mary Rose Trust. He is author of the acclaimed book Longbow: A Social and Military History. Robert Hardy, one of the experts closely involved in the conservation of the Mary Rose bows, joined medieval historian Matthew Strickland to produce a major new study of the medieval longbow at war in their book The Great Warbow.

In 1979, divers excavating the wreck of the Mary Rose discovered numerous yew longbows in remarkable condition, some still in their packing chests. The finds have revolutionized our knowledge of power and performance of the weapon that helped to win the great battles. Though the longbow is most famous for its role in the Hundred Years War, the authors take us on a fascinating journey through its long history in warfare from the Anglo-Saxon and Viking period right up to the War of the Roses and the longbow's gradual decline in Tudor England. 

We see its deployment in diverse theatres of war, in Wales and Ireland, on the crusades in Syria and Palestine, and in guerrilla warfare deep in the forests of England. The longbow's increasing importance is traced through the bitter Anglo-Scottish wars of Edward I and Edward II, including the great battle of Bannockburn, to its apogee in the fields of France under Edward III and Henry V. Tactical developments and the weapon's performance against armour are closely examined, while a comparative study of the crossbow and composite bow provides an essential context for the longbow's significance. This book provides a fresh and authoritative account of one of the deadliest and most feared weapons of the Middle Ages.

UK Television viewers will most fondly remember him as the overbearing Siegfried Farnon in "All Creatures Great and Small" (1978) He spoke at the funeral of "James Herriot" it's author. Herriot was the pseudonym of Alf Wight (due to legal requirements of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons) and Mr. Hardy and Mr. Wight became close friends over the years of the "All Creatures" series, adapted from Wight's books.

His most critically acclaimed performance was as the title character of "Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years" (1981). His portrayal of Britain's wartime leader was so accurately observed that in the following years he was called on to reprise the role in such productions as The Woman He Loved (1988) (TV) and _"War and Remembrance" (1989).

Unlike some British character actors, Robert Hardy has never been recognized by Hollywood and his work in films has therefore been restricted to appearances in predominantly British-based productions such as The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965), Frankenstein (1994) and Sense and Sensibility (1995). He has been awarded the C.B.E for services to acting.

He became an expert on the longbow when he played Henry V at Stratford. He became a longbow/weapons consultant for the Mary Rose Trust when that 16th c. warship was recovered at Portsmouth, England, UK.


Robert Hardy is legendary in his native England for his skill and versatility as an actor. As an interpreter of fictional characters and historical personages, Robert Hardy has received critical acclaim for roles in scores of outstanding films, TV programs, and plays presented throughout the English-speaking world. 

Audiences may also remember him best for his roles as Winston Churchill in War and Remembrance (1989), Siegfried Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small (1990), Arthur Brooke in Middlemarch (1994), Sir Toby Belch in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (1981), and the Earl of Leicester in the heralded Elizabeth R (1971). But Hardy has also distinguished himself in many motion pictures, including Mrs. Dalloway (1997), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), The Shooting Party (1984), Young Winston (1972), 10 Rillington Place (1971), and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. 

His experience has prepared him for roles in many Shakespeare productions, including A Midsummer Night's Dream (Royal Shakespeare Company, 1959), a live-TV production of Henry V (1960), and Coriolanus (BBC, 1963). The rhetorical skills he developed in those roles served him well as a narrator or host of documentary productions such as Castle Ghosts of Ireland, Horses in Our Blood, and The Picardy Affair, about the Battle of Azincourt. 

His classical training has also enabled him to wear the mantle of historical personages such as Pontius Pilate in The People's Passion (1999), Prince Albert in Edward the King (1975), and Nazi foreign minister Joachim Von Ribbentrop in The Gathering Storm (1974). Hardy has a special interest in medieval history -- in particular, in the use of the longbow. Regarded as one of Britain's leading experts on that weapon, he has written a book about it, serves as a consultant on the longbow for organizations involved in history projects, and handcrafts longbows himself. 

Document updated 20/09/08