- Born
- Died
- Birth nameCedric Webster Hardwicke
- Nicknames
- Butch
- Badger
- Height5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
- Sir Cedric Hardwicke, one of the great character actors in the first decades of the talking picture, was born in Lye, England on February 19, 1893. Hardwicke attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and made his stage debut in 1912. His career was interrupted by military service in World War I, but he returned to the stage in 1922 with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, distinguishing himself as Caesar in George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra, which was his ticket to the London stage. For his distinguished work on the stage and in films, he was knighted by King George V in 1934, a time when very few actors received such an honor.
Hardwicke first performed on the American stage in 1936 and emigrated to the United States permanently after spending the 1948 season with the Old Vic. Hardwicke's success on stage and in films and television was abetted by his resonant voice and aristocratic bearing. Among the major films he appeared in were Les Misérables (1935), Stanley and Livingstone (1939), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), Suspicion (1941), A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949), and The Ten Commandments (1956).
His last film was The Pumpkin Eater (1964) in 1964. Cedric Hardwicke died on August 6, 1964 in New York City, New York.
- IMDb mini biography by: Guy Lazarus qvs by garryq
- SpousesMary Scott(July 27, 1950 - November 15, 1961) (divorced, 1 child)Helena Pickard(January 15, 1927 - May 11, 1950) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenMichael Hardwicke
- Rich baritone voice
- Aristocratic bearing
- Often portrayed kings in films (the legendary King Arthur of Britain, King Edward VI of England, King Priam of Troy, and Pharaoh Sethi of Egypt)
- When he died his money was so eaten up by hospital expenses incurred during his final illness that there was no money left to pay for a funeral. Several actors' funds, in honor of his long, distinguished career, donated the money.
- He was a favorite of George Bernard Shaw, having made notable appearances in the playwright's "The Apple Cart", "Too True to Be Good" and "Caesar and Cleopatra". Shaw initially referred to Hardwicke as his fifth favorite actor, the other four being The Marx Brothers. Later he referred to Hardwicke as his fourth favorite actor, presumably after Zeppo Marx retired from the act.
- He played King Edward IV of England in Richard III (1955) while his son Edward Hardwicke played Lord Stanley in Richard III (1995).
- During World War I he was in the Judge Advocate's branch of the British Army, serving there from 1914-21, and was one of the last members of the British Expeditionary Force to leave France.
- He met his second wife, Mary Scott, in 1949 when she was an understudy for Lilli Palmer, whom he was appearing with on Broadway in a revival of "Caesar and Cleopatra".
- I can't act. I have never acted. And I shall never act. What I can do is suspend my audience's power of judgement till I've finished.
- I believe that God felt sorry for actors, so he created Hollywood to give them a place in the sun and a swimming pool--the price they had to pay was to surrender their talent.
- Actors and burglars work better at night.
- England is my wife. America is my mistress. It is very good sometimes to get away from one's wife.
- [on TV commercials] The last refuge of optimism in a world of gloom.
- Baby Face Nelson (1957) - $3,000
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