Terrence Hardiman
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| Terrence Hardiman | |
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| Born | Terrence Hardiman April 6, 1937 Forest Gate, London, England |
| Other name(s) | (wrongly) Terence Hardiman |
| Spouse(s) | Rowena Cooper ( ? – ? ) |
Terrence Hardiman (born April 6, 1937, Forest Gate, London[1]) is a British actor, sometimes wrongly credited as Terence Hardiman. He is best known for playing The Demon Headmaster in the children's television series of the same name, and also for Reinhardt in the popular drama series, Secret Army.
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[edit] Career
Hardiman is often seen playing authority figures, and has played Nazis (Secret Army and Colditz) and British officers (When the Boat Comes In), police inspectors (Juliet Bravo and Softly, Softly), doctors (Home to Roost, The Royal), barristers (Crown Court and The Brittas Empire), judges (in The Bill and The Courtroom), an abbot (in Cadfael), and of course a headmaster. He also played Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi.
Major Reinhardt, (Hardiman's role in Secret Army) was the (fictional) head of the Luftwaffe (German Air force) police and as such often provided a foil to Clifford Rose's more brutal S.S. Chief, Kessler. As with many of the characters in Secret Army, Reinhardt was not a one-dimensional baddie, but a rounded character who often questioned his own motives and methods. The actor's portrayal allowed the viewer to sympathise with this character. In 1990 he played a more two-dimensional German officer, General Stuckler, in the final series of London Weekend Television's Wish Me Luck.
The Demon Headmaster was a children's television drama series which proved popular with adults as well, and which ran to three series from 1996 to 1998. Hardiman played a truly villainous headmaster in pantomime style, complete with glowing eyes.
He also had a starring role as Charles Pooter in the 1979 television adaptation of George and Weedon Grossmith's Diary of a Nobody, a role which shows his versatility more than the succession of officers he usually portrays.
Hardiman's other recurring role was as Brother Cadfael's boss, Abbot Radulfus, in the television series. Joining him throughout the series as Prior Robert was Michael Culver, who had played his predecessor Major Brandt in Secret Army.
A notable small role Hardiman played was a version of the Sergeant Wilson character from Dad's Army in an episode of time travel comedy Goodnight Sweetheart, called "Don't Get Around Much Any More", in which Nicholas Lyndhurst's character Gary Sparrow goes back in time to a 1940s bank and encounters characters called Mainwaring and Wilson. Hardiman's portrayal was a keenly observed impersonation of John Le Mesurier's own performance, incorporating many of the tics and mannerisms of the original. Hardiman is also known for his role of Chief Wizard Egbert Hellibore in two episodes of the television series The Worst Witch.
Hardiman's most recent appearance was in the second series of The Worst Week of My Life, the comedy series starring Ben Miller.
[edit] Personal life
Hardiman has been married to Rowena Cooper, the Rhodesian actress.[1]
