Edward Hardwicke R.I.P.

[mrs_emma_peel]

Thank you Arfur.

Here is a truly wonderful, lovely interview with Edward …
with numerous superb clips from the definitive Sherlock Holmes series.

Edward Hardwicke Interview … Part One


Edward Hardwicke Interview … Part Two


RIP Edward ... God Bless You
Emma

[theuofc]

Wonderful actor who I suppose will be best remembered for his TV work in Colditz and Sherlock Holmes, but who made some memorable film appearances notably as a touching Warnie Lewis in Attenborough's Shadowlands and at the opposite end of the spectrum, in a well remembered cameo as the aggrieved Calthrop in Day of the Jackel.

RIP

I'm so sorry to hear of Edward Hardwicke's death. He will be sorely missed. When I think of Dr. Watson, his face appears instantly. although I also enjoyed David Burke.

Whatever Mr. Hardwicke was in, he gave authority, tinged with kindness, to the role. R.I.P.



Barbara

[Freddy]

Very sad news. This is what the late Jeremy Brett said about him (imdb)

(about Edward Hardwicke) "So, he's the best to me, the best friend a man's ever had. I mean personally."

Edward is even more remarkable. I'll give you an example. You can publish it or not, it makes no difference to me. When I came out of the asylum, the person who collected me was Edward Hardwicke. He took me to an Italian restaurant. I had a pasta and a glass of red wine. He then drove me back to my home where we sat and had a cup of tea. It was Edward Hardwicke. He is one of the loveliest people, and I suppose he is the best friend that any man has ever had....in life. Which is after all how Doyle describes Watson.

[theuofc]

Very sad news. This is what the late Jeremy Brett said about him (about Edward Hardwicke) "So, he's the best to me, the best friend a man's ever had. I mean personally." Edward is even more remarkable. I'll give you an example. You can publish it or not, it makes no difference to me. When I came out of the asylum, the person who collected me was Edward Hardwicke. He took me to an Italian restaurant. I had a pasta and a glass of red wine. He then drove me back to my home where we sat and had a cup of tea. It was Edward Hardwicke. He is one of the loveliest people, and I suppose he is the best friend that any man has ever had....in life. Which is after all how Doyle describes Watson.

A wonderful quote. Thanks for sharing it, Freddy.

Barbara

[Santonix]

So sad to hear of his passing. R.I.P.

[Gerald Lovell]

I too am so sad to learn of Edward's passing. A wonderful, understated actor who I will greatly miss. I was privileged to meet him once and he was an exceptionally charming gentleman.

[dicky2006]

A wonderful actor and someone who brought each character he played, fully to life. The perfect radio, stage, tv and film actor.

[julian_craster]

Obituary: Edward Hardwicke

17 May 2011

Daily Telegraph:
Edward Hardwicke - Telegraph




Edward Hardwicke (right) as Dr Watson with Jeremy Brett as Holmes

Edward Hardwicke, who died on Monday aged 78, was best known on television for playing Dr Watson in a Sherlock Holmes series in the 1980s, but had already come to public attention in the 1970s series Colditz as the character based on the real-life war hero Pat Reid.

Hardwicke had been suggested as the bumbling foil to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's inscrutable sleuth by the actor David Burke, who had portrayed Watson in the Granada Television's The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984-85), alongside Jeremy Brett, the 117th actor to take the title role.

When Holmes was resurrected from the dead after plunging from the Reichenbach Falls and the series was revived, in 1986, as The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Hardwicke played Watson in 11 hour-long episodes.

As the calm and attentive companion to the moody sage of Baker Street, Hardwicke retained the role for two-hour versions of The Sign Of Four and The Hound Of The Baskervilles (1988) as well as in subsequent adventures broadcast as The Casebook Of Sherlock Holmes (1991) and the valedictory The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes (1994).

"The superbly handsome Jeremy Brett, the regularity of his features made dramatic by a broken nose, the mellifluousness of his voice made arresting by a slight vocal impediment, presented a ravaged and romantic Holmes ... [whose] relationship with Edward Hardwicke's transparently decent Watson was that of a drowning man clinging to a raft," declared the actor Simon Callow.

As Captain Pat Grant in Colditz, Hardwicke based his character on Major Pat Reid, the real-life escape officer in the supposedly escape-proof German prison perched on a 250ft-high cliff. The first series, shown in 1972, and the follow-up two years later were based on Reid's books about his exploits at Colditz and the efforts of the Allied prisoners to escape.

Edward Cedric Hardwicke was born on August 7 1932 in London, the son of the actors Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Helena Pickard. His film career in Hollywood began when he was only 10, in Victor Fleming's film A Guy Named Joe (1943), with Spencer Tracy. Returning to England, he was educated at Stowe, and did his National Service as a pilot officer in the RAF. He then went to Rada.

He appeared at the Bristol Old Vic, the Oxford Playhouse and the Nottingham Playhouse before joining Laurence Olivier's National Theatre in 1964, performing there regularly for seven years. He appeared with Olivier in Othello and The Master Builder.

Among many other roles, Hardwicke also appeared in Charley's Aunt; Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead; Congreve's The Way of the World; and with Robert Stephens in Peter Shaffer's The Royal Hunt of the Sun. He returned to the National in 1977 for a production of Feydeau's The Lady From Maxim's.

In 2001 he played Arthur Winslow in The Winslow Boy at the Chichester Festival Theatre, reprising a role taken by his father in the 1948 film.

Hardwicke's other television credits included My Old Man, Holocaust (1978); Oppenheimer (1980); Lovejoy (1992); The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1997); David Copperfield (2000); Agatha Christie's Poirot (2004); and Fanny Hill (2007). In 1978 he appeared in the last episode of The Sweeney.

He also had parts in numerous films, among them The Day of the Jackal (1973); The Black Windmill (1974); Richard Loncraine's 1995 version of Richard III; The Scarlet Letter (1995); Shadowlands (1993); Elizabeth (1998); Enigma (2001); The Gathering Storm (2002); and the romantic comedy Love Actually (2003)

Edward Hardwicke was twice married. He was divorced from his first wife, Anne Iddon, who died in 2000, and is survived by his second wife, Prim Cotton, as well as by the two daughters of his first marriage.

[jaycad]

I have only just heard the sad news,Edward hardwicke was a great favourite of mine,not just for his excellent portrayal of 'Dr Watson' but his many roles featured in my dvd collection from 'Wessex tales' to 'Shadowlands'.RIP Mr Hardwicke.

[Windthrop]

Memorable in Shadowlands and as Dr Watson - I had the pleasure of seeing him on stage a number of years ago

RIP Edward

[Nick Dando]

From the Guardian

Nick

Edward Hardwicke obituary
Actor best known as a valiant Dr Watson in Granada's Sherlock Holmes series


Michael Coveney
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 May 2011 18.55 BST



For eight years from 1986, Edward Hardwicke, who has died aged 78, was the face of Dr Watson on television, proving a valiant and reliable foil to the dashing, neurasthenic Holmes of Jeremy Brett in the Granada series The Return of Sherlock Holmes, followed by the Casebook and the Memoirs, as well as stand-alone versions of The Sign of Four (1987) and The Hound of the Baskervilles (1988). The role was a perfect fit for an actor who had played important supporting roles for a similar length of time in Laurence Olivier's National theatre company at the Old Vic, but it also demonstrated his lightness of touch as well as his sturdiness.

His Watson was not an amiable old pudding-faced duffer in the style of Nigel Bruce in the series of films and radio series opposite Basil Rathbone in the 1940s; instead, he was much more the intelligent, likeable army doctor whom Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had first created. He painted this portrait in broader brush strokes when he and Brett appeared in a stage spin-off in 1988, The Secret of Sherlock Holmes, at Wyndham's theatre in the West End; this Watson, said one critic, was so stalwartly genuine that not even Holmes's hawk-like gaze could spot a hint of falsity in it.

Hardwicke brought a similar resoluteness to the role of Conan Doyle himself when he played him in Nick Willing's strange movie Photographing Fairies (1997), telling Toby Stephens's professional debunker of photographic forgeries about his own supernatural experiences.

His authenticity as an actor was innate, since he was the only child of theatrical royalty, the actors Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Helena Pickard. (The couple divorced when Edward was 16.) Cedric, whose range and fame were much wider and deeper than Edward's, was once told by George Bernard Shaw that he was the playwright's fifth favourite actor – the first four being the Marx Brothers. Edward, who would grow to be almost a physical replica of his father – sturdily built, balding, of average height – made his debut aged seven at the Malvern festival. He went to Hollywood with his parents aged 10 and appeared in Victor Fleming's film A Guy Named Joe (1943) alongside Spencer Tracy. He was educated at Stowe school, Buckinghamshire, trained at Rada in London, and did his national service as a pilot officer in the RAF with Ronnie Corbett, who became a lifelong friend.

Other important friendships were formed early on with Albert Finney, Anthony Hopkins and Peter O'Toole. Hardwicke shared a flat with O'Toole during his first major employment, at the Bristol Old Vic between 1954 and 1957. After seasons in Oxford and Nottingham, and a couple of West End appearances, he joined Olivier's National in 1964, appearing in Peter Shaffer's The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Congreve's Love for Love (beautifully directed by Olivier), Othello with Olivier and Frank Finlay, Ibsen's The Master Builder and as Praed in Shaw's Mrs Warren's Profession with Coral Browne.

These were golden years at the Old Vic, Olivier's recruits including Brett, Michael Gambon, Edward Petherbridge, Derek Jacobi and Christopher Timothy, as well as the more established Robert Stephens, Colin Blakely and Finney. Hardwicke pressed his claims particularly as Camille Chandebise in the 1966 all-star Feydeau farce A Flea in Her Ear, in which Camille's speech impairment is exacerbated whenever the weather changes.

Hardwicke returned to the Bristol Old Vic to play Astrov alongside O'Toole in Uncle Vanya in 1973, and to the West End in 1975, to the Haymarket theatre, in Frederick Lonsdale's stylish comedy On Approval, with former NT colleagues Geraldine McEwan and Edward Woodward. The producer of On Approval, Duncan Weldon, said that Hardwicke was unassuming, rather shy, and a pleasure to work with: "He wasn't really like an actor at all! And of course, in those days, an actor still gave you nine months instead of the nine weeks you might be lucky enough to get today."

Television work became steadier after Hardwicke appeared in the 1970s prison-camp drama Colditz, playing a character based on the war hero Pat Reid, and he ticked off appearances in many major series down the years, including Lovejoy, Peak Practice, the Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Holby City and Shameless. He even appeared in a 1974 sitcom, My Old Man, playing the son-in-law of Clive Dunn's frisky old rascal Sam Cobbett.

After Watson, a somewhat sporadic movie career picked up again when Hardwicke played Anthony Hopkins's watchful brother in Richard Attenborough's Shadowlands (1993); Lord Stanley in Richard Loncraine's Richard III (1995), starring Ian McKellen and a host of great names, including Maggie Smith and Nigel Hawthorne; and the Earl of Arundel in Shekhar Kapur's beautiful Elizabeth (1998).

More recently he joined another great cast in Loncraine's television film, scripted by Hugh Whitemore, The Gathering Storm (2002), and popped up, too, in Richard Curtis's Love, Actually (2003), and as kindly old Mr Brownlow in Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist (2005).

His last stage appearance was in Christopher Morahan's enthralling Chichester festival theatre revival of Terence Rattigan's The Winslow Boy in 2001; he played the arthritic Arthur Winslow, the role played by his father in Anthony Asquith's superb 1948 film.

Hardwicke's godfather was Ralph Richardson, a connection that led to him founding, five years ago, with his cousin Michael Woods, the Ralph and Meriel Richardson Foundation for indigent actors. In recent years, having given up a smallholding in Normandy, he lived in Chichester, West Sussex, where he enjoyed walking his dogs and spending Sunday lunchtimes with friends.

He is survived by his second wife, Prim Cotton, whom he married in 1995; and by two daughters from his first marriage, to the actor Anne Iddon, which ended in divorce.

• Edward Cedric Hardwicke, actor, born 7 August 1932; died 16 May 2011

[cornershop15]

I am very sad to learn of Edward's death, more so after reading those obituaries. Thanks for posting them. There's also a bit of guilt, however, as I've often confused him with Anthony Bate, even as recently as last week, when watching the last episode of H.G. Wells' Invisible Man. Their voices sound similar too. I think this might date back to my first viewing of The Black Windmill, many years ago. Anyway, I've enjoyed watching both actors on countless occasions.

Sorry to confess, as well, that I still haven't seen Colditz and was unaware he was in it until reading the various tributes. I do know that the series is currently being repeated on the Yesterday channel but had already made up my mind to buy the DVD boxset of both this and the Sherlock Holmes Collection. There's extra incentive now.

Here is Edward in that Invisible Man episode, The Big Plot (1959), as customs official MacBane, who
inspects Barbara Shelley's luggage when she arrives back in England after winning a golf tournament!:

"Whitehall 7402, please"

He's about to inform Ewan MacDuff that Barbara has smuggled a dangerous set of golf clubs into customs (containing Uranium-235).

I look forward to enjoying many more of Edward's performances but they will surely be tinged with sadness, knowing he's no longer with us. From his IMDb credits, it appears very little of his work is lost, although that includes an episode from the 1968 Sherlock Holmes (The Greek Interpreter) and a TV version of A Flea in Her Ear. He was also in the film and the stage play, as mentioned in the previous post.

Don't forget billy farmer's thread, where I hope to pay further tribute to this likeable actor:
http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/ac...hardwicke.html

R.I.P.

[Dame Starry]

Whatever part he played, he was always superb - Edward Hardwicke.

I loved him in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em as Chief Migration Officer Mr Lawrence at Australia House, exasperated by Frank Spencer's efforts to emigrate to the Antipodes:

[julian_craster]

Edward Hardwicke: Actor best known as Dr Watson and as the 'Colditz' escape officer

Friday, 20 May 2011
Edward Hardwicke: Actor best known as Dr Watson and as the 'Colditz' escape officer - Obituaries, News - The Independent


The actor Edward Hardwicke will be best remembered for his television portrayals of two legends – one real life, the other from classic fiction.

In the BBC series Colditz (1972, 1974), his character, the mild-mannered, level-headed Captain Pat Grant, was based on the escape officer Pat Reid, one of the few to escape from the notorious German POW camp. The attempts of the cliffside castle's inmates to break out of the fortress provided the tension in a drama notable for presenting three-dimensional characters rather than black-and-white caricatures.

As Grant, Hardwicke was often seen acting as the arbiter between his fellow Allied prisoners, who exhibited great enthusiasm for their daring escape plans, and the senior British officer, the reserved, stiff-upper-lipped Colonel Preston (Jack Hedley).

Later, Hardwicke would portray Dr Watson to Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes in Granada's immaculately produced dramas for ITV based on Arthur Conan Doyle's novels – widely considered to be the definitive screen works featuring the Victorian detective, eclipsing the 14 American films starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson. Brett's flamboyant performance was a tour de force, beginning with two series of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984-85), in which the original producer, Michael Cox, returned to the early Strand magazine stories to ensure the most faithful adaptation ever, in both character and production-design detail.

David Burke acted Watson for those 13 episodes, then announced he was leaving to spend more time with his wife and young son. Hardwicke was cast in the role, which was a far cry from that of the dozy, bumbling medical practitioner seen in previous screen versions. "I don't think Watson is stupid," he said. "After all, you have to be fairly bright to be a doctor. He is quite a humorous character and adds a lot of banter to the working relationship. I like to think Watson always had a slight smile, in contrast to the emotionless Holmes. But Watson knows his place – he recognises that, in Holmes, he is in the presence of an expert."

Hardwicke played the role for the remaining 28 of Granada's 41 stories, in the series The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1986, 1988), The Case-book of Sherlock Holmes (1991) and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1994), as well as five one-off specials, including The Hound of the Baskervilles (1988).

Born in London in 1932, Hardwicke was the son of the actors Cedric Hardwicke and Helena Pickard. With his father acting in Hollywood films, he had the chance to appear, uncredited, in the wartime drama A Guy Named Joe (1943), alongside Spencer Tracy, when he was 10. On returning home he attended Stowe School, was a pilot in the RAF during National Service (1951-52) and trained at Rada before making his stage début in The Impresario of Smyrna (Arts Theatre, 1954).

He gained repertory experience with the Bristol Old Vic (1954-7), Old Vic, London (1957-58), and Oxford Playhouse (1959-60) companies. In those days, Hardwicke regarded his father's success as a noose around his own neck, later saying: "When you got a job, you always had the feeling everybody was saying, 'Oh, he's only here because his father's Cedric Hardwicke.' And that used to be a big, big burden to me, actually. I got over it eventually."

Hardwicke's first West End appearance was as Mr Muffle in Wildest Dreams (Vaudeville Theatre, 1961). Three years later, he joined Laurence Olivier's company at the National Theatre (1964-70), where his notable roles included Montano in Othello (1964), Camille Chandebise in A Flea in Her Ear (1966), Ben in Love for Love (1966) and Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1968).

Although Hardwicke acted in films such as Hell Below Zero (1954), The Men of Sherwood Forest (1954), Othello (1965, as Montano again, alongside Olivier), Otley (1968) and The Black Windmill (1974), most of his screen career was spent on TV, as a character actor. His small-screen début was in Peter van Greenaway's play The Advocate (1959) and he later acted the Prince of Wales in The Pallisers (1974), Lord Rosebery in Edward the Seventh (1975), the pathologist in The Biko Inquest (1984) and Mr Wickfield in David Copperfield (2000).

There were occasionally regular roles. In the sitcom My Old Man (1974-75), Hardwicke played the grumpy Arthur, whose life with his wife Doris (Priscilla Morgan) was turned upside down by the arrival of her destitute, cantankerous father, Sam (Clive Dunn). In more serious vein, he acted Donald Sanders in the big-business drama Tycoon (1978) and the Nobel Prize-winning, Italian-American physicist Enrico Fermi, who helped to develop the atom bomb, in Oppenheimer (1980).

Later film roles included Warnie Lewis in Shadowlands (1993), Lord Stanley in Richard III (1995), Governor John Bellingham in The Scarlet Letter (1995), the Earl of Arundel in Elizabeth (1998), the grandfather of the widowed Liam Neeson's stepson in Love Actually (2003) and Mr Brownlow in Oliver Twist (2005). He also acted Dr Watson, alongside Brett as Holmes, in Jeremy Paul's West End play The Secret of Sherlock Holmes (Wyndham's Theatre, 1988-9).

Anthony Hayward

Edward Cedric Hardwicke, actor: born London 7 August 1932; married 1957 Anne Iddon (marriage dissolved; two daughters), 1994 Prim Cotton; died Chichester, West Sussex 16 May 2011.

[Merton Park]

Another fine Actor leaves the stage. One of my favorites who never gave a bad performance. Totally reliable. I used to like his Father before him. Great shame. RIP

[billy farmer]

A tribute to Edward Hardwicke, from The Sherlock Holmes Journal, Vol 30 No 2 (one hundred and eighteenth issue) Winter 2011.



I have also posted this tribute on Edward Hardwicke's Thread on Brit Movie (a Thread which i started).