Jonathan Hardy
Jonathan Hardy (20 September 1940 – 30 July 2012) was a New Zealand-Australian film and television actor, writer and director, he worked also in Australia. Early career. Hardy was born in New Zealand in Wellington and began his training at the New Zealand Players' Drama School. He traveled to Britain where he studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and was a gold medal student. This brought interest from the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre where he secured contracts. He returned to his home of New Zealand in a touring production  of "The Comedy of Errors" with the Royal Shakespeare Company (1966) and remained to help expand the country's theatre industry. He emigrated to Australia in 1972. Career 1972-2012. Jonathan Hardy had a long and very successful career for over 40 years. He appeared in over 20 films, guested in over 26 television series, acted in many television movies and mini-series. His preference was to work on stage and had long engagements with major theatre companies in both Melbourne and Sydney. His roles ranged from a Christmas pantomime of "Cinderella", "Shakespeare," topical plays such as "And in the  End : The Life and Death of John Lennon" and roles in operas. Throughout his career, he worked across these media at the same time, demonstrating his versatility and ability to meet the demand of any roles offered. Theatre. Hardy was part of the cast in the first public performance of Kenneth G. Ross's important Australian play "Breaker Morant", presented by the Melbourne Theatre Company at the Athenaeum Theatre, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on Thursday, 2 February 1978. In his obituary he is quoted by Mark Juddery as saying, The actor is in control in the theatre..., so the theatre  is much more an actor's medium. also, Television is not anything but an actor's image, ... If my image happens to fit, then I do the job. Whereas on stage you can create an illusion, on television … it's pretty cliched. Film. Hardy's film work included "The Devil's Playground" (1976) which he was nominated for an Australian Film Institute award, "Mad Max", "Mr. Reliable" and "Moulin Rouge!". Along with David Stevens and Bruce Beresford he co-wrote the screenplay for the film "Breaker Morant": for which he received an Australian Film Institute award (1980), and was nominated  for an Academy Award (1981). At Mystfest ()he was the co-winner of Best Artistic Contribution for Scarecrow (1982) He also won a New Zealand Film and TV Award in 2001 for Best Short Film Performance for "Camping with Camus". Hardy directed and wrote the movie "Backstage" starring the Grammy nominated pop vocalist Laura Branigan. He is best known to international audiences, for providing the voice of Dominar Rygel XVI in the science fiction series "Farscape". "Farscape" was filmed in Australia but was a US production and although it was unsuccessful in Australia, Hardy developed a cult following. Awards. 1993  Matilda Award Winner for performance - Romeo and Juliet, The Shaughraun Private life. Hardy's partner for over 40 years was actor-director David Letch. They worked on many projects together. Death. Hardy died, aged 71, at his home in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales on 30 July 2012. Selected filmography - Television. 1972 "Mandog" (TV Series) 5 episodes 1974 "Rush" (TV Series) 1 episode 1976 "Andra" (TV Series) 8 episodes 1976 "Power Without Glory" (TV Series) 3 episodes 1977 "Bluey" (TV Series) 1 episode 1977 "Young Ramsay" (TV Series) 1 episode "The Trial of Ned Kelly" (TV Movie) 1978  The Truckies (TV Series) 1 episode 1978 "Against the Wind" (TV Mini-Series) 1979 "The John Sullivan Story" (TV Movie) 1980-81 "" (TV Series) 3 episodes 1981 "Under the Mountain" (TV Series) (as Jonathon Hardy) 1 episode 1983 "Nearly No Christmas" (TV Movie) 1984 "Heroes" (TV Series) 2 episodes 1989 "" (TV Series) 1 episode 1990 "The Flying Doctors" (TV Series) 1 episode "A Country Practice" (TV Series) 1 episode 1992 "The Adventures of Skippy" (TV Series) 2 episodes 1995 "G.P." (TV Series) 1 episode 1995 "Mission Top Secret" (TV Series) 1 episode 1996 "Twisted" (TV Series) 1 episode "" (TV Movie ) "Snowy River: The McGregor Saga" (TV Series) 1 episode "Medivac" (TV Series) 1 episode 1997 "Terrain" (TV Movie) 1998 "All Saints" (TV Series) 1 episode "State Coroner" (TV Series) 1 episode 2000 "Above the Law" (TV Series) 1 episode 1999-2003 "Farscape" (TV Series) Voice of Dominar Rygel XVI 86 episodes 2003 "The Secret Life of Us" (TV Series) 1 episode "Stingers" (TV Series) 1 episode "MDA" (TV Series) 2 episodes 2004 "" (TV Mini-Series) Voice of Dominar Rygel XVI 2012 "Magical Tales" (TV Series) 1 episode (final television appearance) Selected acting performances Australia. 1972 "Flash Jim Vaux" (Nimrod Theatre  Company); "The Last Supper Show ("Nimrod Theatre Company) 1973 "Jumpers" (Melbourne Theatre Company); "The Prisoner Of Second Avenue" (Melbourne Theatre Company); "The Plough and the Star" (Melbourne Theatre Company); B"atman's Beach-Head" (Melbourne Theatre Company); "Paying The Piper" (Melbourne Theatre Company); "The Last of the Knucklemen" (Melbourne Theatre Company); "Flash Jim Vaux" (Melbourne Theatre Company) 1974 "The Last of the Knucklemen" touring production (Melbourne Theatre Company); "Coralie Lansdowne Says No" (Melbourne Theatre Company) 1977 "The Merchant of Venice" (Melbourne Theatre Company); "Cop Out" (Melbourne Theatre Company) 1978 "Breaker Morant" (Melbourne Theatre Company)"; Richard III" (Melbourne Theatre Company)"; The Beaux ' Stratagem" (Melbourne Theatre Company)"; Fools' Shoe Hotel" (Australian Performing Group) 1979 "The Immortalist ("Hoopla Theatre Foundation); "The Alchemist" (Melbourne Theatre Company)"; Hamlet ("Melbourne Theatre Company"); Cinderella" (Melbourne Theatre Company) 1980 "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead ("Melbourne Theatre Company); "Hamlet" (Melbourne Theatre Company); "Comedians" (Mercury Theatre, Auckland, New Zealand) 1991 "The Crucible" (Royal Queensland Theatre Company) 1992 "Shadow and Splendour" (Royal Queensland Theatre Company); "Twelfth Night"; "Hotel Sorrento" (Royal Queensland Theatre Company) 1993 "The Beaux Stratagem" (Royal Queensland Theatre Company); "Romeo and Juliet" (Queensland Theatre Company); "The Shaughraun or The Loveable Rascal" (Queensland Theatre Company); "A" "Christmas Carol" (Oxford Productions International ) 1994 "Hysteria, or Fragments of an Analysis of an Obsessional Mind" (Melbourne Theatre Company); "The Shaughraun (The Lovable Rascal)" (Melbourne Theatre Company); 1995 "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" (Pork Chop Productions); "The Shaughraun (The Lovable Rascal)" (Melbourne Theatre Company) 1996 "The Surgical Table" (Renegade Theatre); S"mpatico" (Sydney Theatre Company); "The Life of Galileo" (Sydney Theatre Company); "Coriolanus" touring production (Bell Shakespeare Company) 1997 "Pygmalion" (Sydney Theatre Company); "QTC Oz Shorts 1" (Queensland Theatre Company); 2002 "Great Expectations ("Melbourne Theatre Company) 2003 "A Tree, Falling" (Chapel off Chapel) 2004 "12th Night" touring production (Bell Shakespeare Company); One Flea Spare (Queensize Productions ) 2005 "Treemonisha" narrator (The Queensland Choir); "The Department Store" (Parnassus' Den) 2006 "And in the End : The Life and Death of John Lennon" (The Walrius Group); "Renaissance" (Parnassus' Den) 2007 "Paul" (Company B Belvoir) Selected singing performances Australia. 1975 "The Double Dealer" (Melbourne Theatre Company) 1976 "Don Pasquale" (Victorian Opera Company) 1998 "Tannhauser" (Opera Australia) Selected productions as director/producer Australia. 1974 "The Importance of Being Earnest" (Melbourne Theatre Company) Director 1976 T"he Italian Girl in Algiers" (Victoria State Opera) Director 1979 "The Marriage of Figaro" (Canberra Opera Society) Producer 1980 "Nine Little Australians! Season Two" (Melbourne Theatre Company) Director  Selected productions as playwright/adaptor Australia. 1976 "The Diary of a Madman" (Melbourne Theatre Company) also appeared as an actor Adaptor 1997 "Jungfrau" (Playbox Theatre Company) Writer