जीवनी

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.