Samuel B. Hardy (March 21, 1883 – October 16, 1935) was an American stage and

film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), ...

who appeared in feature films during the silent and early

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by ...

eras. Born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...

, Hardy attended Yale but left there to become an actor on stage. He entered the world of film with

Biograph Studios Biograph Studios was an early film studio and laboratory complex, built in 1912 by the Biograph Company at 807 East 175th Street, in The Bronx, New York City, New York. History Early years The first studio of the Biograph Company, formerl ...

. Hardy appeared in about 85 movies between 1915 and 1935, he was often in comedic roles. His best-known role to modern audiences is perhaps Charles Weston, the theatrical agent, in the 1933 film classic ''

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

''. Hardy appeared opposite Marie Cahill in the 1910 play '' Judy Forgot'' and the 1915 film adaptation. Hardy became ill while he was working in the film ''Shoot the Chutes'', starring Eddie Cantor. He did not survive emergency surgery at a hospital and died of intestinal problems.

Partial filmography

* '' Judy Forgot'' (1915) - Freddy * ''Over Night'' (1915) - Percy Darling * '' At First Sight'' (1917) - Hartly Poole * ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U ...

'' (1918) - Simon Legree * ''

A Woman's Experience ''A Woman's Experience'' is a 1919 silent film drama directed by Perry N. Vekroff and starring Sam Hardy and Mary Boland. It was filmed in 1918 and released in early 1919. This film is preserved by the Library of Congress. Plot As described in ...

'' (1918) - George Roydant * '' Almost Married'' (1919) - Lt. James 'Jim' Winthrop Jr. * ''His Father's Wife'' (1919) - Lieutenant James 'Jim' Winthrop Jr. * '' Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford'' (1921) - J. Rufus Wallingford * '' Mighty Lak' a Rose'' (1923) - Jerome Trevor * '' Little Old New York'' (1923) - Cornelius Vanderbilt * '' The Half-Way Girl'' (1925) - Jardine * ''

Bluebeard's Seven Wives ''Bluebeard's Seven Wives'' is a 1926 American silent comedy film produced and released by First National Pictures. It was directed by Alfred Santell and starred Ben Lyon, Lois Wilson, and Blanche Sweet. Plot As described in a film magazine r ...

'' (1925) - Gindelheim * ''

When Love Grows Cold ''When Love Grows Cold'' is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Harry O. Hoyt, and starring Clive Brook and Natacha Rambova in her only screen starring performance. Rambova was chiefly famous for being the wife of Rudolph Valentino. Th ...

'' (1926) - William Graves * '' The Savage'' (1926) - Managing Editor * ''

The Great Deception ''The Great Deception'' is a 1926 American silent drama film starring Basil Rathbone, Ben Lyon, and Aileen Pringle. It is based on the 1915 novel ''The Yellow Dove'' by George Gibbs about World War I era espionage, previously adapted as the 1 ...

'' (1926) - Handy * ''

Prince of Tempters ''Prince of Tempters'' is a 1926 American silent romance film directed by Lothar Mendes and starring Lois Moran, Ben Lyon and Lya De Putti. It is based on the 1924 novel '' The Ex-Duke'' by the British writer E. Phillips Oppenheim. The film w ...

'' (1926) - Apollo Beneventa * ''

The Perfect Sap ''The Perfect Sap'' is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by Howard Higgin. It is based on the 1926 play ''Not Herbert'' by Howard Irving Young. The film stars Ben Lyon, Pauline Starke, Virginia Lee Corbin, Lloyd Whitlock, Diana Kane ...

'' (1927) - Nick Fanshaw * ''

Orchids and Ermine Orchids and Ermine is a 1927 silent film comedy starring Colleen Moore, filmed partly on location in New York. The film still exists. This was Mickey Rooney's first feature-length film (his first film being a short subject released in 1926). S ...

'' (1927) - Hank * '' High Hat'' (1927) - Tony * ''

Broadway Nights ''Broadway Nights '' is a 1927 American lost film. It was the film debut of Barbara Stanwyck, Sylvia Sidney and Ann Sothern.The Life of Riley ''The Life of Riley'' is an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, a 1950s television series, and a 1958 comic book. Radio The radio program initially aired on the Blue Network (later kn ...

'' (1927) - Al Montague * ''

A Texas Steer ''A Texas Steer'' is a lost 1927 American silent film directed by Richard Wallace and starring Will Rogers. It was a cinematic adaptation from an eponymous play by Charles H. Hoyt.Mordaunt HallA Texas Steer (1927) ''The New York Times'', Janua ...

'' (1927) - Brassy Gall * ''

Burning Up Broadway ''Burning Up Broadway'' is a 1928 American silent drama film, directed by Phil Rosen. It stars Helene Costello, Robert Frazer, and Sam Hardy, and was released February 1928. Plot Spike and Nick own a speakeasy in New York, where the chief chor ...

'' (1928) - Spike * '' Turn Back the Hours'' (1928) - 'Ace' Kearney * '' The Big Noise'' (1928) - Philip Hurd * ''

Diamond Handcuffs ''Diamond Handcuffs'' is a 1928 American drama silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elemen ...

'' (1928) - Spike * ''

The Butter and Egg Man ''The Butter and Egg Man'' is a 1925 play by George S. Kaufman, the only play he wrote without collaborating. It was a Broadway hit during the 1925–26 season at the Longacre Theatre. Adapted to film six times, it is still performed on stages toda ...

'' (1928) - Joe Lehman * ''

The Night Bird ''The Night Bird'' is a 1928 American silent comedy film directed by Fred C. Newmeyer and starring Reginald Denny, Corliss Palmer and Sam Hardy.Munden p.543 Synopsis A New York boxer falls in love with an Italian girl he meets in Central Par ...

'' (1928) - Gleason * '' Outcast'' (1928) - Jack * '' Give and Take'' (1928) - Craig - the Industrialist * '' The Rainbow'' (1929) - Derbyy Scanlon * ''

The Rainbow Man ''The Rainbow Man'' (known as ''La valle delle rose'' in Italy) is a 1929 American pre-Code musical drama film. A copy of ''The Rainbow Man'' is preserved by the Library of Congress Packard Campus. Cast *Eddie Dowling as Rainbow Ryan *Mari ...

'' (1929) - Doc Hardy * '' A Man's Man'' (1929) - Charlie * '' On with the Show!'' (1929) - Jerry * '' Big News'' (1929) - Joe Reno * ''

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year. History ''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...

'' (1929) - Dave Walker * '' Acquitted'' (1929) - Frank Egan * '' Mexicali Rose'' (1929) - Happy Manning * '' The Girl from Mexico'' (1929) * '' Burning Up'' (1930) - Windy 'Wally' Wallace * '' Song of the West'' (1930) - Davolo * '' True to the Navy'' (1930) - Brady * '' The Gay Nineties'' (1930)(*aka The Floradora Girl) - Harry Fontaine * '' Borrowed Wives'' (1930) - G.W. Parker * ''The Leather Pushers'' (1930) - Rooney - Kane's Manager * ''

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is th ...

'' (1930) - J.B. Berkley * ''

June Moon ''June Moon'' is a play by George S. Kaufman and Ring Lardner. Based on the Lardner short story "Some Like Them Cold," about a love affair that loses steam before it ever gets started, it includes songs with words and music by Lardner but is no ...

'' (1931) - Sam Hart * '' The Millionaire'' (1931) - McCoy * ''

Annabelle's Affairs ''Annabelle's Affairs'' is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by Alfred L. Werker and starring Victor McLaglen, Jeanette MacDonald and Roland Young. The film is based on the 1916-17 play ''Good Gracious Annabelle'' by Clare ...

'' (1931) - James Ludgate * '' The Miracle Woman'' (1931) - Bob Hornsby * '' The Magnificent Lie'' (1931) - Larry * '' Peach O'Reno'' (1931) - Judge Jackson * '' The Dark Horse'' (1932) - Mr. Black * '' Make Me a Star'' (1932) - Jeff Baird * '' The Phantom of Crestwood'' (1932) - Pete Harris * '' Face in the Sky'' (1933) - Triplet The Great * ''

Goldie Gets Along ''Goldie Gets Along'' is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Malcolm St. Clair and starring Lili Damita, Charles Morton and Sam Hardy. The screenplay was written by William A. Drake, based on the 1931 novel of the same title by ...

'' (1933) - Sam Muldoon * ''

'' (1933) - Charles Weston * '' The Big Brain'' (1933) - Slick Ryan * '' Three-Cornered Moon'' (1933) - Hawkins * '' Ann Vickers'' (1933) - Ignatz Spaulding * ''

Curtain at Eight ''Curtain at Eight'' is a 1933 American pre-Code mystery film directed by E. Mason Hopper and starring C. Aubrey Smith, Dorothy Mackaill and Paul Cavanagh.Pitts p.224 Plot summary Wylie Thornton is the star of "Isle of Romance" at the Edwin Bo ...

'' (1933) - Martin Gallagher - Captain of Detectives * ''

Little Miss Marker ''Little Miss Marker'' (also known as ''The Girl in Pawn'') is an American Pre-Code 1934 comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Hall. It was written by William R. Lipman, Sam Hellman, and Gladys Lehman after a 1932 short story of the same n ...

'' (1934) - Benny the Gouge * '' Aunt Sally'' (1934) - Michael 'King' Kelly * '' I Give My Love'' (1934) - Pogey * ''

Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round ''Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round'' is a 1934 American drama film with musical and comedic elements, directed by Benjamin Stoloff. Plot Gangster Lee Lother (Sidney Blackmer) is shot and killed during an ocean liner cruise, and we're introduced in ...

'' (1934) - Jack Summers * '' Night Alarm'' (1934) - Editor Stephen Caldwell * ''

The Gay Bride ''The Gay Bride'' is a 1934 black-and-white gangster screwball comedy starring Carole Lombard as a wisecracking gold-digger and Chester Morris as the poor man she despises. It was directed by Jack Conway and written by the husband-and-wife team ...

'' (1934) - Daniel J. Dingle * ''

Break of Hearts ''Break of Hearts'' is a 1935 RKO film starring Katharine Hepburn and Charles Boyer. The screenplay was written by the team of Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman, with Anthony Veiller, from a story by Lester Cohen, specifically for Hepburn. ...

'' (1935) - Marx * '' Hooray for Love'' (1935) - Mr. Ganz - aka Abbey * ''

Powdersmoke Range ''Powdersmoke Range'' is a 1935 black-and-white Western film directed by Wallace Fox starring Harry Carey, Hoot Gibson, Guinn Williams and Bob Steele. It is based on the 1934 novel of the same name by William Colt MacDonald with characters wh ...

'' (1935) - Big Steve Ogden (final film role)

Bibliography

* Goldner, Orville & Turner, George Eugene. ''The Making of King Kong: The Story Behind a Film Classic''. A. S. Barnes, 1975. * Low, Rachael. ''History of the British Film: Filmmaking in 1930s Britain. George Allen & Unwin, 1985 .

References

External links

* *
Portrait gallery
(University of Washington, Sayre collection)
findagrave.com TRAVALANCHE: Sam Hardy: Friend of Fields from the Follies
Travalanche) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardy, Sam 1883 births 1935 deaths American male film actors American male silent film actors Male actors from Connecticut Male actors from New Haven, Connecticut 20th-century American male actors RKO Pictures contract players