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 (), lite ...

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 the ...

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 134,02 ...

, 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, formerly ...

. 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''. Hardy appeared opposite

Marie Cahill Marie Cahill (December 29, 1866 – August 23, 1933) was a Broadway stage actress and vocalist. Her parents were Irish immigrants Richard and Mary (née Groegen) Cahill. Stage career Cahill began her career in the late 1880s first in her na ...

in the 1910 play ''

Judy Forgot ''Judy Forgot'' is a play by Avery Hopwood (New York, October 6, 1910) that was adapted into a 1915 film. The film is a five part comedy. Marie Cahill starred in the film. T. Hayes Hunter directed. It was produced by Universal Film Manufacturing. I ...

'' 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

* ''

'' (1915) - Freddy * ''Over Night'' (1915) - Percy Darling * '' At First Sight'' (1917) - Hartly Poole * '' Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1918) - Simon Legree * '' A Woman's Experience'' (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 Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford is a fictional con artist created by writer George Randolph Chester for a series of stories that first appeared in ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine. A book titled ''Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford: A Cheerful Account of the Rise and F ...

'' (1921) - J. Rufus Wallingford * ''

Mighty Lak' a Rose "Mighty Lak' a Rose" is a 1901 song with lyrics by Frank Lebby Stanton and music by Ethelbert Nevin. The lyrics are written in an approximation of an African American accent as a "dialect song", and the title thus means "mighty like a rose". It i ...

'' (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 re ...

'' (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. ...

'' (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 19 ...

'' (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 wa ...

'' (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'' (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'', January ...

'' (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 directed by John P. McCarthy and written by Joseph Farnham, Willis Goldbeck and Bradley King. The film stars Eleanor Boardman, Lawrence Gray, Sam Hardy, Gwen Lee and Lena Malena. The ...

'' (1928) - Spike * '' The Butter and Egg Man'' (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 ''The Rainbow'' is a novel by British author D. H. Lawrence, first published by Methuen & Co. in 1915. It follows three generations of the Brangwen family living in Nottinghamshire, focusing particularly on the individual's struggle to growth ...

'' (1929) - Derbyy Scanlon * ''

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

'' (1929) - Doc Hardy * '' A Man's Man'' (1929) - Charlie * '' On with the Show!'' (1929) - Jerry * '' Big News'' (1929) - Joe Reno * '' Fast Company'' (1929) - Dave Walker * '' Acquitted'' (1929) - Frank Egan * '' Mexicali Rose'' (1929) - Happy Manning * ''

The Girl from Mexico ''The Girl from Mexico'' is a 1939 American comedy film directed by Leslie Goodwins and written by Lionel Houser and Joseph Fields. The film stars Lupe Vélez, who plays a hot-headed, fast-talking Mexican singer taken to New York for a radio gig ...

'' (1929) * '' Burning Up'' (1930) - Windy 'Wally' Wallace * '' Song of the West'' (1930) - Davolo * '' True to the Navy'' (1930) - Brady * ''

The Gay Nineties The Gay Nineties is an American nostalgic term and a periodization of the history of the United States referring to the decade of the 1890s. It is known in the United Kingdom as the Naughty Nineties, and refers there to the decade of supposedly d ...

'' (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 the c ...

'' (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 not ...

'' (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 K ...

'' (1931) - James Ludgate * ''

The Miracle Woman ''The Miracle Woman'' is a 1931 American pre-Code romance film directed by Frank Capra and starring Barbara Stanwyck, David Manners, and Sam Hardy. Based on the play ''Bless You Sister'' by John Meehan and Robert Riskin, the film is about a pr ...

'' (1931) - Bob Hornsby * ''

The Magnificent Lie The Magnificent Lie may refer to: * ''The Magnificent Lie'' (1931 film), American film * ''The Magnificent Lie'' (1955 film), Swedish film {{DEFAULTSORT:Magnificent Lie, The ...

'' (1931) - Larry * ''

Peach O'Reno ''Peach-O-Reno'' is a 1931 pre-Production Code comedy film starring Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Dorothy Lee, and Zelma O'Neal. It was released on Christmas Day of 1931. A copy is preserved in the Library of Congress collection.''Catalog of H ...

'' (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 H ...

'' (1933) - Sam Muldoon * '' King Kong'' (1933) - Charles Weston * '' The Big Brain'' (1933) - Slick Ryan * ''

Three-Cornered Moon ''Three Cornered Moon'' is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Elliott Nugent, written by Ray Harris and S.K. Lauren, and starring Claudette Colbert, Richard Arlen, Mary Boland, and Wallace Ford. Based on a 1933 play by Gertrude Ton ...

'' (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 name ...

'' (1934) - Benny the Gouge * ''

Aunt Sally Aunt Sally is a traditional English game usually played in pub gardens and fairgrounds, in which players throw sticks or battens at a ball, known as a 'dolly', balanced on top of a stick, traditionally a model of an old woman's head was sometime ...

'' (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. Ori ...

'' (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