Edward Hardwicke

Edward Hardwicke
Edward Hardwicke, 2008
Born	Edward Cedric Hardwicke (1932-08-07)7 August 1932 London, England
Died	16 May 2011(2011-05-16) (aged 78) Chichester, West Sussex, England
Other names	Edward Hardwick
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1943–2011
Spouse(s)	Anne Iddon (1957 – ?, divorced) Prim Cotton (1995 – his death)
Children	2

Edward Cedric Hardwicke (7 August 1932 – 16 May 2011) was an English actor, known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in the Granada TV series Sherlock Holmes.

Hardwicke was born in London, England, the son of actors Sir Cedric Hardwicke and Helena Pickard. He began his film career in Hollywood at the age of 10, in Victor Fleming’s film A Guy Named Joe which starred Spencer Tracy. He returned to England, attended Stowe School, and fulfilled his national service as a pilot officer in the Royal Air Force. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and trained as an actor.

Hardwicke played at the Bristol Old Vic, the Oxford Playhouse and the Nottingham Playhouse before in 1964 joining Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre. He performed regularly there for seven years. He appeared with Olivier in William Shakespeare’s Othello and Ibsen’s The Master Builder. He also appeared in Peter Shaffer’s The Royal Hunt of the Sun (with Robert Stephens), Charley's Aunt, Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Congreve's The Way of the World, Georges Feydeau’s A Flea In Her Ear (directed by Jacques Charon of the Comédie Française), The Crucible, Luigi Pirandello's The Rules Of The Game, Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Idiot and George Bernard Shaw's Mrs. Warren's Profession. He returned to the National in 1977 for a production of Feydeau's The Lady from Maxim's.