Father of three children: Son, Paul Hardy, from his first marriage, daughters Emma Hardy (actress and photographer) and Justine Hardy (journalist and author) from his second marriage. Grandfather of four.
Has played British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in five separate films ("Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years" (1981), The Woman He Loved (1988) (TV), "War and Remembrance" (1988), "Bomber Harris" (1989) (TV), Agatha Christie Marple: The Sittaford Mystery (2006) (TV)) as well as the fictitious Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge in the Harry Potter series. He has also twice played Winston Churchill's World War II ally and friend, American President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
He became an expert on the longbow when he played Henry V at Stratford. He became a longbow/weapons consultant for the Mary Rose Trust when that 16th c. warship was recovered at Portsmouth, England, UK
He is one of the patrons of the Wensleydale Railway, a group that has been set up to re-open the mainly derelict line between Northallerton and Garsdale in Yorkshire, because of his connection with the area from when he played Siegfried Farnon in "All Creatures Great and Small" (1978).
He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1981 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to drama.
His ex-wife, Sally Pearson, is Gladys Cooper's daughter.
One of two actors to play Winston Churchill in several movies. The second was Timothy Spall, who played the role in Jackboots on Whitehall (2010) and The King's Speech (2010). The latter concerned itself with King George VI's speech problems, and with the scandal involving his brother Edwards VIII's relationship with a married American woman. Hardy has been in two films about this period: The Woman He Loved (1988) (TV) and Bertie and Elizabeth (2002) (TV), playing Franlin Roosevelt in the latter. He and Spall both appeared in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005).
Spoke at the funeral of James Herriot. Herriot was the pseudonym of Alf Wight (due to legal requirements of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons) and Hardy and Wight became close friends over the years of the "All Creatures Great and Small" (1978) series, adapted from Wight's books.
Was a good friend of actor Richard Burton.