Ty Hardin

Hardin was born in New York City, but reared in Texas, after his family moved to the capital city of Austin when he was six months old. His father, an acoustical engineer, left the family four years later.{{cite book|last1=Aaker|first1=Everett|title=Television Western Players, 1960–1975: A Biographical Dictionary|date=2017|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476628561|pages=204–206|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yXAkDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Orison+Whipple+Hungerford%22&pg=PA1978|access-date=July 9, 2017|language=en}}

Hardin graduated in 1949 from Lamar High School in Houston.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/06/arts/television/ty-hardin-dead.html |title=Ty Hardin, Star of 'Bronco' Western, Dies at 87 |first=William |last=Grimes |author-link=William Grimes (journalist) |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 6, 2017}} A football scholarship enabled him to attend Blinn College in Brenham, Texas, for one year, and then he went to the Dallas Bible Institute for one semester. He served in the United States Army during the Korean War. He was commissioned after attending Officer Candidate School in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and he became a pilot of Forward Observer O-1 Bird Dog liaison aircraft. He attained the rank of first lieutenant. After his return from service, he began taking courses at Texas A&M University in College Station on a scholarship under Coach Bear Bryant, for whom he played tight end.{{cite web|url=http://www.tyhardin.net/AllAboutTyHardin.htm|title=All About Ty Hardin|publisher=tyhardin.net|access-date=October 14, 2014|archive-date=August 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831210751/http://tyhardin.net/AllAboutTyHardin.htm|url-status=dead}}

File:Cheyenne television show 1962.JPG in Bronco]]

A Paramount Pictures talent scout discovered Hardin while he was attending a costume party. He had rented revolvers from Western Costume, a motion-picture costume-rental company.

By 1957, Hardin acquired the services of agent Henry Willson and made his way to Hollywood, where he was put under contract by Paramount Pictures.{{Cite news|author=Scheuer, P. K.|title=Mata hari up for eva saint.|date=November 15, 1957|work=Los Angeles Times|id={{ProQuest|167187514}}}}

Initially billed as "Ty Hungerford", he made various minor appearances in several Paramount films, such as The Space Children (1958), As Young as We Are (1958) I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958), The Buccaneer (1958), and Last Train from Gun Hill (1959).

{{more citations needed|section|date=December 2017}}

File:Yvette Dugay-Ty Hardin in Bronco.jpg in another publicity image for Bronco]]

Hardin tried to obtain a support role in the 1959 film Rio Bravo that had been promised to singer Ricky Nelson. John Wayne reportedly saw Hardin while visiting a film set at Paramount and was impressed with Hardin's appearance.{{cite web|url=http://www.elvis2001.net/Ty%20Hardin.htm|title=Ty Hardin fansite|publisher=Elvis2001.net|date=July 21, 2007|access-date=June 14, 2012|archive-date=July 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716043720/http://www.elvis2001.net/Ty%20Hardin.htm|url-status=dead}} Wayne introduced him to Howard Hawks and William T. Orr at Warner Bros. Television; they bargained for his seven-year contract and he moved to Warner Bros., which changed his stage surname to "Hardin", reminiscent of the Texas gunfighter John Wesley Hardin.

He attended actors' school at Warner Bros. and landed small parts in various Warner productions.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}}

When Clint Walker walked out on his ABC series Cheyenne in 1958 during a contract dispute with Warner Bros., Hardin got his big break. Warner bought out Hardin's contract from Paramount Studios and installed him into Cheyenne for the remainder of the season, as the country cousin Bronco Layne.{{cite news|title=MORE TV PLANNED ON MISS AMERICA|date=August 9, 1958|work=New York Times|id={{ProQuest|114414266}}}}

Walker and Warner Bros. came to terms after the season ended, but Hardin had made such a big hit on the show that Jack L. Warner gave him his own series, Bronco, under the Cheyenne title. Bronco alternated weeks with Sugarfoot, starring Will Hutchins, and Cheyenne for four years. The series ran from 1958 to 1962.{{cite news|author=Anderson, R|date=March 29, 1959|title=WALKER TO RIDE IN AGAIN AS CHEYENNE|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|id={{ProQuest|182226454}}}}

Hardin guest-starred on other Warner Bros. shows such as Maverick and 77 Sunset Strip.

Warner Bros. cast Hardin in some films such as Merrill's Marauders (1962), where he was second-billed to Jeff Chandler; The Chapman Report (1962); the spring break film Palm Springs Weekend (1963); PT 109; and Wall of Noise (1963).{{Cite news|author=THOMAS, M. H.|title=HOLLYWOOD SLANT|date=October 15, 1961|work=New York Times|id={{ProQuest|115264989}}}}{{Cite news|author=MURRAY SCHUMACH Special to The New York Times.|title=Producer, an ex-bookmaker, films story of race corruption|date=January 12, 1963|work=New York Times|id={{ProQuest|116544509}}}}

When his contract expired, Hardin did Guys and Dolls in stock.{{cite news|title=Callan, hickman join jane fonda in film|date=September 14, 1964|work=Los Angeles Times|id={{ProQuest|155016159}}}} He then left Hollywood to seek opportunity overseas as his series aired all over the world. Like many other American actors, Hardin traveled to Europe, where he made several spaghetti Westerns, including Man of the Cursed Valley (1964).

He appeared in the war film Battle of the Bulge (1965) shot in Spain, and the Western Savage Pampas (1966). He had the lead in Death on the Run (1967).

He supported Joan Crawford in Berserk! (1967) and played Captain Reno in Custer of the West (1967) shot in Spain. He had the lead in Ragan (1968) and One Step to Hell (1968).

Hardin starred in the 1968–1969 Australian television series Riptide,{{cite web|url=http://www.classicaustraliantv.com/Riptide1.htm|title=Riptide website|publisher=Classicaustraliantv.com|access-date=June 14, 2012}} in which he played an American running a charter boat company along the eastern seaboard of Australia.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43201965 |title=Ty Hardin has family link with Australia |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |volume=36 |issue=36 |date=February 5, 1969 |access-date=April 14, 2018 |page=9 |via=National Library of Australia}} During the making of the series he memorably told a journalist, "I'm really a very humble man. Not a day goes by that I don't thank God for my looks, my stature and my talent."{{cite magazine|magazine=TV Times|first=Lenore|last=Nicklin|title=Gary Cooper was right - Ty Hardin is a star|page=10|date=27 November 1968}}

He returned to Europe to star in The Last Rampage (1970), Quel maledetto giorno della resa dei conti (1971), and Drummer of Vengeance (1971). He was in a 1970 German television series called On the Trail of Johnny Hilling, Boor and Billy, shown in the former West Germany.{{cite web|url=https://www.fernsehserien.de/johnny-hilling-boor-und-billy-die-verfolgten|title=Johnny Hilling, Boor und Billy – die Verfolgten|website=fernsehserien.de|date=January 19, 2007 |language=de|access-date=August 7, 2017}}

Hardin was in The Last Rebel (1971) Acquasanta Joe (1971), and You're Jinxed, Friend You've Met Sacramento (1972) and a small role in Avanti! (1972).

In 1974, he was arrested in Spain for drug trafficking and spent time in prison.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110718644 |title=IN BRIEF |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=48 |issue=13,804 |date=July 10, 1974 |access-date=April 14, 2018 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Hardin's later appearances included Rooster: Spurs of Death! (1977), Fire (1977), and Image of the Beast (1980) as well as episodes of TV shows such as The Love Boat.

He was in The Zoo Gang (1985) and Red River (1988) and had a lead in Born Killer (1989).

Hardin could be seen in Bad Jim (1992), and Rescue Me (1992).

File:John Beradino Ty Hardin Anne Helm 1961.JPG, Hardin, and Anne Helm in 1961]]

In 1958, Hardin had his name changed legally from Orison Whipple Hungerford Jr., to Ty Hardin. He ascribed the change to a matter of convenience.{{cite news|title=Ty Hardin Becomes Ty in Private Life Too|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12247881/the_paris_news|work=The Paris News|agency=Associated Press|date=November 27, 1958|location=Texas, Paris|page=6|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 9, 2017}} {{Open access}}

From 1962 to 1966, he was married to the 1961 Miss Universe, German beauty queen Marlene Schmidt, who later worked in the movie industry; they had one daughter. At the time of his death, Hardin lived with his eighth wife, Caroline, in Huntington Beach, California.{{cite news|last=Epting|first=Chris|title=Western star is in our midst|newspaper=Huntington Beach Independent|date=March 20, 2014|pages=A1–A3}}

Hardin died on August 3, 2017, aged 87.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/06/arts/television/ty-hardin-dead.html |title=Ty Hardin, Star of 'Bronco' Western, Dies at 87 |first=William |last=Grimes |author-link=William Grimes (journalist) |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 6, 2017}}

After difficulties with the Internal Revenue Service, Hardin founded a tax protest movement in Prescott, Arizona. In 1982, the movement became known as the Arizona Patriots.{{Cite book|author=Brent L. Smith|title=Terrorism in America: Pipe Bombs and Pipe Dreams|year=1994|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-1759-1|page=80}} The group first gained public notice by its efforts to clog the Arizona court system with lawsuits in the 1980s, a tactic also employed by Posse Comitatus.{{cite web |url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/life/2017/08/07/ty-hardin-star-tv-western-bronco-dies-87/546229001/ |title = Ty Hardin, star of TV Western 'Bronco,' dies at 87}}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• The Space Children (1958) (with Jackie Coogan) as Sentry
• As Young as We Are (1958) as Roy Nielson
• I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958) (with Tom Tryon and Gloria Talbott) as Mac Brody
• The Buccaneer (1958) as Soldier (uncredited)
• Last Train from Gun Hill (1959) (with Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn) as Cowboy Loafer (uncredited)
• Cheyenne (1961, Episode: "Duel at Judas Basin") as Bronco Layne
• Merrill's Marauders (1962) (with Jeff Chandler) as 2nd Lt. Lee Stockton
• The Chapman Report (1962) (with Jane Fonda) as Ed Kraski
• PT 109 (1963) (with Cliff Robertson as John F. Kennedy) as Ensign Leonard J. Thom
• Wall of Noise (1963) (with Suzanne Pleshette and Dorothy Provine) as Joel Tarrant
• Palm Springs Weekend (1963) as Doug 'Stretch' Fortune
• Man of the Cursed Valley (1964) as Johnny Walscott
• Savage Pampas (1965) (with Robert Taylor) as Miguel Carreras
• Battle of the Bulge (1965) (with Henry Fonda) as Lt. Schumacher
• Death on the Run (1967) as Jason
• Custer of the West (1967) (with Robert Shaw) as Maj. Marcus Reno
• Berserk! (1967) (with Joan Crawford) as Frank Hawkins
• Ragan (1968) as Lee Ragan
• King of Africa (1968) as Lt. King Edwards
• Rekvijem (1970) as Major
• Terrible Day of the Big Gundown (1971) as Jonathan Benton
• Drummer of Vengeance (1971) as The Stranger
• The Last Rebel (1971) as The Sheriff
• Holy Water Joe (1971) as Jeff Donovan
• Sei iellato, amico hai incontrato Sacramento (1972) as Jack Thompson 'Sacramento'
• Avanti! (1972) as Helicopter Pilot (uncredited)
• Arpad - Zwei Teufelskerle räumen auf (1975)
• Fire! (1977, TV Movie) as Walt Fleming
• Rooster: Spurs of Death! (1977) as The Texan
• Image of the Beast (1980) as The Missionary
• The Zoo Gang (1985) as Dean Haskell
• Born Killer (1989) as Sheriff Stone
• Bad Jim (1990) as Tom Jefferd
• Rescue Me (1992) as Sheriff Gilbert
• Head Over Spurs in Love (2011) as Colonel Sanders (final film role)

{{div col end}}

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Ty Hardin}}

• {{IMDb name|id=0362249}}
• [http://www.briansdriveintheater.com/tyhardin.html Ty Hardin] at Brian's Drive-In Theater
• [http://www.elvis2001.net/Ty%20Hardin.htm Ty Hardin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716043720/http://www.elvis2001.net/Ty%20Hardin.htm |date=July 16, 2018 }} interview with Joe Krein

{{Portal bar|Biography|New York City|Texas|Los Angeles|California|American football|Film|Television|Christianity|Conservatism}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardin, Ty}}

Category:1930 births

Category:2017 deaths

Category:Male actors from Texas

Category:Lamar High School (Houston) alumni

Category:Blinn College alumni

Category:Blinn Buccaneers football players

Category:Texas A&M University alumni

Category:Texas A&M Aggies football players

Category:United States Army officers

Category:United States Army personnel of the Korean War

Category:American Korean War pilots

Category:American male television actors

Category:Male Spaghetti Western actors

Category:Male Western (genre) film actors

Category:Male actors from New York City

Category:Military personnel from Houston

Category:Male actors from Huntington Beach, California

Category:Warner Bros. contract players

Category:Western (genre) television actors