From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Terrence Hardiman (born 6th April, 1937 in London) is a British actor, sometimes wrongly credited as Terence Hardiman. He is best known for playing The Demon Headmaster in the children's television series of the same name, and also for Reinhardt in the popular drama series, Secret Army.

Hardiman has a very upright posture and a commanding presence, and is therefore often seen playing authority figures. He has played Nazis (Secret Army and Colditz) and British officers (When the Boat Comes In), police inspectors (Juliet Bravo and Softly, Softly), doctors (Home To Roost, The Royal), barristers (Crown Court and The Brittas Empire), judges (in The Bill) and The Courtroom), an abbot (in Cadfael), and of course a headmaster. He also played Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi.

Major Reinhardt, (Hardiman's role in Secret Army) was the (fictional) head of the Luftwaffe (German Air force) police and as such often provided a foil to Clifford Rose's more brutal S.S. Chief, Kessler. As with many of the characters in Secret Army, Reinhardt was not a one-dimensional baddie, but a rounded character who often questioned his own motives and methods. The actor's sensitive portrayal allowed the viewer to sympathise with this character. In 1990 he played a more 2-dimensional German officer, General Stuckler, in the final series of LWT's Wish Me Luck.

The Demon Headmaster was a children's television drama series which proved popular with adults as well, and which ran to three series from 1996 to 1998. Hardiman played a truly villainous headmaster in pantomime style, complete with glowing eyes.

He also had a starring role as Charles Pooter in the 1979 television adaptation of George and Weedon Grossmith's Diary of a Nobody, a role which shows his versatility more than the succession of officers he usually portrays.

Hardiman's other recurring role was as Brother Cadfael's boss, Abbot Radulfus, in the television series. Joining him throughout the series as Prior Robert was Michael Culver, who had played his predecessor Major Brandt in Secret Army.

A notable small role Hardiman played was a version of the Sergeant Wilson character from Dad's Army in an episode of Goodnight Sweetheart (Don't Get Around Much Any More), the time travel comedy in which Nicholas Lyndhurst's character Gary Sparrow goes back in time to a 1940s bank and encounters characters called Mainwaring and WiIlson. Hardiman's portrayal was a keenly observed impersonation of John Le Mesurier's own performance, incorporating many of the tics and mannerisms of the original. Hardiman is also famous for his role of Chief Wizard Egbert Hellibore in two episodes of the television series The Worst Witch.

Hardiman's most recent appearance was in the second series of the Worst Week Of My Life.

• Terrence Hardiman at the Internet Movie Database

• Unofficial Terrence Hardiman website