Cedric Webster Hardwicke
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Sir Cedric Hardwicke was knighted in 1934 by King George V, a rare honor for an actor. He made his stage debut in 1912 and after WWI gained acclaim as Caesar in Caesar and Cleopatra, launching his London career. Hardwicke appeared in major films including Les Misérables 1935 and The Ten Commandments 1956, and earned two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Cedric Hardwicke — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Cedric Hardwicke by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Cedric Hardwicke — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Born in Lye, Worcestershire on February 19, 1893, Cedric Hardwicke was the son of a country doctor who hoped he would follow in his footsteps. Instead, Hardwicke pursued acting, training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and making his stage debut in 1912.
His career was interrupted by World War I, during which he served in the Judge Advocate’s branch of the British Army. After the war, he returned to the stage in 1922 with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
Hardwicke’s breakthrough came in 1922 when he played Caesar in George Bernard Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. The role brought him to London and eventually led to a knighthood from King George V in 1934, a rare honor for a stage actor.
He made his American stage debut in 1936 and later emigrated to the United States. On screen, he appeared in notable films such as Les Misérables 1935, The Hunchback of Notre Dame 1939, Suspicion 1941, and The Ten Commandments 1956. His final film was The Pumpkin Eater 1964.
Hardwicke was married twice. His first marriage was to actress Helena Pickard, with whom he had his only son, Edward Hardwicke, who also became an actor. After their divorce, Hardwicke married Mary Scott in 1949 after meeting her when she was an understudy for Lilli Palmer during a Broadway revival of Caesar and Cleopatra.
During his final illness, hospital expenses consumed his savings, so much so that there was no money for his funeral; several actors’ funds contributed to the cost.
Hardwicke’s legacy lies in his distinguished career as a character actor on stage and screen, earning him a knighthood in 1934 when few actors received such honor. He was a favorite of playwright George Bernard Shaw, who called him his fourth favorite actor after the Marx Brothers. Hardwicke received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for motion pictures and television.
His role as King Edward IV in Richard III 1955 was later revisited by his son Edward in the 1995 adaptation. Hardwicke is remembered for his resonant voice and aristocratic bearing, which brought depth to parts in classics like Les Misérables and The Ten Commandments.
The complete filmography of Cedric Hardwicke — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Cedric Hardwicke — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Cedric Hardwicke — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Can’t Act. I Have Never Acted. and I Shall Never Act. What I Can Do Is Suspend My Audience’s Power of Judgement Till I’ve Finished.
I Believe That God Felt Sorry for Actors, so He Created Hollywood to Give Them a Place in the Sun and a Swimming Pool – the Price They Had to Pay Was to Surrender Their Talent.
Actors and Burglars Work Better at Night.
England Is My Wife. America Is My Mistress. It Is Very Good Sometimes to Get Away from One’s Wife.
The Director’s Tricks Are Accomplished by Converting Plays into Spectacles of Love, Landscape and Lust, and the Actors into Puppets. Unhappily, a Lot of Young Actors and Actresses Are Destroyed in the Process. They Are Drilled to Perfection in a Single Role, While the Director Tries to Produce Performances by Direction Alone. as a Result, They May Be Ruined for Anything Beyond the Single Role.
By Temperament, a Young Actor Needs to Be Mercurial, If Nothing Else, Able to Shed Misfortunes Like a Duck Shedding Water and to Magnify a Pinpoint of Hope into a Golden Dawn.
Actors Must Practice Restraint Else Think What Might Happen in a Love Scene.
When Actors Are Talking, They Are Servants of the Dramatist. It Is What They Can Show the Audience When They Are Not Talking That Reveals the Fine Actor.
My Aim Is to Leave the Theater and the Screen Better Than I Found Them.
I Want to Be One of Those Reformers. I Am Content to Makes a Virtue of Necessity and Modestly Disclaim My Desire to Be a Great Reformer. I Am Resigned to Be One of the Myriad Little Ones; but I Propose to Be a Very Good Little One.
Hollywood May Be Thickly Populated, but to Me It’s Still a Bewilderness.
I’m the Only Actor I Know Who Never Wanted to Do Anything Else.
Shaw Was a Sort of Godfather to Me.
I Played Hamlet at 14, and Got That Out of My System.
The More I See of Life, the More I Prefer the World of the Theater to the Real World.
Little-known facts about Cedric Hardwicke — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Hospital expenses from his final illness consumed his savings, leaving no funds for a funeral; several actors’ funds donated the money in tribute to his career.
George Bernard Shaw considered Hardwicke a favorite and cast him in plays like The Apple Cart, Too True to Be Good, and Caesar and Cleopatra. Shaw called him his fifth favorite actor after the Marx Brothers, later upgrading to fourth when Zeppo Marx retired.
Hardwicke portrayed King Edward IV in the 1955 film Richard III; his son Edward later played Lord Stanley in the 1995 adaptation.
In World War I, he served in the Judge Advocate’s branch of the British Army from 1914 to 1921, and was among the last British Expeditionary Force members to leave France.
He met his second wife, Mary Scott, in 1949 when she was understudying Lilli Palmer in a Broadway revival of Caesar and Cleopatra, in which he was performing.
Upon knighting Hardwicke in 1934, the hard-of-hearing King George V, prompted by a courtier, mispronounced his name as Sir Cedric Pickwick.
He received two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for motion pictures at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard and one for television at 6660 Hollywood Boulevard.
As an officer, he was involved in the exhumation and selection of the UK’s Unknown Warrior in November 1920.
He appeared in five films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Les Misérables 1935, Suspicion 1941, Wilson 1944, The Ten Commandments 1956, and Around the World in 80 Days 1956; only the last won.
His father, a country doctor, hoped Hardwicke would become a physician, but he chose acting instead.
A Knight Bachelor in the 1934 King’s New Year Honours List, he was honored for services to drama.
He was reputedly the favorite actor of playwright George Bernard Shaw.
His favorite screen role was Mr. Brink in On Borrowed Time 1939.
He pronounced his first name as SEEdrick, not the more common SAIDrick.
He had one son, Edward Hardwicke, with his first wife Helena Pickard.
Though 62 when he played King Edward IV in Richard III 1955, his character had died at age 40 in 1483.
He appeared in five films with Peter Lorre: Invisible Agent 1942, The Cross of Lorraine 1943, Around the World in 80 Days 1956, The Story of Mankind 1957, and Five Weeks in a Balloon 1962.
He appeared in five films with Vincent Price: The Invisible Man Returns 1940, The Keys of the Kingdom 1944, Wilson 1944, The Ten Commandments 1956, and The Story of Mankind 1957.
His hometown of Lye is also the home of independent filmmaker Dave James.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Cedric Hardwicke.
Celebrities similar to Cedric Hardwicke — same craft, ranked by reach.
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