He traveled to Britain, where he studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and was a gold medal student.

[2] He returned to his home of New Zealand in a touring production of The Comedy of Errors with the Royal Shakespeare Company (1966) and remained to help expand the country's theatre industry.

[7] Hardy directed and wrote the movie Backstage starring the Grammy nominated pop vocalist Laura Branigan.

[8] He is best known to international audiences for providing the voice of Dominar Rygel XVI in the science fiction series Farscape.

[2] 1993 Matilda Award Winner for performance - Romeo and Juliet, The Shaughraun[9] Hardy's partner for over 40 years was actor-director David Letch.

Hardy died, aged 71, at his home in the town of Hill Top, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales on 30 July 2012.