Edward Thomas Hardy (born September 15, 1977) is an British stage, film and television actor, better known simply as Tom Hardy.

Biography and career

Hailing from East Sheen, London Hardy began his career in war dramas. He studied at the Drama Centre, London, but left early for the part of United States Army Private John Janovec in the award-winning HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. He made his feature film debut in Ridley Scott's war thriller Black Hawk Down (2001).

In 2002, Hardy remained in the United Kingdom for the independent film Dot the i, sharing the bill with Gael García Bernal. He then traveled to North Africa for , a story of the French Foreign Legion. In the same year, he gained some heavy international exposure as the Reman Praetor Shinzon, a clone of USS Enterprise Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in Star Trek: Nemesis. He returned to England to feature in the 2003 thriller LD 50 Lethal Dose.

Hardy was awarded the 2003 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer for his performances in Blood and Arabia, We'd All Be Kings performed at the Royal Court Theatre and Hampstead Theatre. He was also nominated for a 2004 Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer of 2003 in a Society of London Theatre Affiliate for his performance in the aforementioned production of Arabia, We'd All Be Kings.

Hardy appears in the 2005 BBC miniseries The Virgin Queen as Robert Dudley, a childhood friend of Elizabeth. The miniseries portrays them as having a love affair throughout her reign over England during the sixteenth century. Hardy recently featured in the Richard Fell adaptation of the 1960s sci-fi series A for Andromeda, on the BBC digital television station BBC Four.

This accomplished actor is not to be confused with the Radio Caroline disc-jockey of the same name.

In 2007 he appeared in the BBC2 drama based on a true story - Stuart: A Life Backwards. Tom played the lead role of Stuart Shorter, a homeless man who had been subjected to years of abuse and went on to commit suicide.

Filmography

• Band of Brothers (TV miniseries) (2001)
• Black Hawk Down (as Thomas Hardy) (2001)
• Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
• (2002)
• Dot the I (2003)
• The Reckoning (2003)
• LD 50 Lethal Dose (2003)
• Layer Cake (2004)
• Colditz (TV series) (2005)
• EMR (2005)
• Minotaur (2005)
• The Virgin Queen (TV miniseries) (2005)
• Flood (2006)
• Sweeney Todd (TV) (2006)
• A for Andromeda (TV) (2006)
• Sucker Punch (2006)
• Gideon's Daughter (2006 TV) Steven Poliakoff (2006
• Marie Antoinette (2006)
• Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006)
• Stuart: A Life Backwards (TV) (2007)
• Waz (2007)
• Cape Wrath (TV Series) (2007)

Further reading

• Dempster, S. "Tom Hardy tastes the hard life", TV & Radio, The Times, 2007-09-22. Retrieved on 2007-10-03. 

External links

• Tom Hardy at the Internet Movie Database

• Tom Hardy article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki

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