Samuel B Hardy (1883-1935) abandoned his studies at Yale to go on the stage, later signing with the Biograph Company in its post-Griffith years to make pictures.
Hardy had a preference for comedy, even though he played Simon Legree in Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1918) for Famous Players-Lasky, and in The Miracle Woman (1931) he was the promoter who exploits Barbara Stanwyck’s religious fervour. His best-known role, however, was as the agent Weston in King Kong (1933).
Hardy only appeared in one MGM musical, as the gambler Harry Fountaine in The Florordora Girl.
Hardy was taken ill while shooting a film with his friend Eddie Cantor and did not survive emergency surgery.
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