Everything about Ty Hardin totally explained
Ty Hardin (born in
New York City,
USA, on
January 1,
1930) is a former
actor best known as the star of the
1950s ABC western television series Bronco.
Born
Orison Whipple Hungerford, Jr., Hardin was raised in
Texas and attended
Lamar High School (External Link
). He served in the
Korean War, and after his return, he began taking college courses at
Texas A&M University in
College Station.
By 1957, Hardin had made his way to
Hollywood and was put under contract by
Paramount. The name "Ty" is said to come from "Typhoon", a childhood nickname. Initially, he was billed as "Ty Hungerford," but soon his name was changed to Ty Hardin. When
Clint Walker walked out on his
ABC series
Cheyenne in 1958 during a contract dispute with
Warner Bros., Ty Hardin got his big break. Warner Bros. bought out Hardin's Paramount contract and installed him as Cheyenne's country cousin Bronco Layne for one season. Walker and Warner Bros. came to terms after the season ended, but Hardin had been such a big hit that the studio gave him his own series,
Bronco. Since it was difficult to produce an hour-long western every week in which the star appeared in every episode and virtually every scene (whereas a series like
Bonanza or
Maverick would feature one or another of the main characters in a given episode and could thus be filmed weekly),
Bronco alternated weeks with another Western,
Sugarfoot, starring
Will Hutchins.
Bronco ran from 1958 through 1962. Later Hardin was given another series called
On the Trail of Johnny Hilling, Boor and Billy which was immensely successful in
West Germany.
From 1962 to 1966 Hardin was married to the 1961
Miss Universe, German beauty queen
Marlene Schmidt, who later envolved herself in the movie industry. They had one daughter.
Around 1969, while filming the TV series
Riptide in Australia, Hardin sponsored an Australian motorcycle racing team.
The following is from Ty Hardin's biography listing on the Internet Movie Database:
"Ty Hardin became a self-styled "freedom fighter" in the 1970s, and led a group called the Arizona Patriots. The
Arizona Patriots were an anti-Semitic group with an emphasis on stockpiling weapons and baiting public officials.
After a mid-1970s dispute with the IRS, Hardin ran a tax protest school called the
Common Law Institute, whose packet of materials included a "Patriot Handbook" containing "tested cases and methods to maintain good personal freedom." In 1983 and 1984, Hardin edited The Arizona Patriot, a monthly journal that printed diatribes against government officials, calls for "Christian Patriots" to band together, and reprints of articles from anti-Semitic publications.
Following a two-year FBI undercover probe, Federal agents raided a Patriot camp in 1986, and confiscated a hoard of weapons and publications from Aryan Nation groups. Ty Hardin left Arizona, and the group soon ceased to function."
Hardin was recently nominated for the Key Peninsula citizens award for his volunteer services to his community. He was mentioned with others in an article that appeared in the February 28, 2007 edition of the Peninsula Gateway newspaper. Hardin currently lives with his eighth wife in the Key Peninsula area near the town of
Gig Harbor, Washington. He has ten children.
He was considered for the role of
Batman in the 1960s series
Batman, when it was being planned as a serious action-adventure show.
Adam West got the part, because Hardin declined while working in Europe.
Personal life
Spouse(s) as per the entry:
- Nancy (1952 - ?) (divorced) 2 children;
- Andra Martin (30 August 1958 - ?) (divorced) 2 children;
- Marlene Schmidt (1962 - 1966) (divorced) 1 child;
- Francine Nebel (1966 - ?) (divorced) 1 child;
- Jenny Atkins (1971 - ?) (divorced);
- Lyndell (1974 - ?) (divorced) 1 child;
- Judy McNeill (26 February 1978 - 3 August 2007) (divorced) 3 children;
- Caroline (21 August 2007 - present)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ty Hardin'.
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