Actor. Born Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy, he was best known for his role of Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge in four "Harry Potter" films ("Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (2002), "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004), "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2005), and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2007). He served in the Royal Air Force shortly after beginning his education at Oxford University. After his service, he went back to Oxford to finish his undergraduate studies. While at Oxford, two of his teachers were the famed writers C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. He got his start in acting at the age of 24 with the Shakespeare Memorial Company in Stratford, later the Royal Shakespeare Company, starring in a stage adaptation of Coriolanus. Two years later he received his first role in television on the series "Michele and Rene." He would go on to appear in numerous television series and mini-series such as "David Copperfield," "BBC Sunday-Night Theatre," "An Age of Kings," "The Dark Island," "The Spread of the Eagle," "Manhunt," "Mogul," "Edward the King," "Mrs. Columbo," "Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years," "Jenny's War," "Hot Metal," "War and Remembrance," "All Creatures Great and Small," "Middlemarch," "The 10th Kingdom," and "Agatha Christie's Miss Marple." Besides the "Harry Potter" films, he also appeared in such films as "Torpedo Run" (1958), "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold" (1965), "How I Won the War" (1967), "10 Rillington Place" (1971), "Escape to Nowhere" (1973), "The Shooting Party" (1985), "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" (1994), "Sense and Sensibility" (1995), and "Lassie" (2005). He also performed in radio and did voice work for various media during a career that span seven decades. During his career, he received a Broadcasting Press Guild Best Actor Award in 1982 for portrayal of Winston Churchill in the mini-series "Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years" and two BAFTA nominations.