Biography
Among the most distinguished members of Hollywood’s golden-era supporting players, Sir Cedric Hardwicke possessed a resonant voice and precise enunciation that lent themselves ideally to spoken-word recordings. Although actors of comparable stature often became closely identified with such releases, Hardwicke largely avoided the dramatic repertoire—Edgar Allan Poe recitations, for instance—that Boris Karloff and Vincent Price rendered iconic on long-playing discs. He did, however, record a notable rendition of Treasure Island for the Bookmark label and, for Caedmon, delivered a substantial selection of William Wordsworth’s verse along with a joint program of seventeenth-century metaphysical and love lyrics alongside Robert Newton.
Additional audio documents place Hardwicke in other corners of a collector’s library. He appeared in a radio series drawn from the Sherlock Holmes stories, broadcasts that have resurfaced on compact-disc anthologies of vintage programs. He is also heard on original-soundtrack anthologies in the company of Bing Crosby. A separate musician, bassist Cedric Hardwick, cut several sides during the 1940s; that body of work should not be mistaken for the actor’s.
Additional audio documents place Hardwicke in other corners of a collector’s library. He appeared in a radio series drawn from the Sherlock Holmes stories, broadcasts that have resurfaced on compact-disc anthologies of vintage programs. He is also heard on original-soundtrack anthologies in the company of Bing Crosby. A separate musician, bassist Cedric Hardwick, cut several sides during the 1940s; that body of work should not be mistaken for the actor’s.