Ty Hardin

Ty Hardin
Hardin as Bronco Layne, 1962.
Born	Orison Whipple Hungerford Jr. January 1, 1930 (1930-01-01) (age 81) New York City, New York, USA
Spouse	Caroline Hardin (2007-present) Judy D. McNeill (1978-2007) (divorced) Lyndell (1974- ) (divorced) 1 child Jenny Atkins (1971-?) (divorced) Nebel, Francine (1966 - ?) (divorced) 1 child Marlene Schmidt (1962-1965) (divorced) 1 child Andra Martin (1958-1961) (divorced) 2 children Nancy Hardin (1952-?) (divorced) 2 children

Ty Hardin, born Orison Whipple Hungerford, Jr., (born January 1, 1930) is a former American actor best known as the star of the 1950s ABC western television series Bronco.

Early life

Hardin was raised in Texas and attended Lamar High School. He served in the U.S. Army in the Korean War where he was commissioned from Officer Candidate School, and became a pilot of O-1 Bird Dog liaison aircraft.^[1] After his return from service, he began taking college courses at Texas A&M University in College Station.

Working as an engineer in California, Hardin was planning on attending a costume party as a cowboy and heard that the Western Costume company on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood rented out stage weapons. While there, he was discovered by a Paramount Pictures talent scout.^[1] By 1957, Hardin acquired the services of agent Henry Willson and made his way to Hollywood where he was put under contract by Paramount. Initially billed as "Ty Hungerford," he made minor appearances in several Paramount films such as I Married a Monster from Outer Space, The Space Children and Last Train from Gun Hill. The "Ty" came from a childhood nickname of "Typhoon".^[2]

Warner Brothers years

Hardin stated that he had tried for a role in Rio Bravo that he did not know had been promised to Ricky Nelson. John Wayne reportedly saw him and was impressed by his appearance.^[3] Wayne introduced him to Howard Hawks and William T. Orr of Warner Bros. Television who changed his stage surname to "Hardin" after gunfighter John Wesley Hardin.^[1]

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 Sugarfoot; Bronco ran from 1958-62. Hardin soon found himself in leading roles in Warner Brothers films such as Merrill's Marauders, Palm Springs Weekend, The Chapman Report and PT 109.

International films

Like many American actors, Hardin travelled to Europe where he made several spaghetti westerns though he turned down the lead of A Fistful of Dollars.^[1] He then appeared in Cinerama epic films such as Battle of the Bulge and Custer of the West.

Later Hardin starred in a 1967-68 Australian television series Riptide ^[4] where he sponsored an Australian motorcycle racing team and a 1970 German television series called On the Trail of Johnny Hilling, Boor and Billy which was immensely successful in West Germany.

Political career

In the 1980s, Ty Hardin organized a militia group in Prescott, Arizona known as the Arizona Patriots. He formed the Common Law Institute which taught that the sovereignty of the people was supreme and sovereign citizens were not bound by any rules or regulations of the government.^{[citation needed]} He published a monthly tabloid called the Arizona Patriot which printed anti-United States government articles. The Federal Reserve System and the Internal Revenue Service were among targets the group felt should be abolished.^{[citation needed]} As the group advocated stockpiling weapons and ammunition to protect the people from government, an FBI investigation was triggered which lasted for two years. As a result, federal agents raided a Patriot camp confiscating a cache of weapons and several members of the group were arrested for conspiracy against the U.S. government. Hardin left Arizona soon after and the group ceased to function. Hardin fled to Costa Rica, a country with no active extradition treaties and reportedly had become involved with the local ecology and rain forest movements.^{[citation needed]} He has since returned to the United States.

Personal life

From 1962 to 1966 Hardin was married to the 1961 Miss Universe, German beauty queen Marlene Schmidt, who later involved herself in the movie industry; they had one daughter. As of 2009, Hardin lives with his eighth wife in Huntington Beach, California; he has 10 children.

See also

• Cheyenne (game)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} All About Ty Hardin website
2. ^ Brode, Douglas Shooting Stars of the Small Screen 2009 University of Texas Press, p.163
3. ^ Ty Hardin fansite
4. ^ Riptide website

External links

• The Official Ty Hardin Website
• Ty Hardin at the Internet Movie Database
• Ty Hardin at Brian's Drive-In Theater
• Ty Hardin interview with Joe Krein
• Riptide Australian TV series

Persondata
Name	Hardin, Ty
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 1, 1930
Place of birth	New York City, New York
Date of death
Place of death