Joseph Hardy obit

Director Joseph Hardy Is Dead

 

He was not on the list.

Joseph Hardy is a stage director with an extensive Broadway and Off-Broadway career. One of his first major works was the original production of YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN (1967) at Theater 80 St. Marks. He had to fight hard with the writer and producers to get his concept for the show on stage, and his hard work paid off. In 1967, he was awarded the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director. His other Off-Broadway directing credits include: HOUSE OF FLOWERS (1968), WHAT THE BUTLER SAW (1970), THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND and AFTER MAGRITTE (1972), GRACE (2008), NIGHTINGALE (2009), and THE DANCE OF DEATH (2013). Joe Hardy had a close working relationship with actress Lynn Redgrave, who starred in his productions of GRACE and NIGHTINGALE.

Born in Carlsbad, New Mexico, Hardy joined the US military after graduating from New Mexico Highlands University with a degree in English Literature. He left the Army early to return to Highlands for graduate studies. He took over the theatre program there for one year, but then left to attend the Yale School of Drama, where he received an MFA in Directing. Hardy started his career working as a script editor for soap operas and he returned to that world later in his career as a producer. He has found success on Broadway as well, winning a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for Child’s Play (1970). Hardy’s other Broadway credits include: Johnny No-Trump (1967), Play It Again, Sam (1969), Bob and Ray – The Two and Only (1970), Children! Children! (1972), Gigi (1973), and The Night of the Iguana (1976).

"I said, ‘Look, [the characters in YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN] just have to be real. They are comic strip characters, and they have to be real. They cannot be goofy … they have to be real actors playing real characters. That’s all.’"

Joseph Hardy

 

Producer

Finola Hughes, Maurice Benard, Genie Francis, Nancy Lee Grahn, Rebecca Herbst, and Laura Wright in General Hospital (1963)

General Hospital

6.6

TV Series

executive producer

1989–1991

29 episodes

 

Vic Noto in Loving (1983)

Loving

7.0

TV Series

executive producer

producer

1986–1990

401 episodes

 

Kate Mulgrew, Bernard Barrow, Helen Gallagher, Malcolm Groome, and Michael Hawkins in Ryan's Hope (1975)

Ryan's Hope

7.2

TV Series

executive producer

1984–1988

461 episodes

 

The Seduction of Miss Leona (1980)

The Seduction of Miss Leona

8.0

TV Movie

producer

1980

 

James at 16 (1977)

James at 16

8.1

TV Series

executive producer

1977–1978

11 episodes

 

Taxi!! (1978)

Taxi!!

6.7

TV Movie

producer

1978

 

Donna Mills, Robert Burr, and Shawn Campbell in Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1967)

Love Is a Many Splendored Thing

7.8

TV Series

executive producer

1967–1973

1423 episodes

 

Robert Young with the Young

TV Special

producer

1973

 

Doctor Glas (1968)

Doctor Glas

6.4

producer

1968

 

Kathleen Maguire in A Flame in the Wind (1964)

A Flame in the Wind

8.0

TV Series

producer

1964–1966

339 episodes

 

Ben Jerrod

8.3

TV Series

producer

1963

66 episodes

 

Director

Richard II

Video

Director

1986

 

Two Marriages (1983)

Two Marriages

5.9

TV Series

Director

1983

1 episode

 

John Lithgow and Linda Gray in Not in Front of the Children (1982)

Not in Front of the Children

6.1

TV Movie

Director

1982

 

The Day the Bubble Burst (1982)

The Day the Bubble Burst

7.2

TV Movie

Director

1982

 

Dream House (1981)

Dream House

6.2

TV Movie

Director

1981

 

The Seduction of Miss Leona (1980)

The Seduction of Miss Leona

8.0

TV Movie

Director

1980

 

Love's Savage Fury (1979)

Love's Savage Fury

5.7

TV Movie

Director

1979

 

Elizabeth Taylor in Return Engagement (1978)

Return Engagement

6.8

TV Movie

Director

1978

 

The Users (1978)

The Users

6.2

TV Movie

Director

1978

 

The Paper Chase (1973)

The Paper Chase

8.1

TV Series

Director

1978

1 episode

 

Taxi!! (1978)

Taxi!!

6.7

TV Movie

Director

1978

 

James at 16 (1977)

James at 16

8.1

TV Series

Director

1977–1978

5 episodes

 

Trisha Noble in Executive Suite (1976)

Executive Suite

7.1

TV Series

Director

1976

1 episode

 

Addie and the King of Hearts (1976)

Addie and the King of Hearts

7.1

TV Movie

Director

1976

 

The Silence

6.9

TV Movie

Director

1975

 

Last Hours Before Morning (1975)

Last Hours Before Morning

5.5

TV Movie

Director

1975

 

Great Expectations (1974)

Great Expectations

6.2

TV Movie

Director

1974

 

The Lady's Not for Burning (1974)

The Lady's Not for Burning

8.6

TV Movie

Director

1974

 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1974)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

7.0

TV Movie

Director

1974

 

Susan Strasberg, Tony Musante, and Simon Oakland in Toma (1973)

Toma

7.6

TV Series

Director

1974

1 episode

 

The Man of Destiny

TV Movie

Director

1973

 

The Lily Tomlin Show

8.6

TV Special

Director

1973

 

The Shadow of a Gunman (1972)

The Shadow of a Gunman

7.1

TV Movie

Director

1972

 

Writer

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1985)

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown

7.3

TV Movie

adaptation

1973