Auckland Theatre Company Media Release

Tuesday 31 August 2012

New Zealand Theatre Has Lost One Its Stalwarts And Fervent Supporters

Veteran kiwi actor Jonathan Hardy died in Sydney on Monday 30 July.

Jonathan trained in Britain and worked for major British theatre companies, including London's National Theatre. He returned to New Zealand with the Royal Shakespeare Theatre's touring production of COMEDY OF ERRORS in 1966 and stayed on to support New Zealand's fledging professional theatre industry.

Jonathan was a former Artistic Director of Mercury Theatre, before moving to Australia where he quickly became popular actor with all of Australia's state theatre companies.

An extremely accomplished and deliciously comic actor, Jonathan returned to New Zealand to perform a number of times. As a guest actor with Auckland Theatre Company he returned several times, including for his lauded performance as Willie Loman in Simon Prast's production of DEATH OF A SALESMAN.

"Those of us who knew Jonathan will miss his twinkling eyes, outrageous eyebrows, acerbic wit, insightful observations and huge talent," says Auckland Theatre Company Artistic Director, Colin McColl.

Our hearts go out to Jonathan's nearest and dearest.

ENDS

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