Ty Hardin

Ty Hardin's career was one of the inspirations to writer/director Quentin Tarantino for the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood (2019).

In July 2005 he appeared as a guest at the Western Film Fair in Charlotte, NC, along with Donna Douglas, Ed Nelson, Elena Verdugo, Richard Anderson, Lorna Gray, Jo Morrow and Henry Darrow.

The May 6, 1970, issue of "Variety", in the Italian Films Shooting section, lists a movie, "Zigzag", filming in Yugoslavia and Italy, Director was Maurizio Lucidi, with a cast of Hardin, John Smith and Virginia Wood. It was to be produced by Ika Panajotovic with Cabot Films and Prodi. There is no evidence this film was completed or released.

Died on the same day as his Berserk (1967) co-star Robert Hardy.

Was the original choice of producers to play the lead in Batman (1966), but had to turn it down because he was filming a western in Italy. For the same reason he had to decline the lead in A Fistful of Dollars (1964).

From here, he moved into a brief flurry of film activity: Merrill's Marauders (1962) and The Chapman Report (1962) in 1962, PT 109 (1963), Wall of Noise (1963), and Palm Springs Weekend (1963) in 1963, and Battle of the Bulge (1965) in 1966. After this, Ty's career drifted off into a series of forgettable movies made in Europe and, later, he worked in Prescott, Arizona, as an evangelistic preacher.

His third wife, Marlene Schmidt, was Miss Universe of 1961.

Wife Judy McNeill was a photographer's model in the 1960s, appearing in commercials for Maybelline cosmetics. She also modeled bathing suits for Oleg Cassini and is recognized as an accomplished artist.

Soon, Ty had his own show, Bronco (1958), which ran from 1958 to 1962.

Though born in New York City, Ty was raised in Texas and, after military service during the Korean War, took some classes at Texas A&M. He then moved west to California and won some minor roles in B movies. When TV's Clint Walker insisted on improvements in his Cheyenne (1955) contract, Warner Brothers countered by bringing in Ty as a possible replacement.