Dona Hardy (December 3, 1912 – February 13, 2011), sometimes misspelled as Donna Hardy, was an American film and television actress.
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Early life
Jean Dona Barley was born December 3, 1912 in Los Angeles, California to a single mother, Ethel née MacGillivray, and raised with her mother and maternal grandparents. In the early 1930s she toured the United States with a dance troupe, but left and returned to her native Los Angeles during the Depression. She briefly dated an up-and-coming, but still largely unknown, actor named Anthony Quinn. She was the Executive Director of a United Way affiliate, and retired at age 66, when she looked to begin her acting career.
Career
Hardy began her acting career late in life, usually playing sweet, sometimes deceptively harmless-looking old ladies. During her acting career, Hardy bedded John Ritter, kissed Matthew Perry, and, fitted with a walker, was asked by faux-auteur Jerry Stiller (in an episode of The King of Queens) to consider "some tasteful nudity" for a community theater production of The Gin Game. She worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Richard Dawson in her first film credit, the Stephen King-penned thriller, The Running Man, in which she had played "Mrs. McArdle" and had to say the word "motherfucker". "There is nothing that people enjoy so much as hearing old people say dirty words.... I don't know what's so attractive about that, but every old lady knows she is going to be asked to say the 'F' word sooner or later." Her second film credit, When Harry Met Sally..., was her favorite film. Her last role was in 2010.
Personal life
She married Irving Hardekopf in 1946; the couple adopted a son and remained together until his death in 1980. Widowed, she adapted her acting name from a shortened version of her married name. In 2009, she relocated with her son, Bill, a former president/general manager of the Birmingham Barons, to the Birmingham area, where she died on February 13, 2011, aged 98.
Selected filmography
Film
The Running Man (1987) - Mrs. McArdle
When Harry Met Sally... (1989) - Documentary Couple #10
Shattered (1991) - Pet Shop Woman
We're Talking Serious Money (1992) - Old Lady
Universal Soldier (1992) - Old Woman
Rave Review (1994) - Complaining Patron
The Cable Guy (1996) - Karaoke Party Guest
Dogtown (1997) - Other Cast
The Truman Show (1998) - Senior Citizen
Civility (2000) - Danni
Nurse Betty (2000) - Woman Patient
Sordid Lives (2000) - Mrs. King (Organist)
Attention Shoppers (2000) - Old Woman
Serial Killing 4 Dummys (2004) - Rose
You Did What? (2006) - Neighbor
Choose Connor (2007) - Old Woman
Superbad (2007) - Old Lady
Extreme Movie (2008) - Molly
Timer (2009) - Sadie
Spork (2010) - Old Lady
How to Make Love to a Woman (2010) - Grandma Conners (final film role)
Television
Quantum Leap (1989) - Grey Haired Lady
Designing Women (1990, 1991) - Margaret / Mrs. Chesley
Night Court (1992) - Margaret Keane
Hearts Afire (1993, 1994) - Aunt Grace / Elderly Woman / Dorothy Bingham
ER (1994, 2008) - Freda / Harriet
The Nanny (1998) - Sister
Reba (2002) - Mrs. Wolf
Malcolm in the Middle (2003) - Old Lady
Charmed (2004) - Old Paige
The King of Queens (2005) - Minna
My Name Is Earl (2006) - Hank's Grandmother
Grey's Anatomy (2006) - Grace Bickham
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2006) - Old Woman
Bones (2008) - Nadine Spring
