Oliver Hardy in north Georgia in the 1905 fall semester when he was 13. He had little interest in formal education, although he acquired an early interest in music and theater. He joined a theatrical group and later ran away from a boarding school near Atlanta to sing with the group. His mother recognized his talent for singing and sent him to Atlanta to study music and voice with singing teacher Adolf Dahm-Petersen. He skipped some of his lessons to sing in the Alcazar Theater for $3.50 a week. Hardy began styling himself "Oliver Norvell Hardy", adding the first name "Oliver" as
William Hardy (actor) Hardy's last role was in Terence Malick's film "Tree of Life" William Hardy (actor) William Hardy was an American actor and theatre director with a lifelong career on both the stage and screen. William Hardy's first professional job was at Bob Bartel's Houston Melodrama Theatre while still in college. He graduated from the University of Houston with a double major in theater and languages and joined Houston's then-new Alley Theatre. He was a company member for twenty years, appearing in a diversity of roles in such plays as "Camino Real", "A Flea in Her Ear", "Hadrian VII", "The Taming of