Jerry Hardin

Jerry Hardin is an American actor born on November 20, 1929, in Dallas, Texas, whose career spans Broadway, film, and television. His father worked as a rancher, and Hardin spent his early years involved in church activities and school theatrical productions. He pursued formal training at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, on a scholarship, then continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, earning an Acting diploma in 1953. After spending several years in London following his graduation, he returned to the United States and established himself in New York, working in regional theatre for twelve years before transitioning to broader professional work.

Hardin's Broadway career extended from 1959 to 1999 and included appearances in The Rainmaker, the play King Henry IV, Part II, and the comedy The Beaux Stratagem. Alongside his stage work, he began accumulating television credits in the 1950s, primarily in character roles, eventually surpassing 100 film and television appearances and more than 75 theatrical credits. His television work includes Sara, The Rockford Files, WKRP in Cincinnati, Family Ties, The Golden Girls, World War III, JAG, Sliders, and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. His film appearances include Thunder Road (1958), Our Time (1974), Wolf Lake (1978), Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979), 1941 (1979), Reds (1981), Missing (1982), Tempest (1982), Honkytonk Man (1982), Cujo (1983), Mass Appeal (1984), Warning Sign (1985), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Let's Get Harry (1986), Wanted: Dead or Alive (1987), Little Nikita (1988), The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), Blaze (1989), The Hot Spot (1990), and The Firm (1993).

Hardin's performance in The Firm drew the attention of television writer Chris Carter, who cast him in the recurring role of Deep Throat on The X-Files. His first appearance as the character aired on September 17, 1993, in the second episode of the series' first season, a role Hardin initially expected to be a single appearance. He subsequently found himself making regular trips to the production's Vancouver filming location on short notice. After the character's death was filmed for the first-season finale, "The Erlenmeyer Flask," Carter marked the occasion with champagne and told Hardin that no one truly dies on The X-Files. Hardin went on to appear as Deep Throat in visions during the third-season episode "The Blessing Way" and the seventh-season episode "The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati," in flashbacks in the fourth-season episode "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man," and as one of the forms taken by a shapeshifting alien in the third-season finale, "Talitha Cumi."

Hardin also made notable guest appearances in the Star Trek franchise, playing Radue in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "When the Bough Breaks," Samuel Clemens in the two-part episode "Time's Arrow," and Neria in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Emanations." His earlier appearance in Roots: The Gift placed him alongside four actors who would go on to portray major Star Trek characters: LeVar Burton, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, and Tim Russ.

In his personal life, Hardin is married to Diane, née Hill, who works as an acting coach. The couple have two children. Their daughter, Melora Hardin, is an actress recognized for her roles as Trudy Monk in Monk and Jan Levinson in The Office. Their son worked for the television network NBC.