Hardy, Phil
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author, Critic, Editor.
(1945-2014) UK journalist, business consultant and expert on rock music and film, on both of which subjects he has published widely, having been founding editor of Studio Vista's Rockbooks series and of the magazine Music Business. Among his notable books on film those most relevant to sf are The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction (1984; vt Science Fiction: The Complete Film Sourcebook 1984; vt The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Movies 1986; rev 1991) and The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror (1985; vt The Encyclopedia of Horror Movies 1986), both of which he edited and partly wrote. Well edited, containing detailed credits and critical annotations on well over 1000 films each, these books are – despite inevitable small errors and on rare occasion weird judgments – about the most readable and useful reference works in book form on their subjects (see Cinema). There are more comprehensive filmographies available, but Hardy's are much the most comprehensive to contain critical comment. The Science Fiction volume – whose 1991 updating was largely the work of Kim Newman – was the only 1990s book to be more comprehensive in the field than the second edition of this encyclopedia. [PN]
Philippe George Hardy
born Scarborough, North Yorkshire: 7 April 1945
died Norfolk: 8 April 2014
works (selected)
- The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction (London: Aurum Press, 1984) [nonfiction: hb/]
- Science Fiction: The Complete Film Sourcebook (New York: Morrow, 1984) [nonfiction: vt of the above: hb/]
- The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Movies (London: Octopus Books, 1986) [nonfiction: vt of the above: pb/]
- The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction (London: Aurum Press, 1991) [nonfiction: rev of the above: hb/]
- The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction: Third Edition (London: Aurum Press, 1995) [nonfiction: rev of the above: pb/]
- The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror (London: Aurum Press, 1985) [nonfiction: hb/]
- The Encyclopedia of Horror Movies (New York: Harper & Row, 1986) [nonfiction: rev vt of the above: pb/]
links
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