He Kissed Hollywood Good-bye

Green Bay Press-Gazette

July 1, 1973

Los Boliches, Spain – Ty Hardin, 43-year-old film and YV western star, has turned bar and restaurant-owner.

Disenchanted with the Hollywood scene, he is living quietly and almost unrecognizable behind thick white beard in this quiet, unspoiled fishing village by the Mediterranean. But fans who know him from movies and his television series “Bronco” still greet him enthusiastically as El Bronco.

The Texas-born actor in concentrating on the restaurant scene on the rich and flourishing Costa del Sol, the southern strip of Spain, year-round playground of millions of European and American vacationers.

He has bought a second restaurant-bar in nearby Torreenalios, and Coney Island of this coast, and plans two others in Malaga and Marbella.

Ty came here several years ago to star in European-made movies, including the Italian-shot “Spahhetti Westerns” and other outdoor action films shot on Spain’s own “Oregon”, the desert-and-rocks province of Almeria.

His film “Sacramento” has yet to be released here, and he recently made “Arpad the Gypsy” in Hungary.

As he greeted customers in his Western-style restaurant, a Texas cowboy’s saddle mounted on the wall, Ty told me:

“I’ve given up movies and TV only temporarily, not for good. For good is a long number, isn’t it? But I’ve made up my mind that, after traveling through Europe for the last few years, making films television shows and plays, it’s time for me to find some roots in some area, develop some income so I can keep myself financially stable. I don’t want to have to depend on the industry to support me all my life. That’s why I’ve taken up roots here in Spain for the time being.”

Ty Hardin said life as a restaurant owner is often tougher than being a movie and TV star.

“Now I find myself in about 14 feet of water without being able to swim. Luckily, I have some good people around me, including my partner, Harry Hubert, who has experience of bars in Spain. But it does mean an awful lot of work”.

The Texas-born star, handsome behind his beard and graying hair, is considering offers to star in the play “Stalag 13” in Britain in August.

He added” “But for the time being I am very well dedicated to my bars. I’ve had other offers, one for a “Spaghetti Western”, another for a modern picture to be made in Palms, Majorca. So far I’ve made 14 films in Spain, two of them in Almeria, and one in Segovia, others out of Madrid”.

Contrasting tranquil Spain (though it’s also fast developing), Ty added: “Spain is in about a 300 percent slower pace than America. California is going 100 miles an hour nowhere. It’s a great country to have been from, but for my life-style, for what I want out of life, its no place for me to live.”

[Courtesy of Mike Hauss]