FRANK AND JOE HARDY
Real Name
: Frank and Joe HardyHistory: Frank and Joe Hardy are natives of Bayport, New York in the 1930s where they lived in a three-story old Victorian on the corner of Elm Street. They attended Bayport High School, but outside of school often worked as detectives behind the scenes of their father, Fenton Hardy, a former New York City police detective turned private investigator. They were sometimes assisted in solving mysteries by their friends Chet Morton, Phil Cohen, Biff Hooper, Jerry Gilroy, and Tony Prito and, less frequently, by their platonic girlfriends Callie Shaw and Chet’s sister, Iola Morton. When the father of one of their school friends became wrongly accused of stealing, the boys took it upon themselves to clear his name and solve the mystery.
After Frank and Joe solve their first case, Fenton tried to dissuade them from falling in his footsteps, but after a while, he started asking for more of their help on some of his more difficult cases. Between the boys, Frank, the dark-haired older brother, often remained intellectual, while Joe the blonde younger brother, was more athletic and often more impulsive. Compared to his brother Joe, Frank is the more logical, rational one. Whenever Joe wanted to jump straight into a situation, Frank was the one to hold him back and think through all the logical possibilities. More than once, Frank has surprised the villains by having the entire case figured out. Frank usually became the one that had to look for Joe when he got lost or kidnapped.
Around Bayport, Frank and Joe gained quite a reputation as amateur detectives. After the death of his girlfriend, Iola Morton. Frank briefly dated Nancy Drew, the famous girl detective, but a true romance never blossomed between them. He briefly dated her best friend, Bess, and while Nancy was once in danger, she inadvertently called out Frank’s name in front her regular beau, Ned Nickerson. Preferring not to pursue their relationship further, Nancy decided to stay with Ned while Frank began dating Callie Shaw. Joe however dated Vanessa Bender
During the course of their adventures, Frank and Joe often traveled abroad to Mexico, Iceland and Egypt. In their late teens, they joined ATAC (American Teens Against Crime), a young detective team founded by their father and affiliated with a police program known as the Network with some allegiances with the FBI. Taking their instructions through a figure known as the Gray Man, they learned a crime syndicate turned into international terrorists had been responsible for Iola’s death. Their team work eventually helped the FBI to take down the organization over several adventures.
Writer Edward Stratemeyer, in looking for positive role models to share with young adults, eventually heard of the adventures of Frank and Joe through Franklin W. Dixon, a Bayport attorney, and edited and published the books under Dixon’s name. The books became quite successful, and were published over several years with multiple editions with the boy’s share of the proceeds for the use of her name going to into their own detective agency. Over the years, tales of her exploits and fictionalized adventures have inspired several young adults. Their later adventures are unrevealed
Abilities: Both Frank and Joe Hardy are in top physical shape through weight lifting and sports. Frank is trained in karate, but Joe is in slightly better shapes through playing sports. Frank is an amateur explosive expert in building and diffusing bombs. While Joe is not as gifted intellectually as Frank, he is very adept in athletics and as a history major.
Comments: Frank and Joe Hardy were first portrayed by Rick Gates and Tim Matheson in “The Mystery of the Chinese Junk” from 1967. (Matheson later starred in "Animal House" and "Buried Secrets.") In a 1969 cartoon, they were voiced by Byron Kane and Dale McKennon.Almost ten years later, they were played by
Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy in 1977’s Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Mysteries.
This bio largely describes the Hardy Boys adventures as occurring at the time of their original stories (1927 through the 1930s). However, over the years, innovations such as computers eventually became part of their lives. In the 1980s and 1990s Hardy Boys Case Files, Frank even becomes a computer expert, but this could be part of his modernized literary version.