David Hemmings (18 November 1941 – 3 December 2003) was an
English film actor and
director, whose most famous role was the
photographer in
Blowup. In his later acting career, he was known for his distinctive eyebrows and gravelly voice.
Career
Early performances
Born in
Guildford,
Surrey, his education at
Alleyn's School and
Glyn Technology School led him to start his career performing as a boy
soprano in several works by
Benjamin Britten, who formed a close friendship with him at this time. Most notably, he created the role of Miles in the opera
Turn of the Screw. Hemmings' intimate, yet innocent, relationship with Britten is described in John Bridcut's
Britten's Children. Although many commentators identified Britten's relationship with Hemmings as based on an infatuation, throughout his life Hemmings maintained categorically that Britten's conduct with him was beyond reproach at all times.
Film and television work
Hemmings then moved on to acting and directing in the
cinema. He made his first film appearance in
The Rainbow Jacket (1954), but it was in the mid-sixties that he first became well known as a pin-up and film star.
Antonioni, who detested the
"Method" way of acting, sought to find a fresh young face for the lead in his next production,
Blowup. It was then that he found Hemmings, at the time acting in small stage theatre in London. Following
Blowup, Hemmings appeared in a string of major British films, including
Camelot (1967),
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) and
Alfred the Great (1969) (in which he played the title role). His short stature, sleepy eyes and undershot jaw made him an unconventional leading man, but unconventional was right for the times, and he became one of the princes of the 'swinging London' scene. In keeping with his standing as a 1960s icon, he also appeared in
Barbarella (1968).
Around 1967, Hemmings was also briefly considered for the role of Alex in a planned film version of
Anthony Burgess' controversial novel
A Clockwork Orange which was to be based on a screen treatment by satirist
Terry Southern and British photographer
Michael Cooper. Cooper and
The Rolling Stones were reportedly upset by the move and it was decided to return to the original plan in which
Mick Jagger would play Alex, with the rest of The Rolling Stones as his
droog gang, but the production was shelved after Britain's chief censor, the
Lord Chamberlain, indicated that he would not permit it to be made.
[Lee Hill - A Grand Guy: The Life and Art of Terry Southern (Bloomosbury, 2002), p.149] An (Italian)
cult movie in which Hemmings appeared was the 1975 thriller
Profondo Rosso (also known as
Deep Red or
The Hatchet Murders) directed by
Dario Argento.
In 1978, Hemmings directed
David Bowie and
Marlene Dietrich in
Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo (also known as
Just a Gigolo). The film was poorly received, Bowie describing it as "my 32
Elvis Presley movies rolled into one".
[Angus MacKinnon (1980). "The Future Isn't What It Used to Be". NME (13 September 1980): pp.32-37] Hemmings directed a film version of
James Herbert's novel
The Survivor, starring
Robert Powell and
Jenny Agutter, in 1981. Throughout the 1980s he also worked extensively as a director on television programmes including
(in which he also played characters in several episodes),
The A-Team and
Airwolf, in which he also played the role of
Doctor Charles Henry Moffet, Airwolf's twisted creator, in the pilot and the second season episode "Moffett's Ghost" (a typographical error by the studio's titles unit). He once joked, "People thought I was dead. But I wasn't. I was just directing The A-Team." In 1984 he directed the puzzle contest video
Money Hunt: The Mystery of the Missing Link. In 1985, Hemmings directed the film adaptation of
Ken Follett's popular work
The Key to Rebecca. He also briefly served as a producer on the
NBC series
Stingray.
Hemmings played a vindictive cop in the 1980 movie
Beyond Reasonable Doubt about Arthur Allan Thomas, a New Zealand farmer jailed for the murder of
Harvey and Jeanette Crewe but later pardoned. In 1992, he directed
Dark Horse and as an actor returned to the voyeuristic preoccupations of his
Blowup character with a plum part as the
Big Brother-esque villain in the season three opener for
Tales From the Crypt. In later years, he had roles in the blockbuster movie
Gladiator (2000), playing Cassius, with
Russell Crowe,
Last Orders and "Spy Game", directed by Tony Scott (2001). In 2002 he played Mr. Shemerhorn in
Gangs of New York. One of his final film appearances was a cameo role in the cult hit,
Equilibrium (2002), shortly before his death.
Music
In 1967 Hemmings recorded a pop single ("Back Street Mirror", written by
Gene Clark) and an album,
David Hemmings Happens, in
Los Angeles. The album featured instrumental backing by several members of
the Byrds, and was produced by Byrds mentor
Jim Dickson. Hemmings also later provided the narration for
Rick Wakeman's
progressive rock adaptation of
Jules Verne's
Journey to the Centre of the Earth, which was recorded live. In 1975 he starred as
Bertie Wooster in the short-lived
Andrew Lloyd Webber musical,
Jeeves. Hemmings also managed the career of Canadian rocker
Pat Travers during the latter half of the 1970s.
Personal life
Hemmings married four times, the most famous of his wives being the
Fort Worth, Texas-born actress and long-term British resident,
Gayle Hunnicutt, mother of his son,
Nolan Hemmings.
Death
In December 2003, Hemmings died of a
heart attack, in
Romania, on the film set of
Blessed, (working title
Samantha's Child) after playing his scenes for the day. He was 62. His funeral was held in
Calne,
Wiltshire, where he had made his home for several years.
Partial filmography
Notes
Reflist
Further reading
David Hemmings (2004).
Blow Up... and Other Exaggerations: The Autobiography of David Hemmings.
ISBN 1-86105-789-X.
External links
Commons
DEFAULTSORT:Hemmings, David
