David Hemmings

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David Hemmings
David Hemmings in Eye of the Devil (1967)
Born	David Edward Leslie Hemmings 18 November 1941(1941-11-18) Guildford, Surrey, England
Died	3 December 2003(2003-12-03) (aged 62) Bucharest, Romania
Alma mater	Glyn Grammar School
Occupation	Actor, director, producer, screenwriter, singer-songwriter (operatic boy soprano) and pop singer)
Spouse	• Genista Ouvry (1st marriage)  • Gayle Hunnicutt (2nd marriage)  • Prudence J. de Casembroot (3rd marriage)  • Lucy (4th marriage) [clarification needed]
Children	• Deborah (with Ouvry)  • Nolan Hemmings (with Hunnicutt)  • George (with de Casembroot)  • Edward (with de Casembroot)  • Charlotte (with de Casembroot)  • William (with de Casembroot)

David Hemmings (18 November 1941 – 3 December 2003) was an English film, theatre and television actor as well as a film and television director and producer.^[1]

He is noted for his role as the photographer in the drama mystery-thriller film Blowup (1966), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. Early in his career, Hemmings was a boy soprano appearing in operatic roles. In his later acting career, he was known for his distinctive eyebrows and gravelly voice.

Career

Early life and early performances

He was born David Edward Leslie Hemmings in Guildford, Surrey. His education at Alleyn's School and the Glyn Grammar School (now the Glyn Technology School) led him to start his career performing as a boy soprano in several works by the composer Benjamin Britten, who formed a close friendship with him at this time. Most notably, Hemmings created the role of Miles in Britten's chamber opera Turn of the Screw (1954). His intimate, yet innocent, relationship with Britten is described in John Bridcut's book Britten's Children (2006). 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. Hemmings had earlier played the title role in Britten's The Little Sweep (1952), which was part of Britten's Let's Make An Opera! children's production.

Film and television work

Hemmings then moved on to acting and directing in film. He made his first film appearance in drama film 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 the musical film Camelot (1967), the war film The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) and in the title role in the epic film Alfred the Great (1969). 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 the science-fiction film Barbarella (1968).

Around 1967, Hemmings was briefly considered for the role of Alex in a planned film version of Anthony Burgess's novel A Clockwork Orange (1962), which was to be based on a screen treatment by satirist Terry Southern and British photographer Michael Cooper. Cooper and The Rolling Stones rock band were reportedly upset by the move and it was decided to return to the original plan in which Mick Jagger, the lead vocalist of The Rolling Stones, would play Alex, with the rest of The Stones as his droog gang; the production was shelved after Britain's chief censor, the Lord Chamberlain, indicated that he would not permit it to be made.^[2]

Hemmings directed the drama film The 14 (1973), which won the Silver Bear at the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival.^[3] He appeared in the Italian giallo film Profondo Rosso (also known as Deep Red or The Hatchet Murders) (1975) directed by Dario Argento.

He directed David Bowie and Marlene Dietrich in the drama film Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo (also known as Just a Gigolo) (1978). The film was poorly received, with Bowie describing it as "my 32 Elvis Presley movies rolled into one".^[4] Hemmings directed the horror film The Survivor (1981), based on James Herbert's 1976 novel of the same name, starring Robert Powell and Jenny Agutter.

Throughout the 1980s he also worked extensively as a director on television programmes including the action-adventure drama series Quantum Leap (e.g., the series premiere); the crime series Magnum, P.I. (in which he also played characters in several episodes); and two action-adventure series 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." He directed the thriller film Race for the Yankee Zephyr (1981), which stars Ken Wahl, Lesley Ann Warren, Donald Pleasence and George Peppard.

Hemmings also directed the puzzle-contest video Money Hunt: The Mystery of the Missing Link (1984). He directed the television film The Key to Rebecca (1985), an adaptation of Ken Follett's 1980 novel of the same name. He also briefly served as a producer on the NBC crime-drama television series Stingray.

Hemmings played a vindictive cop in the docudrama film Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1980) about Arthur Allan Thomas (portrayed by John Hargreaves), a New Zealand farmer jailed for the murder of Harvey and Jeanette Crewe but later pardoned. He directed the drama film Dark Horse (1992) 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 the television horror anthology series Tales From the Crypt.

In later years, he had roles including appearing as Cassius in the historical epic film Gladiator (2000), with Russell Crowe, as well as appearing in the drama film Last Orders (2001) and the spy film Spy Game (2001). He appeared as Mr. Schemerhorn in the historical film Gangs of New York (2002). One of his final film appearances was a cameo appearance in the science-fiction action film, Equilibrium (2002), shortly before his death, as well as another cameo appearance in the superhero film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), with Sean Connery.

Music

In 1967, Hemmings recorded a pop single, "Back Street Mirror" (written by Gene Clark), and a studio album, David Hemmings Happens, in Los Angeles, California. The album featured instrumental backing by several members of The Byrds, and was produced by Byrds mentor Jim Dickson.

In the 1970s, he was jointly credited with former Easybeats members Harry Vanda and George Young as a co-composer of the song "Pasadena". The original 1973 recording of this song – the first Australian hit for singer John Paul Young – was produced by Simon Napier-Bell, in whose SNB Records label Hemmings was a partner at the time.

Hemmings also later provided the narration for Rick Wakeman's progressive-rock album Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1974) – an adaptation of Jules Verne's science-fiction novel A Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) – which was recorded live.

He starred as Bertie Wooster in the short-lived Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Jeeves (1975).

Autobiography

Hemmings published his autobiography Blow Up... and Other Exaggerations – The Autobiography of David Hemmings (2004).

Personal life

He was married four times – first to Genista Ouvry, followed by a marriage to actress Gayle Hunnicutt; then a marriage Prudence J. de Casembroot and last, a marriage to Lucy.^{[clarification needed]}

Death

Hemmings died, at age 62, of a heart attack, in Bucharest, Romania, on the film set of Blessed (working title: Samantha's Child) after playing his scenes for the day.^[5]

He was survived by his wife Lucy; a daughter, Deborah, by his marriage to Ouvry; a son, Nolan Hemmings, by his marriage to Hunnicutt; and four children, George, Edward, Charlotte and William, by his marriage to de Casembroot.

His funeral was held in Calne, Wiltshire, where he had made his home for several years.

Filmography and television work

(includes directing work)

Bibliography

Hemmings, David (2004). Blow Up... and Other Exaggerations – The Autobiography of David Hemmings. Robson Books (London). ISBN 978-1-861-05789-1.

See also

	Biography portal
	Film portal
	Opera portal
	Television portal

• List of British actors and actresses
• List of British film directors
• List of film producers
• List of singer-songwriters

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: David Hemmings

• David Hemmings at AllRovi
• David Hemmings at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
• David Hemmings at Find a Grave
• David Hemmings at the Internet Movie Database
• David Hemmings at the TCM Movie Database
• Works by or about David Hemmings in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• A collection of pictures taken on the set of Blowup
• Pulleine, Tim (5 December 2005). "David Hemmings – Gifted Actor, Director and Producer Who Successfully Outgrew His Iconic 60s Image in Antonioni's Blow Up". The Guardian