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| Birth Name(s) : David Hemmings |
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Full David Hemmings Biography
Born in Guildford, Surrey, he started his career as a boy soprano, appearing 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.
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. Another (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 1992 he 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), with Russell Crowe, and Last Orders (2001). One of his final film appearances was a cameo role in the cult hit, Equilibrium (2002), shortly before his death.
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 Dickinson. Hemmings also later provided the narration for Rick Wakeman's prog 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 1970's.
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.
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.
He was mentioned twice in the Monty Python's Flying Circus TV show (series 1, episode 8 - "Full Frontal Nudity"). The first time was at the beginning of the episode with the caption "In this performance the part of David Hemmings will be played by a piece of wood", the second time being at the end of the episode with the voice over "David Hemmings appeared by permission of the National Forestry Commission."
David Hemmings (2004). Blow Up... and Other Exaggerations: The Autobiography of David Hemmings. ISBN 1-86105-789-X. |
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