Talk:Historic Collinsville and David Hemmings: Difference between pages

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[[image:Hemmings_blowup.jpg|thumb|right|200px|David Hemmings in ''[[Blowup]]'']]

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'''David Hemmings''' ([[18 November]], [[1941]] – [[3 December]], [[2003]]) was an [[England|English]] [[film|movie]] [[actor]] and [[film director|director]], whose most famous role was the [[photographer]] in [[Michelangelo Antonioni]]'s ''[[Blowup]]'' in 1966 (opposite [[Vanessa Redgrave]]), one of the films that best represented the spirit of the 1960s. Although initially an attractive leading man, he was increasingly cast as a villain in the latter stages of his career, when his waistline expanded and his looks deteriorated.

==Career==

===Early performances===

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 ''[[The Turn of the Screw (opera)|Turn of the Screw]]''. Hemmings' intimate, yet innocent, relationship with Britten is described in John Bridcut's ''[[Britten's Children]]''.

===Film and television work===

Hemmings then moved on to an [[acting]] and directing career in the [[film|cinema]]. He made his first film appearance in 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. 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 (musical)|Camelot]]'' (1967), ''[[The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968 film)|The Charge of the Light Brigade]]'' (1968) and ''Alfred the Great'' (1969) (in which he played the title role). In keeping with his standing as a 1960s icon, he also appeared in ''[[Barbarella (film)|Barbarella]]''.

Ca. 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. <ref>Lee Hill - ''A Grand Guy: The Lief and Art of Terry Southern'' (Bloomosbury, 2002), p.149</ref> Another (Italian) cult movie in which Hemmings was a pianista involved in a serial killer story is the 1975 thriller ''[[Profondo Rosso]]'' (also known as <i>Deep Red</i> or <i>The Hatchet Murders</i>) 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".<ref name="The Future Isn't What It Used to Be">Angus MacKinnon (1980). "The Future Isn't What It Used to Be". ''[[NME]] ([[13 September]] [[1980]])'': pp.32-37</ref> 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 ''[[Magnum, p.i.]]'' (in which he also played characters in several episodes), ''[[The A-Team]]'' and ''[[Airwolf]]'', in which he also played the role of [[Dr. Charles Henry Moffett]], Airwolf's twisted creator, in the Pilot and the fan favourite second season episode 'Moffett's Ghost'. 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 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 more recent years he had a role in the hit [[Russell Crowe]] film, ''[[Gladiator (film)|Gladiator]]'', in 2000. His last major role was in the movie ''[[Last Orders (film)|Last Orders]]'', the following year.

Hemmings died of a [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]], aged 62, in [[Romania]], on the film set of ''Blessed'', (working title ''Samantha's Child'') after playing his scenes for the day.

===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 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 (album)|Journey to the Centre of the Earth]]''. In 1975 he starred as Bertie Wooster in the short-lived [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]] musical, ''[[Jeeves (musical)|Jeeves]]''. Hemmings also managed the career of Canadian rocker [[Pat Travers]] during the latter half of the 1970's.

==Personal life==

Living up to his glamorous image, 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]].

==Appearances in popular culture==

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."

==Further reading==

[[Image:Hemmings.Autobiography.jpg|right|150px|thumb|David Hemmings' autobiography ''Blow Up... and Other Exaggerations'']]

David Hemmings (2004). ''Blow Up... and Other Exaggerations: The Autobiography of David Hemmings''. ISBN 1-86105-789-X.

==Notes==

{{Reflist}}

==External links==

* {{imdb name|id=0376101|name=David Hemmings}}

* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8168108 David Hemmings at Find-A-Grave]

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,1100256,00.html#article_continue Obituary by Tim Pulleine (5 December 2005). ''The Guardian'']

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20040405061319/www.hqheadquarters.com/blowup/blowup.htm A collection of pictures taken on the set of ''Blowup'']

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