David Hedison

Albert David Hedison Jr. (May 20, 1927 – July 18, 2019) was an American film, television, and stage actor. He was known for his roles as the title character in The Fly, Captain Lee Crane in the television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964–1968), and CIA agent Felix Leiter in two James Bond films, Live and Let Die (1973) and Licence to Kill (1989).

Biography Early life and career Albert David Hedison, Jr was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Armenian immigrants Albert David Hedison (Heditsian) Sr and Rose Boghosian . Hedison decided he wanted to be an actor after he saw Tyrone Power in the film Blood and Sand. Hedison enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1945 during World War II, but the war ended before he completed basic training. He served 18 months before his discharge.

He began his acting career with the Sock and Buskin Players at Brown University before moving to New York to study with Sanford Meisner and Martha Graham at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre and with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. Early in his career, he had gotten a nose job.

He was billed as Al Hedison in his early film work until 1959 when he was cast in the role of Victor Sebastian in the short-lived espionage television series Five Fingers. NBC insisted that he change his name, so he proposed his middle name, which was accepted; he was billed as David Hedison from then on.

Theatre He acted at Newport Casino Theatre. In 1951, he won a Barter Theatre Award for most promising young actor, entitling him to work at a theatre in Virginia. He did radio in North Carolina and worked on stage in Pittsburgh. He was studying with Uta Hagen who recommended him for a role in the Broadway production of A Month in the Country (1956), directed by Michael Redgrave. It ran for 48 performances on Broadway. The Theatre World declared Hedison as one of the most promising theatre personalities of the 1955–56 season.

20th Century Fox After his role in A Month in the Country, Hedison signed a film contract with 20th Century Fox in May 1957.

Hedison went to England to play the lead role in The Son of Robin Hood (1958).

Television Hedison was cast in the lead of a TV series made by Fox for NBC, Five Fingers (1959).

Hedison guest starred on some Fox shows, Hong Kong and Bus Stop. He co-starred with Tom Tryon in Marines, Let's Go (1961).

Hedison worked regularly on television, guest starring in Perry Mason, Wonder Woman and The Farmer's Daughter. He co-starred in an episode of The Saint, starring Roger Moore who became a great friend. The episode's plot prophetically involves Moore's Saint mistaken for 007 and Hedison as an FBI agent — roles they would play seven years later as 007 and Felix Leiter in Live and Let Die. thumb Hedison as Lee Crane in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, 1965.

After turning down the role of Captain Crane in the film version of Irwin Allen's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Allen again offered the same role to him in the television series of the same name, co-starring with Richard Basehart, which ran from 1964 to 1968.

After Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea concluded, Hedison was offered the role of Mike Brady on The Brady Bunch, but turned it down, stating, "after four years of subs and monsters, who needs kids and dogs?" The role eventually went to Robert Reed. Bond scholars Pfeiffer and Worrall praised the friendship between Leiter and Bond for being depicted with "genuine chemistry" between the two.

Sixteen years later, Hedison returned to play Leiter in Licence to Kill (1989), with Bond now being portrayed by Timothy Dalton. Hedison became the first actor to reprise the role of Felix Leiter and is the only actor to play Leiter with two different James Bonds.

Hedison thought he was asked back because "there was much more to do in the film than in the past, and they were afraid of using an unknown or someone they were not quite sure of."

He could be seen in the movie North Sea Hijack (1980), which starred Roger Moore, and TV episodes of Charlie's Angels, Nero Wolfe, Hart to Hart, T. J. Hooker, Matt Houston, Amanda's, Dynasty, Fantasy Island, Partners in Crime, The Fall Guy, The Love Boat, Simon & Simon, Double Trouble, Finder of Lost Loves, Knight Rider, Crazy Like a Fox, The A-Team, Trapper John, M.D., Hotel, The Colbys, Who's the Boss?, The Law & Harry McGraw, and Murder, She Wrote.

Hedison appeared in the West Coast premiere of Forty Deuce in 1985.

Later career

From 1991 to 1996, Hedison was a regular on the long-running soap opera Another World.

He also starred in the New York City premiere of First Love with Lois Nettleton in 1999. He returned to the Cape Playhouse to appear in Tale of the Allergist's Wife (2002), and at Monmouth University's Pollak Theatre, in Love Letters with Nancy Dussault in 2007.

He had a role in The Young and the Restless and could be seen in The Reality Trap (2005).

In 2006, he acted in The Scent of Jasmine at the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles on November 13. In 2008, Hedison performed Uncle Vanya at the Actors Studio West. He also participated in performances of The Cherry Orchard and I Never Sang for My Father in Los Angeles in 2009. He later appeared in The Marriage Play by Edward Albee.

Personal life He and his wife Bridget were married in London on June 29, 1968. Bridget Hedison died of breast cancer on February 22, 2016. They had two daughters, actor/director/photographer Alexandra Hedison and editor/producer Serena Hedison. Alexandra Hedison has appeared in L.A. Firefighters and The L Word and is married to actress and director Jodie Foster.

Death He died on July 18, 2019, at his home in Los Angeles.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1957 The Enemy Below Lt. Ware 1958 The Fly Andre Delambre The Son of Robin Hood Jamie Rally Round the Flag, Boys! Narrator Voice, Uncredited 1960 The Lost World Ed Malone 1961 Marines, Let's Go Pfc. Dave Chatfield 1965 The Greatest Story Ever Told Philip 1970 Kemek Nick 1973 Live and Let Die Felix Leiter 1980 North Sea Hijack Robert King 1984 The Naked Face Dr. Peter Hadley 1986 Smart Alec Frank Wheeler 1989 Licence to Kill Felix Leiter 1990 Undeclared War US Ambassador 1999 Fugitive Mind Senator Davis Direct-to-video 2001 Mach 2 Stuart Davis Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 Daniel Alexander 2004 Spectres William 2005 The Reality Trap Morgan Jameson 2013 Superman and the Secret Planet Jor-El Direct-to-video 2017 Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk Interviewee #2 (final film role)

Television Year Title Role Notes 1954 Danger Episode: "Padlocks" 1955 Kraft Television Theatre Episode: "Eleven O'Clock Flight" 1956 Star Tonight Episode: "The Mirthmaker" 1959–1960 Five Fingers Victor Sebastian 16 episodes 1961 Hong Kong Roger Ames Episode: "Lesson in Fear" Bus Stop Max Hendricks Episode: "Call Back Yesterday" 1962 Perry Mason Damion White Episode: "The Case of the Dodging Domino" 1964 The Saint Bill Harvey Episode: "Luella" The Farmer's Daughter Richard Barden Episode: "The Mink Machine" 1964–1968 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Captain Lee Crane 110 episodes 1967 Hollywood Squares Himself 5 episodes The Mike Douglas Show 1 episode The Merv Griffin Show 1968 Journey to the Unknown William Searle Episode: "Somewhere in a Crowd" 1969 Love, American Style Rob Segment: "Love and the Other Love" 1971 A Kiss Is Just a Kiss Kit Shaeffer Television film 1972 ITV Sunday Night Theatre Bill Kromin Episode: "A Man About a Dog" Play of the Month John Buchanan Episode: "Summer and Smoke" 1972–1973 The F.B.I. Scott Jordan / Lou Forrester 2 episodes 1973 Crime Club Nick Kelton Television film The Cat Creature Prof. Roger Edmonds The New Perry Mason Calvin Ryan Episode: "The Case of the Frenzied Feminist" The Man in the Wood Edmund Hardy Television film 1973–1975 Cannon David Farnum / John Sandler / Gordon Bell 3 episodes 1974 Shaft Gil Kirkwood Episode: "The Capricorn Murders" Medical Center Dave Episode: "Dark Warning" The Wide World of Mystery Herbert Kasson Episode: "Murder Impossible" The Compliment Steve Barker Television film The Manhunter Jeffrey Donnenfield Episode: "The Man Who Thought He Was Dillinger" The ABC Afternoon Playbreak Clay Episode: "Can I Save My Children?" 1975 For the Use of the Hall Allen Television film Adventures of the Queen Dr. Peter Brooks The Lives of Jenny Dolan Dr. Wes Dolan The Art of Crime Parker Sharon Bronk Lyle Brewster Episode: "Betrayal" 1976 Ellery Queen Roger Woods Episode: "The Adventure of the Eccentric Engineer" 1976 Family Peter Towne 2 episodes 1977 Barnaby Jones Paul Nugent Episode: "The Deadly Charade" Murder in Peyton Place Steven Cord Television film Wonder Woman Evan Robley Episode: "The Queen and the Thief" Gibbsville Episode: "The Grand Gesture" 1977–1985 The Love Boat Cliff Jacobs / Barry Singer / Bradford York / Allan Christensen / Sherman / Buddy Stanfield 7 episodes 1978 The Bob Newhart Show Steve Darnell Episode: "It Didn't Happen One Night" Project U.F.O. Frederick Flanagan Episode: "Sighting 4011: The Dollhouse Incident" Colorado C.I. David Royce Television film Flying High Glen Dodson Episode: "High Rollers" 1978–1981 Charlie's Angels John Thornwood / Carter Gillis 2 episodes 1978–1984 Fantasy Island Daniel Garman / Phillip Camden / Captain John Day / David Tabori / Karl Dixon / Claude Duncan / Carlyle Cranston 6 episodes 1979 Greatest Heroes of the Bible Ashpenaz Episode: "Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar" 1979 The Power Within Danton Television film 1979 Benson John Taylor Episode: "Pilot" 1981 Nero Wolfe Phillip Corrigan Episode: "Murder by the Book" 1982 Hart to Hart Miles Wiatt Episode: "Hart of Diamonds" T. J. Hooker Saxon Episode: "The Protectors" Romance Theatre Marc 4 episodes Matt Houston Pierre Cerdan Episode: "Recipe for Murder" 1982–1985 The Fall Guy Monte Sorrenson / Milo / Jordan Stevens 3 episodes 1983 Amanda's David Episode: "All in a Day's Work" Dynasty Sam Dexter 2 episodes Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues Carson Television film 1984 Partners in Crime Davidson Episode: "Fantasyland" 1985 Simon & Simon Austin Tyler 2 episodes Double Trouble David Burke Episode: "September Song" Finder of Lost Loves Neil Palmer Episode: "Haunted Memories" Knight Rider Theodore Cooper Episode: "Knight in Retreat" A.D. Porcius Festus Television miniseries Crazy Like a Fox Ed Galvin Episode: "Eye in the Sky" The A-Team David Vaughn Episode: "Mind Games" Trapper John, M.D. Miles Warner Episode: "The Second Best Man" 1985–1987 Hotel Dr. Howard Bentley / Jack Fitzpatrick 2 episodes 1985–1987 The Colbys Roger Langdon 9 episodes 1986–1989 Murder, She Wrote Victor Casper / Victor Caspar / Mitch Payne 3 episodes 1987 Who's the Boss? Jim Ratcliff Episode: "Mona" The Law & Harry McGraw Blake Devaroe Episode: "Mr. Chapman, I Presume?" 1992 Another World Spencer Harrison 2004 The Young and the Restless Arthur Hendricks 50 episodes