Actor David Hedison wasn't a fan of most of the projects he worked on, saying a lot of movies he had been in were "pictures you never want to see again", but he certainly never seemed to be hurting for work. Over the course of a career that lasted more than sixty years, he earned 94 screen acting credits. When you combine that with the fact that Hedison made it to the age of 92 before passing away peacefully at home with his daughters at his side, his life was clearly a great success story.
Born on May 20, 1927, Hedison passed away in Los Angeles on July 18th. His daughters Alexandra and Serena released the following statement:
Even in our deep sadness, we are comforted by the memory of our wonderful father. He loved us all dearly and expressed that love every day. He was adored by so many, all of whom benefited from his warm and generous heart. Our dad brought joy and humor wherever he went and did so with great style."
Despite appearing in nearly 100 different movies and TV shows, Hedison did surprisingly little work in the horror genre – but he did play the lead role in one of the genre's all-time classics, the 1958 version of THE FLY.
THE FLY was one of Hedison's earliest works, and he was going by his first name, Al, when he took on the role of Andre Delambre, the scientist who creates a teleportation device but ends up becoming the title creature when his experiments go terribly wrong.
Hedison began going by his middle name, David, when he signed a contract with 20th Century Fox the year after the release of THE FLY. From that point on, the closest he got to horror appears to have been the 1960 Irwin Allen dinosaur film THE LOST WORLD, the 1973 TV movie THE CAT CREATURE, and the short-lived late '70s series Project U.F.O.
Aside from THE FLY, Hedison is best known for playing Captain Lee B. Crane on 110 episodes of the '60s series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and for being the only actor – until Jeffrey Wright in the Daniel Craig era – to play the role of James Bond's CIA pal Felix Leiter twice. Hedison's Bond films were 1973's LIVE AND LET DIE and LICENCE TO KILL, released in 1989.
Other notable works include THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD, a SHAFT TV movie, and episodes of Perry Mason, The Saint, Wonder Woman, The Bob Newhart Show, Benson, Charlie's Angels, T.J. Hooker, Dynasty, Fantasy Island, The Fall Guy, The Love Boat, Simon & Simon, Knight Rider, The A-Team, Who's the Boss?, Murder She Wrote, and The Young and the Restless, among many others.
Hedison said he didn't make much that was worth watching again, but looking over his credits I see many projects that people are still going back to today, and will continue going back to. A lot of viewers are going to be seeing Hedison's work in the future, and not just in THE FLY, the Bond movies, or Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
It has been said that Hedison kept his family and friends entertained with "a positive attitude and wicked sense of humor". Our condolences go out to his loved ones and his fans at this time.