David Hemmings
David Edward Leslie Hemmings (18 November 1941 – 3 December 2003) was an English actor and director.[1] He is best remembered for his roles in British films and television programmes of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, particularly his lead roles as a trendy fashion photographer in the hugely successful avant-garde mystery film Blowup (1966), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and as a jazz pianist in Dario Argento's Deep Red (1975). Early in his career, Hemmings was a boy soprano appearing in operatic roles. In 1967, he co-founded the Hemdale Film Corporation. From the late 1970s on, he worked mainly as a character actor and occasionally as director.
David Hemmings
3 December 2003 (aged 62)
- Actor
- director
- producer
1954–2003
6, including Nolan Hemmings
Acting[edit]
Child actor[edit]
Hemmings then moved on to acting in films. He made his first film appearance in the drama film The Rainbow Jacket (1954). He also appeared in Saint Joan (1957).[4]
Hemmings had bigger roles in Five Clues to Fortune (1957),[5] The Heart Within (1957) and No Trees in the Street (1959), directed by J. Lee Thompson. He also had roles in Men of Tomorrow (1959), In the Wake of a Stranger (1959), Sink the Bismarck! (1960) and The Wind of Change (1961).
Teen idol[edit]
Hemmings began to be known for playing young men, for example in The Painted Smile (1962) and Some People (1962). His first lead role was in the low budget teen musical Live It Up! (1963),[5] then he had support roles for Michael Winner's The System (1964). After this, he starred in a sequel to Live It Up!, Be My Guest (1965)[5] and in the same year in Two Left Feet with Michael Crawford.
Autobiography[edit]
After his death his autobiography, Blow Up... and Other Exaggerations – The Autobiography of David Hemmings, was published in 2004.
Death[edit]
Hemmings died in 2003 at age 62 of a heart attack, in Bucharest, Romania, on the film set of Blessed (working title: Samantha's Child) after he had performed his scenes for the day.[14]
His funeral was held at St Peter's Church, in the hamlet of Blackland near Calne, Wiltshire, where he had lived in his final years. He was buried in the graveyard of the church.