An Interview with
David Hedison
by Nick Orlando

avid Hedison launched his incredible acting career over 50 years ago. He began in theatre, right here in New York. In 1952, Hedison made his Broadway debut in Much Ado About Nothing. Four years later, he won a Theatre World Award for his performance in the off-Broadway production of A Month in the Country. Soon after, Hedison moved on to film and television. He appeared on "Five Fingers," "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," "The Colbys," "The Naked Face," and most recently "The Young and the Restless."

In "Voyage," Hedison played Capt. Lee B. Crane.  The series is now available on DVD.   The recently-released three-disc collection contains the last 16 episodes of the first season, plus bloopers and interviews with Hedison.  Last week, Hedison phoned entertainment reporter, Nick Orlando, from California.

David Hedison: Yes, it’s out now. I have already seen a couple of them. I watched them myself with some friends of mine. I think they are pretty good; I think they are damn good, as a matter of fact.

David Hedison: Oh, it brings back a lot of memories, of course it does. I remember originally when I was making the show, thinking it wasn’t all that wonderful. I watched some of the shows and I realized the acting was so good and a lot of the scripts were very good and it was really, solid entertainers. I think Irwin Allen did a fabulous job.

David Hedison: Nothing really that was challenging. It was like trying to make every situation as believable as Richard [Basehart] and I possibly could, and of course the rest of the cast - Del Monroe, Robert Dowdell, Terry Becker - all wonderful actors. We worked very hard together. When scripts came out, we would sort of go over them and find ways to maybe change a line or two with Irwin’s permission. I must say I am very proud of the show.

David Hedison: Thank you.

Nick Orlando: Which are your most memorable moments of the series?

David Hedison: I think a lot of them were memorable. I think particularly working with Richard Basehart because he was such a sweetheart and such a fantastic, wonderful actor. It was a great pleasure to work with him.

David Hedison: You know what, I didn’t. I wish I had. I never had taken anything off of the set on all of the things I’ve done, except when I was working on "The Fly." I took an ashtray as a memory because that ashtray had been in so many scenes. I just took that one ashtray, which surely will never be missed. It was a cheap piece of junk! That’s my memory of 20^th Century Fox.

David Hedison: Oh, it’s a great memory!

David Hedison: No, I haven’t really, but I see them a lot. We bump into each other. I saw Terry Becker, who played the chief. I saw him in the dentist’s office yesterday. We had a long chat and we talked about old times and had a few laughs.

David Hedison: Once, when I was in high school, they asked me to do a part of the principal in a play called "What a Life." I played Mr. Bradley, the principal, and I thought I was pretty damn good and so did the audience. I felt very comfortable on the stage playing Mr. Bradley and I said, "Gee, I’d like to pursue this. I’d like to follow it," which I did. Of course, then, I used to love going to the movies and I loved Humphrey Bogart movies, Jimmy Cagney. I just loved going to the movies and I would go and I would see movies over, over, and over again, which, of course, kids could do today on Tivo and everything else. I had to pay every time I went to see the movie!

David Hedison: Time flies when you are having a good time.

David Hedison: It’s become much more realistic. I think the shows are wonderful. I think the starring actors in them are sensational. I think "House," "The West Wing" [are fabulous]. I don’t remember seeing anything like that when I was doing "Voyage." We had some good shows of course, but nothing as deep. I think it has improved a lot, it keeps improving all of the time, the quality of the work and the camera work. It really has become a great business.

David Hedison: I think they’re great. A lot of my friends watch them all of the time. I am very busy; I haven’t seen one of them. Every now and then, I think "Gee, I gotta watch ‘American Idol’ because I’ve heard so much about it," but I never have gotten around to it. I’ve seen some reality shows. I saw about two episodes of "Survivor." I didn’t see "Fear Factor" or any of those other shows because they don’t really interest me that much. I like actors who learn lines and then give a performance. That’s where my heart is.

David Hedison: The first time, I was living in London and Tom Mankiewicz, who wrote "Live and Let Die," asked [if I] would like to play Felix Leiter with Sean Connery and I said, "Sounds great. I would love to read the script." So, I read the script and the next thing I knew, I was cast as Felix Leiter with Sean Connery. The next thing I heard is that Sean didn’t want to do it anymore, [and] it went to Roger Moore, who was a great friend of mine. So, I was thrilled! Roger and I had a great time. Now, the second time, a lot of time had passed since the first time - I think it was 16 years, if I’m not mistaken. I was sitting at a restaurant with my wife and I saw Cubby Broccoli [aka Albert Broccoli] and his wife on the other side. We waved to each other and then they walked by the table to say hello. The next thing I knew, I was in Miami, Florida doing a play with Elizabeth Ashley and they called me. They wanted me to come on my day off and meet with the director. So, I did; off I went on my day off. Spent the night in LA, and back to doing the play with Elizabeth. Then, I had the second one. I guess [it is] a trivia question now - who played Felix Leiter twice?

David Hedison: Fun! I wouldn’t say it’s terribly important, but it was a wonderful experience doing both of those because they treat you so well and I loved working with both actors, so it is high up on my list as favorite movies. Also, "Voyage," of course, is one of the highlights and I am prouder today of it than I have ever been.

David Hedison: Oh, I’d love to! If somebody called me to go out there to read for a play, I’d be there in a flash. If I like the play, I’d love to. I’d read for it, audition, whatever I had to do. I really love doing theatre because you get that time to rehearse and to change what you are doing and really go deep into the character. Sometimes television auditions can be very difficult because they send you a few pages the day before, and you go running in there the next day and try to do the best you can with the material that you have. It becomes difficult because you really can’t show your all. That’s showbiz.

David Hedison: I saw The History Boys, which I thought was just fantastic. There is some great acting and it was really an ensemble piece.

David Hedison: Well, if I have a script, I’ll read the script and then I’ll read the script again, and again, and again. I just read it over and over. The more I read the script, the more I begin to understand it, the more I begin to understand the character. I try to think a lot about it. The repetition of the part, I think, is very important. Also, knowing your lines, that’s very important. You should know them backwards and forward, so you’re not even thinking of them. You are just thinking of the behavior the character would do. Then it becomes very much you and very much alive.

David Hedison: I don’t know. Right now, I work at The Actors Studio here with Marty Landau and Mark Rydell, working with young students. I really like that. I go out on the occasion audition for television shows and I like to do a lot of traveling. My wife and I love to travel. It’s fun!

David Hedison: I have always liked London and I love Italy and Tuscany, that whole area. Another beautiful country (my wife was born there) is Cape Town, South Africa; a really beautiful country. So, there are so many great places in the world that I want to visit and plenty more time to go see things!

David Hedison: Nick, it’s been a pleasure talking to you. Have a great day.

"Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea: Season One, Volume Two" DVD collection lists for $39.98 and is in stores now. The last disc of the collection features interviews with Hedison and contains show bloopers. For more information on Hedison, visit www.david-hedison.com.

---

About the Author:

Drawing on his diversified experience in radio and television, which ranges from programming to production to reporting, Nick Orlando has recently formed NICO Productions, Inc., an entertainment production company.  Nick has worked for SIRIUS Satellite Radio, WCBS-TV, Cox Radio, Saturday Night Live, and Live with Regis and Kelly.

Currently, Nick resides in New York and is working in television programming.  In addition, he serves as Entertainment Reporter and Producer for radio, television, and various publications.  Nick would like to thank his Producers/Editors Michael Pagnotta and Snezhana Valdman who work behind the scenes making each interview/package possible.  He is a member of the International Radio & Television Society Foundation, Inc. (IRTS), New York Press Club, and was recently accepted into the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA).