Biography for
David Hedison More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

20 May 1927, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Birth Name

Albert David Heditsion Jr.

Height

6' 1" (1.85 m)

Mini Biography

David Hedison was born Albert David Heditsion, Jr. in Providence, Rhode Island, where his father owned a costume jewelery factory. He decided he wanted to be an actor after seeing Blood and Sand (1941). He started out in the theater as Al Hedison, receiving a Theatre World Award for most promising newcomer after appearing in the play "Much Ado About Nothing". He soon signed on with Twentieth Century-Fox and starred in several movies before going on to TV's "Five Fingers" (1959) and a name change to David Hedison. He then appeared in the popular series "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1964). Hedison appeared in many made-for-TV films and TV series, including two James Bond films. He also was a regular on the soap opera "Another World" (1964). More recently, he starred in theatrical productions with Juliet Mills and Lois Nettleton. Hedison can be seen on the TV soap "The Young and the Restless" (1973).

IMDb Mini Biography By: L.M. Adams

Spouse

Bridget Hedison

(29 June 1968 - present) 2 children

Trivia

First actor to portray 007's CIA friend Felix Leiter twice: Live and Let Die (1973) and Licence to Kill (1989).

Children are: Alexandra Hedison and Serena Rose Hedison

Some publications list his birth name as "Ara Heditsian." His Armenian grandfather reportedly changed the family name from Heditsian to Hedison because everyone always mispronounced it as Hedison.

He is half Armenian. The most famous Armenian filmmaker is Sergei Parajanov the best friend of Mikhail Vartanov, also an Armenian. None have Armenian last names.

His name is one of just five celebrity names actually incorporated into The Statler Brothers' top ten song "The Movies". The lyricist needed a word that rhymed with Thomas Edison.

Best remembered by the public for his starring role as Capt. Lee Crane in the TV series "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1964).

He studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village in New York City.

Martin Marootian once worked as an apprentice at the costume jewelery factory owned by Hedison's father.

Personal Quotes

When I go back to theater I feel good about myself. When I do films or TV, it's to make a little bread to pay my mortgage or whatever and when I've made the money I do theater again. And when I get a part I like, a part I can work on, that satisfies me. I feed good about myself. Most of the time I don't even watch what I do on TV. I go in, get the job done, and just know it's nothing. It's a job. Sometimes, I try something different and I'll watch out of curiosity. Generally, I don't watch too much of what I do. Movies are basically the same, except it's more money spent on sets.

Of course, there are pictures you never want to see again -- most of the films I've made like The Fly (1958), The Lost World (1960), Marines, Let's Go (1961). There's a whole slew of shit I avoid like the plague and when I know they'll be on TV I have a dinner party and invite my friends over so they can't see them.

[on why he turned down the lead in "The Brady Bunch" (1969)] I turned it down because after four years of subs and monsters, who needs kids and dogs?

In your career, you must be so careful, otherwise you get caught in a particular image and it's hard to break.

Salary

The Fly (1958)

$750/week