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Nicholas Hammond

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people named Nicholas Hammond, see Nicholas Hammond (disambiguation).
Nicholas Hammond
Hammond in 2019
Born (1950-05-15) 15 May 1950 (age 74)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
NationalityAmerican, Australian
EducationLandon School
Alma materPrinceton University
Years active1961–present
Known for
Spouse
Laura Soli
​
​
(m. 1980; div. 1984)​
PartnerRobyn Nevin (1987–present)

Nicholas Hammond (born 15 May 1950) is an American and Australian actor and writer who is best known for his roles as Friedrich von Trapp in the film The Sound of Music and as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the 1970s television series The Amazing Spider-Man. He also appeared in the film Spider-Man (1977) and its two sequels.

Early life

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Hammond was born on May 15, 1950, in Washington, D.C.,[1] the son of Colonel Thomas West Hammond, Jr.[2] by his wife Eileen Hammond (née Bennett). Hammond's father was American of English descent and an officer in the U.S. Army, and his mother was English and had played a role in Much Too Shy in 1942. Hammond has one elder brother, David (b. 1946). Hammond's parents had met and married in London during World War II when his father had been posted in the United Kingdom. After the war, the couple moved to the U.S. permanently, and because the Colonel had an army job, the family moved numerous times to various army stations across the country during Hammond's childhood. Nicholas Hammond graduated from the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland, before attending and graduating from Princeton University.[3] Col. Hammond died in 1970.

Career

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Hammond was 11 years old when he made his acting debut as Robin Rhodes in the Broadway play The Complaisant Lover in 1961,[4] playing alongside Michael Redgrave and Googie Withers.

At the same time, he began to shoot for the 1963 film Lord of the Flies, which marked his film debut. After this, Hammond played what was to be his most notable screen role: Friedrich von Trapp (the elder of the two boys) in the 1965 hit The Sound of Music.

Hammond's next acting role came in 1970, when he appeared in Conduct Unbecoming, his first role as an adult. In 1972 Hammond appeared as Peter Linder in Skyjacked. In 1973 he made a guest appearance on The Brady Bunch in season 4, episode #090, "The Subject Was Noses", as the high school hunk, Doug Simpson, who loses interest in Marcia after her tragic football accident. That year Hammond also appeared in The Waltons episode "The Townie", as Theodore Claypool Jr.

After making the transition from juvenile to young leading man, Hammond spent several seasons in daytime soaps, such as General Hospital. He also appeared on many television shows of the 1970s including Hawaii Five-O.

In the late 1970s Hammond re-joined fellow The Sound of Music alumnus Heather Menzies (who played Louisa von Trapp) for one episode of the TV adaptation of Logan's Run. He also contributed to The Sound of Music Family Scrapbook.[5]

Spider-Man

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Hammond as Spider-Man

From 1977 to 1979, Hammond played the role for which he is perhaps best known, as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the television series The Amazing Spider-Man, being the first actor to play a live-action Peter Parker and the second live-action Spider-Man.[6] Hammond described his approach to the character: "I liked the idea of taking a fantasy hero and making him believable as a person. I made it clear going into it that I wasn't interested in doing something that was just a camp joke."[7]

The series aired sporadically on CBS, with 13 episodes airing over two seasons. A pilot movie appeared in the fall of 1977, with the series returning as a mid-season replacement for five episodes in the spring of 1978. While the show did well in the ratings, CBS was unwilling to commit to a regular timeslot due to its relatively weak showing in the lucrative adult demographic.[7] The second season aired six episodes, each an hour long, in the fall of 1978 and winter of 1979, with a final two-hour episode in the summer of that year. Although Hammond played Peter Parker in the television series, in all of the scenes in which Spider-Man is seen performing stunts or without dialogue, a stunt double was filmed by a second camera unit.[7]

Later career

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Hammond as Peter Parker in 1977

After the Spider-Man series ended, Hammond guest-starred on a number TV shows of the early 1980s, including The Love Boat, Magnum, P.I., Murder, She Wrote, and he played recurring roles on Falcon Crest and Dallas.

After being cast as yachtsman Dennis Conner in the 1986 Australian TV miniseries The Challenge, about the 1983 America's Cup challenge, Hammond liked the country so much that he decided to stay. He later became an Australian citizen and has since then appeared in several television miniseries filmed in Australia.

Among these was an important role as an American WWII officer based in Far North Queensland, in the major miniseries Fields of Fire, series I and II, set in the cane fields of tropical Australia. His character represented the gentler side of the culture clash between Australians and Americans. He had a starring role as Sir Ivor Creevy-Thorne in Mirror, Mirror, an Australia/New Zealand extended miniseries (a complete story of 20 serialised episodes, with cliffhangers between each of the episodes). Hammond also guest-starred in various Australian television series, including satirical television programs such as BackBerner and CNNNN, the science fiction program Farscape, and dramatic series such as The Flying Doctors, MDA and the Australian/USA co-production Mission: Impossible (which was filmed in Australia).

In 2005, Hammond portrayed television producer Aaron Spelling in Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure, a fictionalized television movie based on the creation and behind the scenes production of Dynasty.[8][9]

Hammond is a writer for Australian television, having written both the miniseries A Difficult Woman and the television film Secret Men's Business. In 2009, he made his directing debut with Lying Cheating Bastard, a play he co-wrote with magician James Galea.[10]

In 2019, he portrayed director Sam Wanamaker in the Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.[11]

Personal life

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Hammond married Laura Soli in 1980, and the couple divorced in 1984.[citation needed] He moved to Australia in the mid-1980s and now lives in Sydney, with the Australian actress Robyn Nevin.[12]

He has remained close friends with his Sound of Music siblings, several of whom joined a multitude of other actors and co-stars for the 'Save the Rose Theatre' campaign's street event, amid talent from many international productions.

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1963 Lord of the Flies Robert Feature film
1965 The Sound of Music Friedrich von Trapp Feature film
1967 Soldier in Love Young John Television film
1971 Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me Agneau Feature film
Mr and Mrs Bo Jo Jones Evan Clark Television film
1972 Skyjacked Peter Lindner Feature film (aka Sky Terror in the U.S.)
Cherry Blossoms Luke
1973 Superdad Roger Rhinehurst Feature film
Outrage Ron Werner Television film
Catch-22 Nately Television film
1974 Double Solitaire Peter Television film
Sorority Kill Benjamin Haller Television film
1976 Law of the Land Brad Jensen Television film
1977 Spider-Man Peter Parker / Spider-
Man		 Feature film
1978 Spider-Man Strikes Back Feature film
1981 Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge Feature film
1982 Richard II Hotspur
1983 The Tempest Ferdinand
1988 Emerald City Ian Wall Feature film
1989 Trouble in Paradise Arthur Television film
1990 Beyond My Reach Steven Schaffer Feature film
Black Cobra 2 Lieutenant Kevin McCall Feature film
1993 Frauds Detective Simms Feature film
Irresistible Force Lieutenant Nash Feature film
The Feds: Terror Milton Morehouse Television film
1997 Paradise Road Marty Merritt Feature film
1998 13 Gantry Row Russell Television film
2001 Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story Adolphe Menjou Television film
Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles Curator Feature film
2003 The Rage in Placid Lake Bill Taylor Feature film
Future Tense Television film
2005 The Saviour Pastor Short film
Stealth Executive Officer Feature film
Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure Aaron Spelling Television film
2009 Mao's Last Dancer TV reporter Feature film
2014 Turkey Shoot General Charles Thatcher II Feature film (aka Elimination Game)
2018 The BBQ Carver Feature film
Ladies in Black Mr Ryder Feature film
2019 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Sam Wanamaker Feature film

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1962 The Defenders Bobby Braden Episode: "The Last Six Months"
1973 The Brady Bunch Doug Simpson Episode: "The Subject Was Noses"
The Waltons Theodore Albert Claypool Jr. Episode: "The Townie"
1974 Dirty Sally John Episode: "I Don't, I Don't"
Lucas Tanner Andy Episode: "Thirty Going on Twenty"
1973-74 Gunsmoke Britt / Doak 3 episodes
1976 Rich Man, Poor Man Walters Episode: "Part I"
Petrocelli Whitey Episode: "Blood Money"
Family John Crosswell Episode: "The Cradle Will Fall"
1974-77 Hawaii Five-O Roger / Calvin 2 episodes
1977 The Fantastic Journey Tye Episode: "The Innocent Prey"
The Oregon Trail Bradley Episode: "The Army Deserter"
Eight Is Enough Harold Episode: "Yes, Nicholas, There is a Santa Claus"
Logan’s Run Hal 14 Episode: "The Judas Goat"
1978 The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries Lieutenant Douglas Burke Episode: "The Lady on Thursday at Ten"
1979 Supertrain David 1 episode of TV series:
  • Where Have You Been Billy Boy?
1977–1979 The Amazing Spider-Man Peter
Parker / Spider-
Man		 13 episodes
1980 The Martian Chronicles Commander Arthur Black 3 episodes
The Love Boat Paul Stockwood Episode: "Seoul Mates"
1981 The Manions of America Padric O'Manion / Sean O'Manion 2 episodes
1982 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color Reverend Tull Episode: "The Adventures of Pollyanna"
Falcon Crest D.A. Martin Deering / Michael Deering 2 episodes
Magnum, P.I. Clarke Troubshaw Episode: "Foiled Again"
Dallas Bill Johnson 3 episodes
1985 Crazy Like a Fox [Extra] Episode: "Till Death Do Us Part"
Murder, She Wrote Todd Worthy Episode: "Murder in the Afternoon"
General Hospital Algernon Durban 1 episode of TV series
1986 The Challenge Dennis Conner Miniseries
Cyclone Tracy Harry Miniseries
1987 Fields of Fire Burgess Miniseries
1988 Fields of Fire II
Fields of Fire III
1989 The Flying Doctors Richard Hull Episode: "No Tears"
Mission:Impossible Woodward Episode: "The Greek"
1992 Frankie’s House Major Frey TV series
1990-92 Embassy Ed Benson 2 episodes
1994 The Damnation of Harvey McHugh Corky Episode: "Hey St. Jude"
1995 Mirror Mirror Sir Ivor Creevey-Thorne 20 episodes
1996 Mercury Jack Koper 1 episode of miniseries
Flipper F.C.C. Agent Smiley / Quarantine Doctor 2 episodes
1997 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Saxon Miniseries
2000 Tales of the South Seas Luke Episode: "The Rabblercrouser"
On the Beach United States President Miniseries
The Lost World Phil Dillon Episode: "Tourist Season"
2000-02 BackBerner Various characters including Jack Bloom 6 episodes
2003 Farscape Doctor Adrian Walker 2 episodes
Always Greener Nigel Milne 2 episodes
CNNNN: Chaser Non-Stop News Network Commander Oscar F. Hepple 2 episodes
2004 Salem’s Lot Doctor (uncredited) Miniseries
2005 MDA Doctor Nick Standish Episode: "Second Chance"
2009-11 The Jesters Agent Smith 2 episodes
2012 Climb Every Mountain with Nicholas Hammond Himself / Narrator Documentary about The Sound of Music and the original Von Trapp family
2015 Gallipoli Henry Nevinson Several episodes playing famed war correspondent for The Telegraph
2019 Total Control Mitch Rumboldt Episode 1.2 of TV series
2022 The Crew’s Ship Charles Gwerztraminer

Theatre

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Year Title Role Location
1961 The Complaisant Lover Robin Rhodes Ethel Barrymore Theatre
1970 Conduct Unbecoming 2nd Lt. John Truly Ethel Barrymore Theatre
1987 Woman in Mind Sydney Theatre Company

References

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  1. ^ Monush, Barry (2015). The Sound of Music FAQ. Applause. ISBN 9781495025945.
  2. ^ Eileen Bennett profile, georgeformby.co.uk; accessed June 25, 2015.
  3. ^ "Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas J. Hammond". The Washington Post.
  4. ^ "The Complaisant Lover – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB".
  5. ^ The Sound of Music Family Scrapbook. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
  6. ^ Edlitz, Mark. "'Spider-Man' flashback: Nicholas Hammond, reeling in the years". LA Times. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  7. ^ a b c Mangels, Andy (October 2010). "Spinning the Story of the Amazing Spider-Man". Back Issue! (44). TwoMorrows Publishing: 44–48.
  8. ^ Heffernan, Virginia (January 1, 2005). "Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure: If You've Got It, Flaunt It: ABC Trumpets an 80's Hit". The New York Times. Retrieved February 26, 2009.
  9. ^ "Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure: Credits". Der-denver-clan.de. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
  10. ^ "James Galea: Breaking Magic". www.discovery.com. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  11. ^ Coates, Tyler (March 21, 2019). "The Real-Life People Portrayed in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". Esquire. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  12. ^ Bond, Nick. "Australia's Own Von Trapp Child". Star Observer. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
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