Nicholas Hammond
Nicholas Hammond (born May 15, 1950)[1] is an American-Australian actor and writer who is known for his roles as Friedrich von Trapp in the film The Sound of Music and as Peter Parker / Spider-Man on the television series The Amazing Spider-Man.
Nicholas Hammond | |
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![]() Hammond in 2019 | |
Born | Washington, D.C., US | May 15, 1950
Years active | 1961–present |
Spouse(s) | Laura Soli
( m. 1980; div. 1984) |
Partner(s) | Robyn Nevin |
Early life
Hammond was born in Washington, D.C.,[1] the son of Colonel Thomas West Hammond, Jr.[2] by his wife Eileen Hammond (née Bennett). While Hammond's father was a U.S. citizen and an officer in the U.S. Army, his mother was an Englishwoman who 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 there. After the war, the couple had 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. Col. Hammond died in 1970.
Career
Hammond was 11 years old when he made his acting debut in the Broadway play The Complaisant Lover, in 1961. 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 visible screen role for many years as 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. This was 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, he also appeared The Waltons episode, "The Townie", as Theodore Claypool, Jr.
After making the transition from juvenile to young leading man, he 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 alumna 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.[3]
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.[4] 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."[5]
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.[5] 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.[5]
Later career
After the Spider-Man series ended, Hammond guest-starred on a number of top-rated 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.[6][7]
Hammond is a writer for Australian television, having written both the miniseries A Difficult Woman and the TV movie Secret Men's Business. In 2009, he made his directing debut with Lying Cheating Bastard, a play he co-wrote with magician James Galea.[8]
In 2019 he portrayed director Sam Wanamaker in the Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.[9]
Personal life
Hammond married Laura Soli in 1980, and the couple were divorced in 1984.[1] He moved to Australia in the mid-1980s and now lives in Sydney, with the Australian actress Robyn Nevin.[10]
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
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1963 | Lord of the Flies | Robert | |
1965 | The Sound of Music | Friedrich von Trapp | Released as Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music in both the United States and the United Kingdom. |
1971 | Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me | Agneau | |
1972 | Skyjacked | Peter Lindner | Also known as Sky Terror in the United States |
1972 | Cherry Blossoms | Luke | |
1973 | Superdad | Roger Rhinehurst | |
1977 | Spider-Man | Peter Parker / Spider- Man | |
1978 | Spider-Man Strikes Back | ||
1979 | Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge | ||
1988 | Emerald City | Ian Wall | |
1990 | Beyond My Reach | Steven Schaffer | |
Black Cobra 2 | Lieutenant Kevin McCall | ||
1993 | Frauds | Detective Simms | |
1997 | Paradise Road | Marty Merritt | |
2001 | Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles | Curator | |
2003 | The Rage in Placid Lake | Bill Taylor | |
2005 | The Saviour | Pastor | Short film |
Stealth | Executive Officer | ||
2014 | Turkey Shoot | General Charles Thatcher II | |
2018 | The BBQ | Carver | |
Ladies in Black | Mr Ryder | ||
2019 | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood | Sam Wanamaker |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1962 | The Defenders | Bobby Braden | 1 episode of television series:
|
1967 | Soldier in Love | Young John | Anthology series |
1971 | Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones | Evan Clark | |
1973 | The Brady Bunch | Doug Simpson | 1 episode of television series:
|
The Waltons | Theodore Albert Claypool Jr. | 1 episode of television series:
| |
Outrage | Ron Werner | Television film | |
1974 | Double Solitaire | Peter | |
Sorority Kill | Benjamin Haller | ||
Dirty Sally | John | 1 episode of television series:
| |
Lucas Tanner | Andy | 1 episode of television series:
| |
1973-1974 | Gunsmoke | Britt / Doak | 3 episodes of television series:
|
1976 | Rich Man, Poor Man | Walters | 1 episode of television series:
|
Petrocelli | Whitey | 1 episode of television series:
| |
Law of the Land | Brad Jensen | ||
Family | John Crosswell | 1 episode of television series:
| |
1974-1977 | Hawaii Five-O | Roger / Calvin | 2 episodes of television series:
|
1977 | The Fantastic Journey | Tye | 1 episode of television series:
|
The Oregon Trail | Bradley | 1 episode of television series:
| |
Eight Is Enough | Harold | 2 episodes of television series:
| |
Logan's Run | Hal 14 | 1 episode of television series:
| |
1978 | The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries | Lieutenant Douglas Burke | 1 episode of television series:
|
1979 | Supertrain | David | 1 episode of television series:
|
1977-1979 | The Amazing Spider-Man | Peter Parker / Spider- Man | 13 episodes |
1980 | The Martian Chronicles | Commander Arthur Black | 3 episodes of television series:
|
The Love Boat | Paul Stockwood | 1 episode of television series:
| |
1981 | The Manions of America | Padric O'Manion / Sean O'Manion | 2 episodes of television series:
|
1982 | Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color | Reverend Tull | 1 episode of television series:
|
The Adventures of Pollyanna | Reverend Tull | ||
Falcon Crest | D.A. Martin Deering / Michael Deering | 2 episodes of television series:
| |
Magnum, P.I. | Clarke Troubshaw | 1 episode of television series:
| |
Dallas | Bill Johnson | 3 episodes of television series:
| |
1985 | Crazy Like a Fox | [Extra] | 1 episode of television series:
|
Murder, She Wrote | Todd Worthy | 1 episode of television series:
| |
General Hospital | Algernon Durban | ||
1986 | The Challenge | Dennis Conner | Miniseries |
Cyclone Tracy | Harry | Miniseries | |
1989 | The Flying Doctors | Richard Hull | 1 episode of television series:
|
Mission: Impossible | Woodward | 1 episode of television series:
| |
Trouble in Paradise | Arthur | ||
1992 | Frankie's House | Major Frey | |
1990-1992 | Embassy | Ed Benson | 2 episodes of television series:
|
1993 | The Feds: Terror | Milton Morehouse | |
Irresistible Force | Lieutenant Nash | ||
1994 | The Damnation of Harvey McHugh | Corky | 1 episode of television series:
|
1995 | Mirror, Mirror | Sir Ivor Creevey-Thorne | |
1996 | Mercury | Jack Koper | |
Flipper | F.C.C. Agent Smiley / Quarantine Doctor | 2 episodes of television series:
| |
1997 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea | Saxon | |
1998 | 13 Gantry Row | Russell | |
2000 | Tales of the South Seas | Luke | 1 episode of television series:
|
On The Beach | United States President | ||
The Lost World | Phil Dillon | 1 episode of television series:
| |
2001 | Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story | Adolphe Menjou | |
2000-2002 | BackBerner | [Various] | 6 episodes of television series |
2003 | Future Tense | ||
Farscape | Doctor Adrian Walker | 2 episodes of television series:
| |
Always Greener | Nigel Milne | 2 episodes of television series:
| |
CNNNN: Chaser Non-Stop News Network | Commander Oscar F. Hepple | 2 episodes of television series:
| |
2004 | Salem's Lot (2004 miniseries) | Doctor (uncredited) | |
2005 | Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure | Aaron Spelling | |
MDA | Doctor Nick Standish | 4 episodes of television series:
| |
2009-2011 | The Jesters | Agent Smith | 2 episodes of television series:
|
2012 | Climb Every Mountain with Nicholas Hammond | Himself | Documentary narrated by Nicholas Hammond for the BBC about the secrets behind the film The Sound of Music and how the original Von Trapp family made a living as the Von Trapp Family Singers |
2015 | Gallipoli | Henry Nevinson | Famed war correspondent for The Telegraph appearing in several episodes |
References
- "Nicholas Hammond Biography profile". FilmReference.com. Retrieved 2014-04-20.
- Eileen Bennett profile, georgeformby.co.uk; accessed June 25, 2015.
- The Sound of Music Family Scrapbook. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
- Edlitz, Mark. "'Spider-Man' flashback: Nicholas Hammond, reeling in the years". LA Times. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- Mangels, Andy (October 2010). "Spinning the Story of the Amazing Spider-Man". Back Issue!. TwoMorrows Publishing (44): 44–48.
- 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. NYTimes.com. Retrieved February 26, 2009.
- "Dynasty: The Making of a Guilty Pleasure: Credits". Der-denver-clan.de. Retrieved February 27, 2009.
- "James Galea: Breaking Magic". www.discovery.com. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
- Coates, Tyler (March 21, 2019). "The Real-Life People Portrayed in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood". Esquire. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- Bond, Nick. "Australia's Own Von Trapp Child". Star Observer. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
External links
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