David Hedison

Did you know?!

1. A first

   Hedison was the first actor to return as Felix Leiter, and no other actor has played Leiter alongside two different James Bonds.

2. A role that slipped away

   After Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea ended, Hedison declined the part of Mike Brady on The Brady Bunch, quipping that after four years of submarines and monsters, he had no need for kids and dogs. Robert Reed ultimately got the role.

3. A role that slipped away

   Hedison turned down Captain Crane in Irwin Allen's film Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Allen then offered him that same part in the television version, where he co-starred with Richard Basehart.

4. About the name

   Hedison appeared as Al Hedison in early films until 1959, when he played Victor Sebastian in the espionage series Five Fingers. NBC wanted a name change, so he suggested his middle name and was billed as David Hedison afterward.

5. Early training

   Hedison started his acting career with Brown University's Sock and Buskin Players. He later went to New York, where he trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre with Sanford Meisner and Martha Graham, and at the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg.

6. Early training

   While studying with Uta Hagen, Hedison was recommended by her for a role in the 1956 Broadway production of A Month in the Country, which Michael Redgrave directed.