Monday, July 22, 2019

David Hedison Dead at 92


Former Another World star David Hedison died Thursday in Los Angeles, a family spokeswoman announced. He was 92.

Born Al David Hedison on May 20, 1927, in Providence, Rhode Island, Hedison discovered the theater while attending Brown University and studied in New York under Sanford Meisner at The Neighborhood Playhouse and with Lee Strasberg at The Actors Studio.

He worked alongside Uta Hagen and Michael Redgrave in-off Broadway productions by Clifford Odets and Christopher Fry, among others, and made his big-screen debut in the World War II naval drama The Enemy Below (1957), starring Robert Mitchum.

After starring in the original The Fly and Son of Robin Hood in 1958, he signed a contract at Twentieth Century Fox, changing his stage name to David Hedison.

From 1964-68, Hedison's character Captain Lee Crane worked aboard the Seaview under the command of Adm. Harriman Nelson (Richard Basehart) on 110 episodes of ABC's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. The show was created by Irwin Allen, based on his 1961 movie of the same name.

He later played CIA operative Felix Leiter in the James Bond films Live and Let Die (1973) and Licence to Kill (1989).

On and off from 1991 to 1999, Hedison starred on the NBC daytime drama Another World as Spencer Harrison, father of Grant (Mark Pinter) and Ryan (Paul Michael Valley).

"My first day of Another World, I was a basket case," Hedison once explained. "I was working with people seemed so loose and so good, who had been doing it for years."



David Hedison, Jeanne Cooper and Jess Walton.
His other soap opera roles included Arthur Hendricks in The Young and the Restless, Sam Dexter on Dynasty, and Roger Langdon in The Colbys.

His many TV credits included The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Charlie's Angels, The Bob Newhart Show and Murder in Peyton Place (playing Steven Cord).

His wife, Bridget Hedison, a producer on Dynasty and its spinoff The Colbys, died in February 2016. Survivors include his daughters Serena and Alexandra, the wife of Jodie Foster.

"Even in our deep sadness, we are comforted by the memory of our wonderful father," his family said in a statement. "He loved us all dearly and expressed that love every day. He was adored by so many, all of whom benefited from his warm and generous heart. Our dad brought joy and humor wherever he went and did so with great style."

A donation in his memory may be made to The Actors Fund.

Check out a 1992 episode of Another World featuring Hedison below.

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