- Stanley Kubrick reportedly wanted him to play the lead role in an epic biography of Napoleon which was planned, but never filmed, in the early 1970s.
- A professional singer by the age of 9.
- An exhibited painter by the age of 15.
- Father of six children - one daughter Deborah Hemmings by his first wife, one son Nolan Hemmings by his second wife, Gayle Hunnicutt, and three sons and one daughter by his third wife.
- Recorded a pop album, in Los Angeles in 1967, titled "David Hemmings Happens", backed by several members of The Byrds and produced by The Byrds' mentor Jim Dickinson. A single was released, "Back Street Mirror", written by the former Byrd Gene Clark (who never recorded it himself).
- He had just finished filming scenes for the movie, Blessed (2004) (aka Samantha's Child), when he suffered a heart attack and died.
- Told movie critic Roger Ebert in a February 1967 interview that he was going to appear in a movie adaption of Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange (1971), with a script by Terry Southern, in 1968. Hemmings did not mention Stanley Kubrick to Ebert. Southern gave Kubrick a copy of "A Clockwork Orange" but the director ignored it as he was working on developing a biography of Napoléon Bonaparte after finishing 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Reportedly, one of the actors Kubrick considered to play the French soldier and emperor was Hemmings.
- As a teen he left home and headed for Austria where he performed magic and played the guitar in nightclubs.
- All the paintings seen in his film 'The Walking Stick' were actually done by David.
- Most people who knew him as the handsome leading man from Blow-Up (1966) didn't recognize him as the stocky character actor from the films he was in later in his career.
- Father of actor Nolan Hemmings
- Started his career as a boy-soprano of some note. Benjamin Britten composed some of his most important child parts for him, i.a. Miles in "The Turn of the Screw". He was renowned for his mature and intelligent vocal interpretations of these parts and many have never been bettered since. Hemmings always spoke highly of Britten, even saying that the composer was more of a father to him than his actual father had been.
- 1967: Co-founded the HemDale Corporation with John Daly. However, he left the company in 1970.
- Ex-fiancé of Jane Merrow.
- Dated Alana Stewart and Kim Novak.
- Father-in-law of Nikki Grosse.
- Is mentioned by name in The BBC Entry for the Zinc Stoat of Budapest (or, It's the Arts) (1969).
- It was announced in late 1968 that in the November he would start filming Adventures in the Skin Trade with Lynn Redgrave.
- Appeared in two films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Gladiator (2000) and Gangs of New York (2002). Gladiator (2000) is a winner in the category.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content