Nicholas Hammond

For other people named Nicholas Hammond, see Nicholas Hammond (disambiguation).

Nicholas Hammond
Hammond in 2019
Born	(1950-05-15) 15 May 1950 (age 73) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Nationality	American, Australian
Education	Landon School
Alma mater	Princeton University
Years active	1961–present
Known for	The Sound of Music Lord of the Flies The Amazing Spider-Man
Spouse	Laura Soli ​ ​ (m. 1980;div. 1984)​
Partner	Robyn 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 theatrical films as Spider-Man and its two sequels outside of North America.

Early life

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

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

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. ^[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

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

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

Film

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

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

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

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. 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.

External links

• Nicholas Hammond at IMDb
• Nicholas Hammond at the Internet Broadway Database