another tale of a lack of schooling
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I rented "Camelot" and was looking up some of the actors. The guy who
played Mordred was unfamiliar to me and I was surprised to see how many films he
was in. He died in 2003, while working on a film, but I thought some of the
obituary material was pretty interesting! Look him up at IMBD to see what
movies he was in, and I've lifted a bit from the obituary that was here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/12/05/db0501.xml&
sSheet=/portal/2003/12/05/ixportal.html
He was a musical and artistic prodigy, so this all didn't happen *because* he
quit going to school, but it's just one more example of someone for whom
school would NOT have been a benefit, considering all he learned and accomplished
without it.
-------------------------
David Leslie Edward Hemmings was born at Guildford on November 18 1941.
Although he was sent to Glyn College, Epsom, Hemmings later remarked: "You can
count the days I went to school after the age of eight on your hands and feet. I
don't regret it." David's father had been a dance band pianist and encouraged
his son to sing.
Hemmings was nine when he first sang for Benjamin Britten. For three years
he toured in The Turn Of The Screw, until his voice finally broke during a high
aria on stage at the Champs Elysee Theatre in Paris. His understudy had been
waiting, in full costume, throughout these three years, and was brought on
after a brief interlude; alas, his voice broke three days later.
At 12 Hemmings had begun acting in films. He left home at 14, had his own
flat in London the next year and, by the time he made Blow-Up, he had 48 (mostly
forgettable) films under his belt - including Otto Preminger's St Joan
(1957). He was one of the original residents of Swinging London. "John Lennon gave
me my first joint," he recalled.
At the end of the 1960s he left London for a holiday in the Seychelles and
ended up working in Australia and New Zealand, making more than 20 films.
================ Interesting life of someone I'd never heard of before.
================
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
played Mordred was unfamiliar to me and I was surprised to see how many films he
was in. He died in 2003, while working on a film, but I thought some of the
obituary material was pretty interesting! Look him up at IMBD to see what
movies he was in, and I've lifted a bit from the obituary that was here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/12/05/db0501.xml&
sSheet=/portal/2003/12/05/ixportal.html
He was a musical and artistic prodigy, so this all didn't happen *because* he
quit going to school, but it's just one more example of someone for whom
school would NOT have been a benefit, considering all he learned and accomplished
without it.
-------------------------
David Leslie Edward Hemmings was born at Guildford on November 18 1941.
Although he was sent to Glyn College, Epsom, Hemmings later remarked: "You can
count the days I went to school after the age of eight on your hands and feet. I
don't regret it." David's father had been a dance band pianist and encouraged
his son to sing.
Hemmings was nine when he first sang for Benjamin Britten. For three years
he toured in The Turn Of The Screw, until his voice finally broke during a high
aria on stage at the Champs Elysee Theatre in Paris. His understudy had been
waiting, in full costume, throughout these three years, and was brought on
after a brief interlude; alas, his voice broke three days later.
At 12 Hemmings had begun acting in films. He left home at 14, had his own
flat in London the next year and, by the time he made Blow-Up, he had 48 (mostly
forgettable) films under his belt - including Otto Preminger's St Joan
(1957). He was one of the original residents of Swinging London. "John Lennon gave
me my first joint," he recalled.
At the end of the 1960s he left London for a holiday in the Seychelles and
ended up working in Australia and New Zealand, making more than 20 films.
================ Interesting life of someone I'd never heard of before.
================
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
magic and music:
Two more paragraphs from that bio:
-=-
A talented watercolourist, in recent years Hemmings had also devoted much
energy to exhibitions of his paintings. Selling a picture, he said, gave him
greater pleasure than acting. He was also a member of the International
Brotherhood of Magicians and the Magic Circle; in restaurants he delighted in making the
salt disappear. The enduring popularity of Blow-Up allowed Hemmings the
opportunity regularly to address students of film at universities across
Britain.-=-
I'm going to go and rent Blow-Up. But I brought this here because Kelly has
an interest in magic and magicians.
-=-Aged 19, he married his first wife Genista (Jenny), but the relationship
was over by the time he met the American actress Gayle Hunnicutt in the late
1960s. Their first encounter was in Los Angeles, where Hemmings was publicising
Blow-Up. They married in 1968.
-=- "We were the poor man's Taylor and Burton," Hemmings recalled. At the
wedding, a swimming pool was filled with doves dipped in puce dye, the Mamas and
the Papas sang and Henry Mancini conducted the orchestra.-=-
Holly has just this week discovered The Mamas and the Papas. I played her
some things from albums, got her a CD this morning, and read this in the
afternoon.
Connections just keep on and keep on!!
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Two more paragraphs from that bio:
-=-
A talented watercolourist, in recent years Hemmings had also devoted much
energy to exhibitions of his paintings. Selling a picture, he said, gave him
greater pleasure than acting. He was also a member of the International
Brotherhood of Magicians and the Magic Circle; in restaurants he delighted in making the
salt disappear. The enduring popularity of Blow-Up allowed Hemmings the
opportunity regularly to address students of film at universities across
Britain.-=-
I'm going to go and rent Blow-Up. But I brought this here because Kelly has
an interest in magic and magicians.
-=-Aged 19, he married his first wife Genista (Jenny), but the relationship
was over by the time he met the American actress Gayle Hunnicutt in the late
1960s. Their first encounter was in Los Angeles, where Hemmings was publicising
Blow-Up. They married in 1968.
-=- "We were the poor man's Taylor and Burton," Hemmings recalled. At the
wedding, a swimming pool was filled with doves dipped in puce dye, the Mamas and
the Papas sang and Henry Mancini conducted the orchestra.-=-
Holly has just this week discovered The Mamas and the Papas. I played her
some things from albums, got her a CD this morning, and read this in the
afternoon.
Connections just keep on and keep on!!
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
-----Original Message-----
From: SandraDodd@...
He was also a member of the International
Brotherhood of Magicians and the Magic Circle; in restaurants he delighted in
making the
salt disappear. The enduring popularity of Blow-Up allowed Hemmings the
opportunity regularly to address students of film at universities across
Britain.-=-
I'm going to go and rent Blow-Up. But I brought this here because Kelly has
an interest in magic and magicians.
-=-=-=-
Oohhh! I'm a also a member of the International Brother of Magicians. Well, a lapsed member!
~Kelly
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
From: SandraDodd@...
He was also a member of the International
Brotherhood of Magicians and the Magic Circle; in restaurants he delighted in
making the
salt disappear. The enduring popularity of Blow-Up allowed Hemmings the
opportunity regularly to address students of film at universities across
Britain.-=-
I'm going to go and rent Blow-Up. But I brought this here because Kelly has
an interest in magic and magicians.
-=-=-=-
Oohhh! I'm a also a member of the International Brother of Magicians. Well, a lapsed member!
~Kelly
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]