Goodbye, Felix - remembering David Hedison (1927-2019)

The week has started on a sad note for many James Bond fans, and for those who spent entire afternoons watching many TV series. We learnt that, at the age of 92, David Hedison passed away. He was the fifth actor to play Felix Leiter in the James Bond films.

Described by Ian Fleming as “the Texan with whom he had shared so many adventures”, Hedison portrayed this idea perfectly in Live And Let Die and Licence To Kill. With his appearance in Bond 25, Jeffrey Wright will break the record playing the role for the third time after Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, but Hedison concluded his life being the only actor who could express that friendly link with James Bond that went beyond work with two different actors that played the same role: Roger Moore and Timothy Dalton.

He was also the one who had to represent one of the tensest moments written by Fleming on his second Bond novel, Live And Let Die, when Leiter is thrown to a pool full of hungry sharks that mutilate two of his extremities, something dramatically adapted in Licence To Kill and the catalyst of 007’s desire of revenge that would take him to resign to the Secret Service to avenge his friend and his wife Della, killed by the assailants that were after him.

A descendant of Armenians, Ara David Hedistian was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on 20 May 1927. He initiated his artistic career under the name Al Hedison on a number of TV series before reaching fame after playing the mutant star of The Fly in 1958. He later had a role in the original 1960 version of The Lost World and in The Greatest Story Ever Told in 1965, as he played important roles on TV series of that decade like Voyage To The Bottom of The Sea, playing Captain Crane, and the episode ‘Luella’ of The Saint, forming his first friendship bond with Roger Moore.

After an occasional encounter with director Guy Hamilton, the role of Felix Leiter was proposed to him for Live And Let Die, where his friend would be Bond for the first time. There was instantaneous chemistry: Hedison was the Felix who assisted Bond after a “little problem” (the mysterious and surprising assassination of his chauffeur) and had to tolerate the name-calling of the furious Mr Bleeker when Bond destroyed his aeroplane to evade Kananga’s hitmen. He was also the Felix Leiter who shared a tragic destiny who was similar to those of 007: due to the disgraceful consequences of his profession as a CIA and DEA agent, his wife is killed hours after the wedding.

“He was married once, but it was a long time ago”, he had told Della when she was surprised when Bond disregards references to a possible second marriage in a future.

Stripped of one of his legs, bruised and solace-less, Leiter manages to raise a smile when listening to his friend on the phone to inform him that he’ll recover his job at MI6, even after his rebellious attitude of hunting down drug kingpin Sánchez and his criminal empire without the proper authorization, when the US justice didn’t dare to confront him.

Besides his participation in series like Wonder Woman, Charlie’s Angels and Perry Mason, Hedison teamed up with his friend Moore in the films North Sea Hijack and The Naked Face. In 2018 he wrote the foreword for the new edition of The 007 Diaries, which the new Bond had written in 1973 and remained out of print for years: “Roger welcomed me into the wonderful fold of his life. He hosted my life for Christmas in Switzerland and summer in the South of France, always eager to share the spoils of his stardom yet never one to act with exception or snobbery,” he said remembering the actor who passed away on 23 May 2017, the day Hedison turned 90.

We just have to hope both of them are enjoying two Sazeracs watching a choir of angels playing a version of that Paul McCartney song that marked a generation and attracted an even bigger audience to that 1973 film, where Bond was turning into the field of comedy but wasn’t becoming less popular just for that. “Where’s your sense of adventure, James? This is Heaven, relax!” he would say.

Those who have met him, like actor Robert Davi, talked about his sympathy and sense of humour. There are others who didn’t share that luck, but it just takes watching a few seconds of any of his performances to perceive that warmth and kindness that went through the screen. He made us feel that, besides being a friend of James Bond, he was almost a friend of ours. Maybe this is why, despite his advanced age, we are still surprised and saddened for his departure.

So long, great man!

Goodbye, Felix.

Nicolás Suszczyk

Book Focus: 'À Bientôt', Sir Roger Moore's poignant farewell

As he grew older, Sir Roger Moore never lost his elegance or sense of humor.

Published some months after his death on May 23rd, 2017, the official blurb of À bientôt establishes that this final book of Sir Roger Moore -whom the world knew as Simon Templar and James Bond for decades- consists on "his reflection on age and ageing". Does that make it a book for old, experienced men? Or only for people over 60? Absolutely not.

Far of being a complaint about getting old -tough Roger takes a look at the uncomfortable issues of his age (he passed away aged 89)- À bientôt feels as a warm last testimony and reflection of a live well lived: his childhood, fame with Templar and Bond, helping others with UNICEF, and how he tried to get used with the present day technologies. All these subjects, isolated, could feel boring if were touched by another person. But Moore did it with so much grace and emotion that you can almost imagine his inimitable voice from up on the sky reading those words as if he was reading them straight to you.

The book contains a coulple of photos from his family albums and some pencil sketches drawn by Roger himself, most of them illustrating the anecdotes described in the paragraphs. One of the funniest parts comes as recalls uncomfortable situations lived in the in airports with security scanners or when he comes up to inventing a few new internet slangs (i.e. IMHO - Is My Hearing Aid On?)

One of the strongest aspects in the piece is that the author leaves aside the common anecdotes of his life on the spotlight (as he did with My Word Is My Bond, published in 2008) and every page becomes sort of a dedicated letter about the ways of life very much like a monologue, almost in a Forrest Gump way. The man who tells us his story here is not Roger Moore, the star, but Roger Moore the father, husband and man of the world. And instead of feeling different to him, of feeling the natural distance between you, the man of the street, and he, a world-known movie star, you'll most likely feel identified in having lived a few or maybe most of the situations he tells us.

Moore's view of these times are filled of interesting passages, as he wonders why people nowadays go to a theatre dressed in shorts and t-shirts as if they were sitting on the couch of their home and remembering the days where he picked his best suit and tie for a movie screening or theatre play showing. The most poignant part is, of course, in the last chapter where he wonders about the mystery of death or, as he called it, the "cutting-room floor", stating he would face it with "all the dignity a coward can muster - and one last little irony".

À bientôt can be purchased in hardcover or Kindle format through Amazon. People outside the US or UK should use the reliable BookDepository site that offers free shipping worldwide.

That said, it this might sound a cliché at this point, but... what a heatbreaking loss for mankind.

Anyway, let’s better say au revoir, Roger. I have the oddest feeling we’ll meet again sometime.


Nicolás Suszczyk