I finally have a bit of a breather and some time to get back to posting Sci-Fi Blasts From The Past. Again, these are interviews that previously appeared in print only and never on-line. Today, the late (and still much missed) David Hedison talks about playing Sci-Fi TV iconic character Captain Lee Crane in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Enjoy!
Handsome, debonair, engaging, congenial – just a few of the words that describe veteran stage, television and feature film actor David Hedison as well as some of the many characters he has played over the years. Perhaps the role for which he is most fondly remembered by his fans is that of Captain Lee Crane in the Irwin Allen 1960’s Sci-Fi/underwater adventure series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Based on the 1961 movie of the same name (which Allen executive produced, directed and co-wrote), the TV show was set in the 70’s (and later the 80’s) onboard the futuristic nuclear submarine S.S.R.N. Seaview, whose crew, led by Crane and Admiral Harriman Nelson, risked life and limb to protect Earth from threats terrestrial and extraterrestrial in nature. Before the cameras began rolling, Allen had made his mind up about who was going to command the Seaview on a weekly basis, and was sticking to his guns.
“Irwin had always wanted me for the part of Lee Crane and tried to get me to do it for the 1961 movie, but I’d already committed to another film and was unable to,” notes the actor. “When Voyage went to series, he pursued me again, this time all the way to London, where I was shooting an episode of The Saint – Luella – with Roger Moore. Irwin told me he had [booked] Richard Basehart [Admiral Harriman Nelson] for the series, who is someone I wanted to work with, so I said, ‘Yes.’ There was no audition; I finished filming The Saint, flew back home to the U.S., was given my wardrobe and began filming the Voyage pilot, Eleven Days to Zero, the next day.
“We were filming in late November 1963, and Henry Kulky [Chief “Curly” Jones] came back from lunch to tell us that President Kennedy had been shot. Filming was stopped for the day and everyone went home. I’ll never forget that.”
The-then Commander Lee Crane became the Seaview’s new captain after its original commanding officer was murdered in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea’s pilot episode. As dedicated as he was to the successful completion of each mission, Crane also never took lightly his responsibility to protect the lives of his crew. The captain would sometimes butt heads with Admiral Nelson if he felt the situation was spiraling out of control, and would not hesitate to put himself in the line of fire to get the job done. Crane was an exceedingly competent as well as capable officer, and Hedison did his best to imbue his performance with that commanding presence.
“Irwin wasn’t at all interested in any of my ideas about the character of Lee Crane,” says the actor. “I did the [acting] exercise and wrote up what I thought was a good biography for Crane, but Irwin didn’t use any of it, and my character didn’t really grow. Irwin wanted a man of action, so I gave him one. I was fit and had had training, so I could do most of my fighting as well as the less-dangerous stunts. My stunt double George started doubling for me at Fox Studios in 1959, and he was with me on the show to do anything else when needed. They were very careful with me, so there would be no shooting delays.
“I like to think I gave Lee Crane a conscience along with the ability to do the right thing in any circumstance, but you can’t play that. You have to know what that is and do it honestly, or the audience can tell. Good scripts were easy to do, while bad scripts required us to work harder. We managed, though, no matter what they wrote for us.”
Sci-Fi and Fantasy themes are peppered throughout a number of first season Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea episodes, but many of the first season’s stories are more grounded, Cold War-type dramas with various foreign powers as the main adversaries. Seasons two, three and four have more genre-based storytelling, and some of Hedison’s most memorable episodes are serious as well as fantastical.
“I liked The Human Computer because it was the first episode they let me carry, and it was only me and the bad guy,” he recalls. “I also liked The Phantom Strikes as well as The Phantom Returns because I had to match Alfred Ryder’s [Krueger] accent exactly so that the audience would believe my character was possessed. It wasn’t easy, but I pulled it off. I liked Man-Beast as well because I got to run amuck and destroy set pieces. They were always telling me to be careful and not break anything. Well, I broke a lot of things in that episode and it was very liberating,” jokes the actor.
Despite the dire straits onscreen and the occasional outbursts of temper, the Seaview crew’s camaraderie was unbreakable. That was also true behind the scenes with Hedison and his fellow castmates. “I loved working with Richard Basehart,” he says. “He was so good and made me better. Richard taught me a great deal about concentration and intensity. When the cameras rolled, he was always prepared. Bob Dowdell [Lt. Commander Chip Morton] was my neighbor when the show began. I got him the job, mostly because he was a good actor, and Bob always supported me. I liked Del Monroe [Kowalski] as well. He was a very hard worker and would do most anything for Irwin.”
Perry Mason, Love, American Style, BBC Play of the Month, Medical Center, Wonder Woman, Charlie’s Angels, The Love Boat and The Colby’s are among Hedison’s other TV credits, while his feature film appearances include The Fly, Ffolkes, License to Kill and The Reality Trap. He was 11 years old when setting his sights on an acting career, and 10 years later enrolled in a New York City acting school to pursue that dream. “It was another seven years of theater and television work all over the country before I was finally signed to a movie contract with 20th Century Fox in 1957,” says Hedison.
“I’ve made so many good friends out here in Los Angeles, too many to name. Sadly, most of them are gone now. I did good work all these years, and always entertained my audiences on the stage, big screen and television. I love what I do and am grateful I was able to make a good living at it. You have to be passionate about wanting to be an actor to make it. You have to feel it, want it and work for it.
“I still keep busy working with young actors at the Actors Studio West. I was in a documentary last year about the late Susan Oliver that won some film festival awards, and a book about my first television series, Five Fingers, was published in September 2015 and I signed books – with the author – in October 2015. I also have a small part in a film directed by Eric Stoltz that will be released in 2017 called Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk.”
Steve Eramo