From 1989 until last year when Quantum of Solace was released, Mr. Hedison had the distinct honor of being the only man to play Felix Leiter in two seperate films (Live and Let Die & Licence to Kill). Today, he and Jeffrey Wright share that honor, however, Hedison is still many Bond fans’ favorite Felix Leiter.

If you don’t already own Licence to Kill on home video, I suggest buying the Ultimate Edition DVD or Blu-ray because (1) it’s one of the best James Bond films and (2) it features James Bond’s brother from Langley (although the film shows Leiter liaising with the Drug Enforcement Administration)!

Welcome to…

The David Hedison FLc Interview

Hunter Graybeal: In your extended biography located in chapter two of The Fly at Fifty, it says that you were in the theatre company for the 1951 season at Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. Being from nearby Bristol, Tennessee, I’d love to know what it was like for you to live there that summer, being a vastly different region than your native New England.

David Hedison: Barter wasn’t my first time living in the South. I spent a year in Jacksonville, Florida in 1945-46 as a seaman second class in the US Navy. I like the South. It may be different than New England, but people are people no matter where you go. I have always enjoyed Southern hospitality whenever and wherever it is offered.

HG: Also in your biography, it says that you appeared in A Month in the Country alongside your own teacher, Ms. Uta Hagen, and under the direction of Sir Michael Redgrave. As a young professional actor, what was it like to be on the stage with such heroes and heroines of the acting world?

DH: I learned a lot. It was great experience. I really could relate to the tutor, Belieav, and that came out in my performance. Hagen believed in my talent, which helped immensely. I gave that part everything I had.

Redgrave was an excellent director. It showed in the reviews we got and in the awards I won. I knew I needed to do well in this part. It was my first real break after almost a year of trying to make it on the stage in New York, so I went for it. And I ended up in Hollywood making movies, but that’s another story!

HG: If another The Fly remake were to be greenlit and produced again, would you be interested in playing a part in it?

DH: Not sure what I’d play now, but if the part was right for me, and they asked me to do it, I’d certainly say yes.

Chris Wright: July 14, 2009 will mark the 20th anniversary of Licence to Kill. Can you tell us what your fondest memory is from filming your second Bond film?

DH: I loved the Key West location. In particular, winding down beside the hotel pool in the evening after a hard day’s work, with my wife, Bridget, and Benicio del Toro, who is a lovely, warm person, nothing like Dario. Del Toro was not well known then, but I could see he had talent. There was a boat there and my wife and I would go out sailing.

CW: What did you think when you read the script and it said your character was going to get married and maimed in the film?

DH: I was coming down to the set from another job – a play called Return Engagements – and my advance script got lost in the mail. So I arrived for my first day of shooting with no script. Barbara Broccoli was kind enough to lend me hers to get me through the day, until they could get me one, so I really didn’t know what I was doing, at first.

CW: Do you wish you had been asked to do more Bond films as Felix Leiter?

DH: I certainly would have played the part if someone had asked me to, but no one did. They took Roger’s Bond in a direction that did not include Felix until his last film and then they decided “Felix” should be an Asian. I never complained about them casting me in the two films they did. Felix in the Fleming books is supposed to be blond and from Texas, and I am neither.

CW: Can you tell us about any of your current or future projects?

DH: I plan to make some personal appearances later this year, but the dates are not announced yet. They will show up on my website, DavidHedison.com, when they are set. I’m still working at the Actors Studio West and I enjoy that very much.

HG & CW: FelixLeiter.com would like to thank you for taking the time to participate in this interview.

DH: My pleasure.

THE FLc INTERVIEW WILL RETURN…

It has just come to my attention that the US edition of Titan Books’ The Paradise Plot will feature a brand new introduction by two-time Felix Leiter, David Hedison. It will not contain the introduction by Lois Chiles aka Dr. Holly Goodhead from Moonraker (1979) which was included in the UK edition released last month.

Due for release on Tuesday (July 8), the latest James Bond comic strip collection from Titan Books will contain The Paradise Plot as well as Deathmask. These stories haven’t been seen since their original publication in the Daily Star in the early 1980s.

The legend continues! Stand by for two more adventures with the world’s greatest and most famous secret agent, James Bond, as some of his most thrilling missions are collected for the first time ever in a deluxe collectors’ library edition! In this latest action-packed volume, Bond teams up with fellow 00 agent Suzi Kew once again on another sun-soaked escapade, The Paradise Plot. Not seen since its original publication in a British newspaper, this ultra rare adventure finally returns to print! This new, never-before-collected edition also features Lawrence and McLusky’s rarely seen story Deathmask! Plus a new introduction by David Hedison (Live and Let Die) and an exclusive feature on rare James Bond comics from around the world! 

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER ‘THE PARADISE PLOT’ (US EDITION)

Visit Amazon.co.uk if you’re a hardcore collector that also wants the UK edition of The Paradise Plot for the region exclusive Lois Chiles introduction.

Discuss The Pardise Plot in this thread on the FelixLeiter.com Forums, the only place dedicated to the discussion of Felix Leiter on the Internet.

Related Articles:

Hedison Coming to Boston in November

Hedison Portrays MGM’s James Aubrey in New Audiobook

From Bachelors to Widowers: A Tragic Bond

According to our friends at CommanderBond.net, 1971′s Diamonds Are Forever will be screened at the Billy Wilder Theater in Los Angeles, California on July 18, 2008 at 7:00 PM. There’s no cost to attend the screening, however, tickets are required and are available at the Billy Wilder Theater box office one hour prior to start time. Limit one ticket per person on a first come, first served basis and members receive priority seating (subject to availability).

Diamonds Are Forever, Sean Connery’s final official James Bond film, features Norman Burton as Felix Leiter and Jill St. John as Tiffany Case. It’s not Connery’s best Bond film but it features Felix Leiter so it gets respect in my book. Make sure to mark your calendar if you’re going to be in LA next month!

For further information, call 310-206-FILM (3456) or visit the official website.

Here’s a sexy picture of Tiffany Case (Jill St. John) for your viewing pleasure.