Episode 45 – The Hills Are Still Alive With The Amazing Nicholas Hammond - Part 1

On this episode of Hollywood Obsessed, host Tony Miros speaks with celebrated actor Nicholas Hammond who is best known for playing the role of Friedrich von Trapp in “The Sound of Music” as well as the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the live action television series “The Amazing Spider-Man”. During their entertaining chat Nicholas tells Tony about what it was like making his film debut in the 1963 film “Lord of the Flies” in the Caribbean, how he was chosen by director Robert Wise from over 450 hopefuls to play the role of Friedrich von Trapp in the 1965 Oscar winning movie musical “The Sound of Music”, what it was like filming the movie on location in Austria, his memories of working with Christopher Plummer, Eleanor Parker & Julie Andrews on the film and how he and his on-screen siblings from the movie are still very close ever since “The Sound of Music” premiered 58 years ago!

NICHOLAS HAMMOND

Nicholas Hammond was 11 years old when he made his acting debut in the Broadway play "The Complaisant Lover" in 1961, playing alongside Michael Redgrave.  He was then cast in the cult classic film “Lord of the Flies”. Since then, he has worked constantly in film, on stage, and in television for over fifty years. He has starred on Broadway, had his own prime time TV series on CBS, and played leading & featured roles in some 45 films.

As a teenager he acquired global fame as Friedrick Von Trapp in the 20th Century Fox film, “The Sound of Music”, chosen by director Robert Wise from over 450 hopefuls. He followed this a year later with “Soldier in Love” with Jean Simmons, directed by George Schafer. After his schooling he went straight into a Charlton Heston picture, “Skyjacked”, marking the third time he had played opposite Walter Pigeon as father & son. In another cult classic, “Been Down So Long it Looks like Up to Me” he co-starred with Barry Primus & Bruce Davison.

From 1977 to 1979, he created the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the television series “The Amazing Spider-Man”, launching what has now become a multibillion-dollar franchise. Over the years he played over 250 roles as a guest star on the most iconic TV shows from the 70’s, 80’s & 90’s, from “Gunsmoke”, “Oregon Trail”, “Mission Impossible”, “The Brady Bunch”, “Eight is Enough”, “The Waltons”, “Farscape” etc.

After being cast as yachtsman Dennis Conner in the 1986 Australian TV miniseries “The Challenge”, about the 1983 America’s Cup challenge, he 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.

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”.

In 2019 Quentin Tarantino asked him to portray the director Sam Wanamaker in his latest film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”. He is currently starring in both a national tour of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella”, and a Sean Penn-produced comedy series with Bryan Brown and Susan Sarandon.

As a screenwriter, Nicholas has twice won the New York International Film and Television Awards, the Best Australian Screenplay of the Year, and the Gold Medal for Best Documentary at the British Television Awards for a documentary he wrote, produced and narrated about the real story of the Von Trapp family. He also contributed to The Sound of Music Family Scrapbook.

Book: The Sound of Music Family Scrapbook - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sound-of-music-family-scrapbook-fred-bronson/1139925336

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