David Hemmings Dies

British actor David Hemmings, best known for his roles in the sixties including Blow-up and Barbarella, has died at the age of 62. The actor, who was last seen on Channel 4's 100 Sexiest Moments extolling the virtues of Jane Fonda's breasts, had a heart attack whilst on set in Romania. 'He had just finished his final shots of the day and was going back to his dressing room, as far as we know,' said Hemming's agent. 'He had only recently returned to acting. He opted for a number of years to work on his own projects, directing and producing.' It was Hemming's role as a photographer in the swinging Sixties in Blow-up that made him famous. The actor's potrayal in Antonioni's cult classic made him the poster-boy of British cinema. For years it was thought that David Bailey was the inspiration behind the role, but Hemmings told the BBC last year that it was actually David Hamilton whom he based the part on. In the seventies Hemmings switched positions to go behind the camera, directing a series of classic TV shows including Magnum PI, Airwolf, The A-Team and Quantum Leap. 'People thought I was dead,' he told The Guardian. 'But I wasn't. I was just directing The A-Team.' In 2000 Hemmings returned in splendid form as Cassius the master of the games in Gladiator, topping this up with a much-lauded role in Last Orders in 2001. Never one to hold back an opinion, Hemmings hit the headlines last year when he launched a scathing attack on Leonardo DiCaprio describing him as 'the only actor that I have actively disliked'. DiCaprio had attracted the wrath of Hemmings for having apparently snubbed fellow actors whilst on the set of Gangs of New York.