Dwight Arlington Hemion, a television director and producer best
known for his musical specials who won 18 Emmy Awards and was
nominated a record 47 times, died Monday at his home in Rectortown,
Va. He was 81.
The cause was renal failure, his wife, Kit, said.
In television specials starring Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand,
Mikhail Baryshnikov and many other world-class performers, Hemion and
his partner, producer Gary Smith, captured popular and critical
acclaim.
"Hemion defined an era in television," Ron Simon, curator of radio
and television at the Paley Center for Media in New York City, said
this week. "He created great variety television for home audiences."
Starting in the late 1960s, Hemion "defined the music spectacular,
Simon said.
Shows that Hemion directed were made in a comparatively simple style
without elaborate editing or special effects. "The artist was the
star," Smith said in an interview this week.
For "Baryshnikov on Broadway," which won Hemion two Emmys in 1980,
one segment had the ballet dancer joining the kick line from "A
Chorus Line," the Broadway musical.
"We learned that Baryshnikov had a passion for musical theater,"
Smith said.
It was the type of revealing detail Hemion looked for. In every
show, "we wanted to make it feel that there was a new insight into
the performer," Smith said.
Another Hemion special, "Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music," was an
Emmy winner in 1966 and featured Sinatra in his early 50s, singing
songs that conveyed the bittersweetness of life. It was another side
to the legend built on Sinatra's glamorous, jet-setting public image.
At times, Hemion directed television specials on location. One early
example featured trumpeter Herb Alpert, opening the show with a
performance in a Tijuana bullring. The show won two Emmys, one for
outstanding director and one for outstanding musical program, in 1968.
Hemion began collecting television's top prize in 1965 with an Emmy
for "My Name Is Barbra." He worked with Streisand a number of times
after that and earned Emmys for other specials, including "Color Me
Barbra" in 1966 and, most recently, "Barbra Streisand: The Concert"
in 1995.
Other major performers Hemion worked with included Luciano Pavarotti,
Neil Diamond and Bette Midler.
"Every star who had a special wanted Dwight to direct it," Gail Purse
said this week. She worked with Hemion through the 1990s when he
directed a number of "Disney's Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra,"
programs that aired on the Disney Channel.
Although Hemion was best known for his work with entertainers, he
also directed televised coverage of the inaugural galas of President
Reagan in 1985 and President Clinton in 1993 and 1997. He directed TV
coverage of several Democratic National Conventions, a number of
annual "Christmas in Washington" TV specials and several Kennedy
Center Honors programs.
In the 1970s, Hemion and Smith worked in London, after British media
mogul Lew Grade invited them to create programs there. They directed
and produced television specials with composer Burt Bacharach, former
Beatle Paul McCartney and singer-actress Julie Andrews, among other
major talents. They also worked on several televised "Royal Command
Performance" evenings of entertainment.
Hemion was born March 14, 1926, in New Haven, Conn., the son of an
undertaker. After graduating from high school, he joined the Army Air
Forces and served in the Pacific during World War II.
After the war, he went to work for ABC television in New York City.
His first major directing job was with comedian Steve Allen on
the "Tonight Show." He directed a number of the programs during the
mid-1950s.
Hemion and Smith became partners in the mid-'60s, based in New York
City and later in London before they relocated to Los Angeles in the
mid-'70s.
Hemion's marriage to Joyce Hogue Hemion ended in divorce in 1970. He
married Kit Lusk in 1973. He is survived by his second wife, two
children and three step-children, as well as six grandchildren.
Contributions in Hemion's name may be made to the Young Musicians
Foundation, 195 S. Beverly Drive, Suite 414, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.
Source:
http://www.latimes.
hemion2feb02,
107, any copyrighted work in this message is
distributed under fair use without profit or
payment to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included
information for non-profit research and
educational purposes only.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
- -
Dead Celebrity Alert is brought to you by
http://www.amuseyourself.com
- -
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___
