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Nicholas Ham  mond,
the star of the live-action Spider-Man TV show, had some minor
roles in some high profile films before taking on the role of
Peter Parker. Born on May 15th, 1950, Hammond made is debut as
one of the children trapped on an island in the film adaptation
of William Goldstein's "Lord of The Flies" in 1963.
In 1965, he played opposite Julie Andrews as one of the children
in "The Sound Of Music". Before jumping into Spider-Man's
tights, he played in films such as Skyjacked (1972), mini series'
such as "Rich Man, Poor Man - BOOK I" (1976) and television
series such as "The Brady Bunch", "Eight Is Enough"
and "The Waltons". Hammond was 26 when he got the role
of Peter Parker and starred as Spider-Man from 1977 through 1979.
After that series was canceled, he continued guest starring in
US television series and movies before relocating to Australia.
Hammond has continued acting in plays, movies, commercials and
television series' that are filmed in Australia and has also
been credited as a writer in the mini series' "A Difficult
Woman" (1998) and "Secret Men's Business" (1999). |
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 Robert
F. Simon, born
on December 2nd, 1908, took over the role of J Jonah Jameson
from Bewitched's David White when Spider-Man became a weekly
series in 1978. Simon was 69 years old when he assumed the duties
of the hardened Daily Bugle publisher and had already amassed
a lengthy resume of parts in movies and television series in
a career spanning more than 30 years. Robert F. Simon had acted
in television series' such as "M*A*S*H", "Ben
Casey", "Custer", "Bewitched", "Eight
Is Enough", "The Partridge Family", "The
Virginian", "Bonanza", "Perry Mason"
and "Gunsmoke"; as well as movies such as "Operation
Petticoat" (1959) and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"
(1962). After "Spider-Man" ended his live action adventures
in mid 1979, Simon who was now in his seventies seemed to retire
from acting. He passed away in 1992 just days before what would
have been his 84th birthday. |
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 Assuming the role of J Jonah
Jameson's perky assistant, Rita Conway fell to Chip Fields when the character was added in "The
Deadly Dust". Spider-Man was one of Chip's first television
acting jobs, though she also appeared on series' such as "Good
Times", "What's Happening", "The Facts Of
Life", "Days Of Our Lives", "Hill Street
Blues" and, more recently, "Living Single", for
which she was also a creative consultant. Chip's family has continued
in her footsteps. Her daughter, Alexis, is also an actress. Her
oldest daughter, Kim Fields, portrayed the character of Tootie
for eight seasons in the long-running series, "The Facts
Of Life" and is now currently a film-producer. |
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 If ever there was a prolific
character actor, it is Michael
Pataki who
played the role of Captain Barbera during Spider-Man's first
season on CBS. Born on January 16, 1938, Pataki was 39 when he
assumed the role of Captain Barbera in the Spider-Man pilot.
While the producers apparently hated his character and got rid
of Barbera before the second season began, Pataki never seemed
to have trouble finding work. The actor was certainly never a
household name, but his career on television, in movies, behind
the camera and on stage is tremendous. Pataki's career on television
goes back into the 1950s but in the 1960s, he began to portray
characters in more visible movies and television series. Pataki
was a mime in "Easy Rider", "Amenophis Twefik"
in the Bat-Man series and Korax, the klingon that started the
fight in the classic Star Trek episode, "The Trouble
With Tribbles". Pataki always seemed most comfortable
on the horror and science fiction landscape: he appeared in guest
spots on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star
Trek: Deep Space Nine" and had roles in movies such as "The
Return Of Count Yorga" (1971) "Grave of the Vampire"
(1972), Dracula's Dog (1978), Halloween 4: The Return of Michael
Myers (1988). His list of television series appearances is tremendous
throughout the seventies, eighties and nineties. He has appeared
on "Charlie's Angels", "The Scarecrow and Mrs.
King", "Kung Fu", "McLoud", "The
Fall Guy", "Barney Miller", "BJ and the Bear",
"All In The Family", "WKRP In Cincinnati",
and as the diabolical Count Mallachi in "Happy Days".
In the 1990s, Pataki also lent his vocal talents to a number
of roles on various animated series including "The Ren and
Stimpy Show", "Batman: The Animated Series" and
"Extreme Ghostbusters". Pataki has also served
as a director and producer on several projects and is still working
in the year 2000. |
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 Ellen Bry
joined the cast of Spider-Man when the series began its second
season in the fall of 1978. The producers had gotten rid of Michael
Pataki's character and added Bry in the role of Julie Master's,
a rival photographer who would serve as a potential love interest
for Peter. Ellen had previously done some guest spots on
"CHiPs" and "The Love Boat" before her stint
on Spider-Man. When Spidey wrapped up, she moved on to several
other recurring roles on television series such as "The
Dallas Cowboy Cheerleeders", "Chicago Hope" and
"St. Elsewhere" which she starred in for three seasons.
More recently, Ellen appeared in the 1998 movie "Deep Impact"
and has done guest spots on "Party Of Five", "MacGyver",
"Murder She Wrote", "Matt Houston", "Baywatch"
and "Star Trek: The Next Generation". |
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 Although Nicholas Hammond was
officially cast in the dual role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man,
many shots of Spider-Man in the series were actually of Stunt-Man/Actor/Director
Fred Waugh wearing the famous costume.
For more than thirty years, Fred Waugh has been performing daredevil
stunts in television shows such as "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
" and "The Amazing Spider-Man" as well as movies
like Beetlejuice (1988), .Last Action Hero (1993), Volcano
(1997), Batman & Robin (1997) and Thirteenth Floor, The (1999).
During Spider-Man's run, Fred carried out some spectacular stunts
on Nicholas Hammond's behalf, such as scaling the Empire
State Building in "A Matter Of State", swinging
between buildings in "Spider-Man", swinging
from a prison roof onto the roof of a car in "Con Caper"
and dangling from a helicopter in "The Deadly Dust".
In the latter stunt, Fred very nearly collided with the side
of a building when the helicopter he was dangling from flew too
low. Fred Waugh has also served as a director, helping to film
difficult stunt scenes in movies like "Spy-Hard", "The
Last Action Hero" and "Medicine Man". In addition,
Fred occasionally shows up in regular on-camera acting roles
in movies such as "Rocky III", "Dreamscape"
and "Sudden Death."
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