A Former Sound Of Music Child Star Became The First Live-Action Spider-Man

Publish date: 2024-05-07

Appearing as Friedrich in "The Sound of Music" changed Nicholas Hammond's life forever. He told Parade that he's remained close to the other actors who played the von Trapp children over the years: "We bonded because, for all of us, and particularly the seven kids, it was an extraordinary experience as a young person to go through — where one day you're an unknown child actor and ... [then] we were the seven most famous children in the world." Hammond went on to appear in many television shows and movies, making another contribution to pop culture history in 1973 when he appeared on an infamous episode of "The Brady Bunch" as popular Doug Simpson, who inspires Marcia Brady to break a date with another boy, only to tell her "something suddenly came up" after an errant football breaks her nose. (A clip is available on YouTube.)

In 1977, Hammond was cast as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in the live-action television series "The Amazing Spider-Man." In a 2021 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he expressed how he had been reluctant to take the part at first, as he didn't want to participate in a campy send-up like the 1960s "Batman" television show. However, the producers convinced him that they wanted to do a more down-to-earth, realistic portrayal of a super hero, which appealed to him: "Take a sort of fanciful character and convince the viewers he is real, make them forget that essentially what they are watching is a comic book character."

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