George Hammond

Stargate character


caption = Lieutenant General George S. Hammond in Stargate: Continuum
race = Human
name = George S. Hammond
gender = Male
rank = Major General (SG-1 Episode 1.01-7.22)
Lieutenant General (SG-1 Episode 8.01-9.09, Stargate: Continuum)

birthplace = Texas, US, Earth
family = Wife (deceased), two granddaughters
tv = Don S. Davis,
Aaron Pearl (Lt. Hammond)
first = Children of the Gods
last = |

George S. Hammond is a fictional character in the television series "Stargate SG-1", who was played by Don S. Davis. He subsequently made appearances in "Stargate Atlantis" and "". Davis died from a heart attack on June 29, 2008, making "Continuum" his final on-screen appearance as General Hammond. [ [http://gateworld.net/news/2008/06/don_s._davis_1942-2008.shtml GateWorld - Don S. Davis: 1942-2008 ] ] __TOC__

Background

Major General Hammond was the head of the USAF's Stargate Command. He replaced Major General West who commanded the Stargate Project during the original excursion to Abydos (in the original movie "Stargate"). An Air Force officer since the mid-1960s, shutting down the Stargate program was to have been his last assignment before retirement.

Master Bra'tac has been known to call him "Hammond of Texas", referring to Hammond's home state (and, because other characters who are members of the American military are seen to do so, he occasionally gives a semblance of a salute by gesturing with a hand over his head). Hammond is a widower; his wife died of cancer. He has two grandchildren, Kayla and Tessa, whose phone number is keyed to the '1' button on his office phone above the president.

He is very dedicated to the men and women under his command as shown when SG-1 was captured by Hathor and he went to any lengths to rescue them, including going into battle himself in a successful attempt to save them.

Hammond briefly retired under duress in 2001 [cite episode| title=Chain Reaction| episodelink=Chain Reaction (Stargate SG-1)| series=Stargate SG-1| serieslink=Stargate SG-1| season=4| number=15| airdate=2001-01-05] and left the series at the beginning of season 8, when he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and placed in command of the new Homeworld Security command, a department which was in control of Stargate Command, the "Prometheus" project, and the Atlantian Antarctica outpost.

In "1969", Lieutenant Hammond met SG-1 from approximately 30 years in the future and read a note that he had written to himself. After SG-1 broke out of military custody, Jack O'Neill shot Hammond with a zat gun in order to protect Hammond from a court martial for helping the team escape. [cite episode| title=1969| episodelink=1969 (Stargate SG-1)| series=Stargate SG-1| serieslink=Stargate SG-1| season=2| number=21| airdate=1999-03-05]

Before his promotion, President Henry Hayes, former air force colleague of Hammond's, put the general in charge of "Prometheus" during the battle in Antarctica against the forces of Anubis. Hammond later made guest appearances during the first season of "Stargate Atlantis" and the eighth and ninth seasons of "Stargate SG-1". An alien on a planet in the Pegasus galaxy impersonated Hammond while making contact with the team assigned to Atlantis. The real Hammond commanded a short-lived and fruitless mission to take "Prometheus" to Atlantis. [cite episode| episodelink=Prometheus Unbound (Stargate SG-1)| title=Prometheus Unbound| series=Stargate SG-1| serieslink=Stargate SG-1] However, that mission did bring the SGC into contact with Vala Mal Doran.

General Hammond apparently retired from active service sometime in season 9; in sgcite|The Fourth Horseman (Part 1), he was wearing a civilian suit. His retired status was confirmed in the 10th season episode "The Road Not Taken" by Carter. He returned to the show in a voice cameo for the tenth season episode sgcite|200 and as an alternate version of himself in sgcite|The Road Not Taken. Although he retired he did seem to have some kind of important civilian position in the government as he gave a speech to gathered people at an Air Force base and was hustled away by the Secret Service when there was a threat in the area.

His most recent appearance was in Stargate Continuum. He was a Lieutenant General and seemed to hold a high position as he acted as a military advisor of sorts to President Hayes during the Ba'al situation. This General Hammond did not know Colonel Carter's alternate self as was proven when she said it was nice to see him and he responded "if you say so" while seeming confused.

Trivia

* Don S. Davis appeared in several episodes of MacGyver, which starred Richard Dean Anderson and before he guest starred in MacGyver he was a double for Dana Elcar who played Pete Thornton, MacGyver's boss.
* Wears an Omega SA Seamaster Professional watch; full-size chronometer version. The same watch is worn by James Bond in all movies from Goldeneye to Die Another Day.
* In episode 316 "Urgo" Don S. Davis did indeed call Janet Fraiser "Teryl" in the corridor scene with Samantha Carter.

Ribbons and Medals

General Hammond is a highly decorated officer whose meritorious service in Vietnam, Kuwait, and Stargate Command has spanned nearly 40 years.

Reception

For his portrayal of Hammond, Don S. Davis was nominated for a 2004 Leo Award in the category "Dramatic Series: Best Supporting Performance by a Male" for the episode "Heroes, Part 2". [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118480/awards "Stargate SG-1" (1997) - Awards ] ]

External links

* [http://stargate.wikia.com/wiki/George_S._Hammond George Hammond] - [http://stargate.wikia.com Stargate Wiki]
* [http://www.gateworld.net/omnipedia/characters/links/hammondgeorge.shtml George Hammond] - [http://www.gateworld.net/omnipedia GateWorld Omnipedia]
* [http://www.stargate-sg1-solutions.com/wiki/George_Hammond George Hammond] - [http://www.stargate-sg1-solutions.com Stargate Solutions]

References