The Real Reason Don S. Davis' George Hammond Temporarily Left Stargate SG-1

It's been quite some time since "Stargate SG-1" went off the air, with the beloved sci-fi series concluding its epic 10-season run back in 2007. Yet, the series — and really the broader franchise — has maintained a loyal following. Beyond having a massive, rich universe to explore, a big part of that has to do with the fact that audiences got to spend so much time with the characters over the years. 214 episodes worth in the case of "SG-1," which was literally a world record at one time. One of those characters was Major General George Hammond, played by Don S. Davis. As fans are well aware, Davis stepped away from the show after season 7. But why did the actor leave, exactly?

Hammond was killed off in "Stargate SG-1," though it's one of those universes where nobody is ever dead forever, it seems. The show ended up running for another three seasons beyond Davis' departure, and it wasn't the network's decision to get rid of him. On the contrary, the team behind the show always had his back. Rather, it came down to health issues that the actor was contending with at the time. In a 2006 interview with GateWorld, Davis explained what was going on:

"My health problems, which I haven't hidden those. One of the reasons I am so loyal to 'Stargate' is they were so loyal to me. In 2002 I had, just at the start of the season, a major operation. I had an abdominal aortic aneurysm, and they had to remove a large part of my aorta. Most shows would've cut me off. Stargate stood by me. I never missed a single paycheck. They scheduled the episodes around me, and when they brought me back they made sure that there was nothing that I was asked to do that might put me in harm's way. But there comes a time where you really can't, if you're in my condition. I'm a heart patient. I'm a diabetic. I've got other minor problems, and it's really time to slow down."

For what it's worth, Davis is far from the only actor who left the show. Michael Shanks famously left "Stargate SG-1" for a season before eventually returning. It just comes with the territory when a show stays on air for a full decade. These things are going to happen.

"Stargate" started as a movie that was meant to kick off a trilogy. That didn't happen, but it did find new life on television, where the franchise thrived for years across different shows and hundreds of episodes. Broadly speaking, it centers on an intergalactic gateway developed by an ancient civilization, which links other planets to Earth. The Air Force assembles a team to handle interstellar peacekeeping missions. It's a concept that literally offers an entire universe to explore.

Unfortunately for Davis, his health issues just became too big to ignore. As he further explained in the same interview, a life of doing stunts and his military service earlier in life had taken their toll. His awareness of mortality caught up with him.

"One of my doctors said I've got more scar tissue than anybody he's ever worked on. Because I've done stunts. I was in the military. I was an athlete when I was a young kid. And then I'm just stupid and clumsy. And now I've got arthritis along with other things. I take a lot of pills every day. So I'm very aware of my mortality. And especially after season 7."

Davis did eventually return to the franchise. He appeared in an episode of "Stargate: Atlantis" before it was canceled by the Sci-Fi Channel (before being rebranded as Syfy). Hammond also appeared in the 2008 movie "Stargate: Continuum," which was one of two movies that arose from the "SG-1" universe. That serves as one of the actor's final projects, as he passed away in 2008. But Davis expressed nothing but appreciation for his time in this franchise, and the network always had his back as well.

"Stargate SG-1" is currently streaming on Prime Video, or you can grab the entire series on Blu-ray via Amazon.