RIP Peter Graves
Peter Graves (Associated Press file photo)
Peter Graves, who starred in both the TV series “Mission: Impossible” and satirical “Airplane!” films, has died, the Associated Press is reporting.
Graves passed away Sunday just a few days before his 84th birthday outside his home in Los Angeles. Graves was returning from brunch with his wife of nearly 60 years and his family when he had what Graves’ doctor believed was a heart attack, the AP reports.
Graves remained best known for the role of Jim Phelps, leader of a gang of special agents who battled evil conspirators in TV’s “Mission: Impossible.” Normally cast as a hero, he turned in an unforgettable performance early in his career as the treacherous Nazi spy in Billy Wilder’s 1953 prisoner-of-war drama “Stalag 17.”
He also masterfully lampooned his straight-arrow image when he portrayed bumbling airline pilot Clarence Oveur in the 1980 disaster movie spoof “Airplane!”
Graves appeared in dozens of films and a handful of television shows in a career of nearly 60 years. The authority and trust he projected made him a favorite for commercials late in his life.
In his later years, Graves also brought his white-haired eminence to public television as host of “Discover: The World of Science” and A&E’s “Biography” series.
Graves followed his older brother James Arness, who played Marshal Matt Dillon on TV’s “Gunsmoke,” into stardom. Born Peter Aurness, Graves took his grandfather’s last name to avoid confusion with his older brother, who had dropped the “U” from the family name.
Graves’ career began with cheaply made exploitation films like “It Conquered the World,” in which he battled a carrot-shaped monster from Venus, and “Beginning of the World,” in which he fought a giant grasshopper.
He later took on human villains each week on “Mission: Impossible.”
Every show began with Graves, as agent Phelps, listening to a tape of instructions outlining his team’s latest mission and explaining that if he or any of his agents were killed or captured “the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.” The tape always self-destructed within seconds of being played.
The show ran on CBS from 1967 to 1973 and was revived on ABC from 1988 to 1990 with Graves back as the only original cast member.
Graves’ first television series was the children’s Saturday morning show, “Fury,” about an orphan and his untamed black stallion. Filmed in Australia, it lasted six years on NBC and introduced Graves to the baby boomer generation.
He noted during an interview in 2000 that he made his foray into comedy somewhat reluctantly. Filmmakers Jim Abrahams and David and Jerry Zucker had written a satire on the airplane-in-trouble movies, and they wanted Graves and fellow handsome actors Lloyd Bridges, Leslie Nielsen and Robert Stack to spoof their serious images.
All agreed, but Graves admitted to nervousness in a 2000 interview.
“I thought I could lose a whole long acting career,” he recalled.
“Airplane!” became a box-office smash, and Graves returned for “Airplane II, The Sequel.”
Graves was a champion hurdler in high school in Minnesota, as well as a clarinet player in dance bands and a radio announcer.
After two years in the Air Force, he enrolled at the University of Minnesota as a drama major and worked in summer stock before following his brother west to Hollywood.
He found enough success there to send for his college sweetheart, Joan Endress. They were married in 1950 and had three daughters — Kelly Jean, Claudia King and Amanda Lee — and six grandchildren.
Our thoughts are with his family, friends and fans.
-BAM
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My grandpa is also a Baby Boomer and we love him a lot.~,;