Peter Graves

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Peter Graves

Graves in October 2009

Peter Arness Born March 18, 1926 Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

March 14, 2010 (aged 83) Died Los Angeles, California, United States

Cause of death

Heart attack

Nationality

American

Education

Southwest High School

Alma mater

University of Minnesota

Occupation

Actor

Years active

19422010

Spouse

Joan Endress (m. 19502010, his death)

Children

3 daughters

Family

James Arness (brother, deceased)

Peter Aurness (March 18, 1926 March 14, 2010),[1][2][3][4] known professionally as Peter Graves, was an American film and television actor. He was best known for his starring role in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973 (original) and from 1988 to 1990 (revival). His elder brother was actor James Arness (19232011).

Contents

1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Death 5 Awards 6 Filmography 7 References 8 External links

Early life
Graves was born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a son of Methodist[5] parents Rolf Cirkler Aurness (18941982), a businessman, and his wife Ruth (ne Duesler, died 1986), a journalist. Graves' ancestry was Norwegian, English and German. The family name originally was "Aursnes," but when Rolf's Norwegian father, Peter Aursnes, immigrated to New York City in 1887, he changed the spelling.[6] Peter used the stage name "Graves", a maternal family name.[7] He used the name Graves to honor his mother's family, and also so as to not be confused with his older brother, James Arness, who was a famous actor in his own right, as the star of the television series "Gunsmoke".

Graves graduated from Southwest High School in 1944, and spent two years in the United States Army Air Force near the end of World War II. He then enrolled at the . University of Minnesota on the G.I. Bill, and was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. appa

Career

Graves attending a ceremony to receive a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in October 2009 Throughout Graves' career he appeared in more than seventy films, television shows, and television movies. In the 1950s, Graves joined the NBC television series Fury, as the rancher and adoptive single father, Jim Newton.[8][9] Graves also was featured in the 1953 World War II film, Stalag 17 [10] 17. From 1960-61 Graves starred as leading character Christopher Cobb in 34 episodes of 61 the TV series Whiplash.[11] In the story line Cobb is an American who arrives in Australia in the 1850s to establish the country's first stagecoach line, using a bullwhip rather than a gun to fight the crooks that he encounters.[12] The series also starred Anthony Wickert. Graves also starred in the British made ITC series Court Marti Martial playing U.S. Army Lawyer Major Frank Whittaker (one of the series two American Leads starring opposite Bradford Dillman's Captain David Young ) as well as guest roles in such series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents [13] Route 66 and The Presents, Invaders,(episode; 'Moonshot') In 1967, Graves was recruited by Desilu Studios to (episode; replace Steven Hill as the lead actor on Mission: Impossible. Graves played Jim Phelps, the sometimes gruff leader of the Impossible Missions Force or IMF, for the remaining [15] six seasons of the series.[14][15] After the series ended in 1973, Graves played a cameo cameotype support role in the feature film Sidecar Racers in Australia which was released in 1975. Graves also made a guest appear appearance in the teen soap opera Class of '74 in mid[16] 1974, playing himself. Graves was cast as Palmer Kirby in the 1983 ABC miniseries, The Winds of War [17] He War. played opposite Robert Mitchum Jan Michael Vincent, Deborah Winters and Ali Mitchum, McGraw in what became in '83, the second most watched miniseries of all time (after Roots).[18][19] After playing mainly serious roles in the 1970s, he acted as Captain ter

Clarence Oveur in the early 80s comedies Airplane! and Airplane II: The Sequel.[20][21][22] In 1988 a Hollywood writers' strike resulted in a new Mission: Impossible series being commissioned. Graves was the only original cast member to return as a regular (although others made guest appearances).[23] The series was filmed in Australia, and Graves made his third journey there for acting work. The new version of Mission: es Impossible lasted for two seasons, ending in 1990. Bookending his work on Mission: Impossible, Graves starred in two pilot films called Call to Danger, which were an attempt to create a Mission: Impossible style series in which Graves played a Impossible-style government agent (the Bureau of National Resources) who recruited civilians with special talents for secret missions.[24][25][26] issions. The 1960s version of the pilot according to Patrick White in The Complete Mission: pilot, Impossible Dossier (which White reports was actually the second such pilot, but Graves was not involved in the first), is credited with winning Graves the role of Phelps; after e Mission: Impossible ended in 1973, Graves filmed a third version of the pilot (this one structured as a made-for-TV movie), but it did not sell as a series. The concept was later TV movie), used in the brief 1980s adventure series Masquerade.

Heston, Peter Graves stars in America: A Call to Greatness (1995) with Charlton Heston Mickey Rooney and Deborah Winters

Graves with wife Joan Endress in October 2009

During the 1990s, he hosted the docu documentary series Biography on A&E.[27] He also . acted in a number of films featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, which , subsequently featured running jokes about Graves' Biography work and presumed sibling rivalry with Arness. The films that have been featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 include SST: Death Flight It Conquered the World, Beginning of the End, Flight, Parts: The Clonus Horror, and an uncredited voiceover in The Eye Creatures The film , Creatures. Killers from Space was featured in The Film Crew, Michael J. Nelson's follow follow-up to MST3K.[28] Graves himself parodied his Biography work in the film Men in Black II II, hosting an expos television show. He also played Colonel John Camden on the Colonel television series 7th Heaven In 1995, Graves starred with Charlton Heston Mickey Heaven. Heston, Rooney and Deborah Winters in the Warren Chaney docudrama, America: A Call to Greatness.[29] In the 1996 film update of Mission: Impossible, the character of Phelps (played by Jon Voight) was re-imagined as a traitor who murders three fellow IMF agents only to be imagined killed himself at the end of the film, a decision that disappointed Graves.[20] On October 30, 2009, Graves was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of ober Fame.[20] AirTran Airways featured Graves in a series of web only "Internetiquette" videos in web-only 2009 in which Graves appeared in a pilot's uniform and references classic Airplane! lines.[30] The videos were part of an AirTran Airways campaign to promote their in inflight wireless Internet access.[30] In the summer of 2009 Graves signed on as a spokesman for reverse mortgage lender American Advisors Group (AAG) [31] Graves appeared in a national commercial in (AAG). which he marketed reverse mortgages [32] mortgages. Graves' final project was narrating the computer game epic Darkstar: The Interactive Movie,[33] released November 5, 2010.

Personal life

Handprints of Peter Graves in front of Hollywood Hills Amphitheater at the Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park Graves was a devout Christian [34] He was married to Joan Endress Graves from 1950[2] Christian. until his death. Their marriage produced three daughters: Kelly Jean, Claudia King and Amanda Lee.[35] Graves had six grandchildren.[36]

Death
After returning from a brunch on March 14, 2010, Graves collapsed and died of a heart attack at the age of 83. He was four days from his 84th birthday. It was reported that one of his daughters attempted to revive him, but was unsuccessful.[3]

Awards
Graves was awarded a Golden Globe Award in 1971 for his role as Jim Phelps in the series Mission: Impossible.[4] He also received nominations for an Emmy Award[37] and Golden Globe awards[38] in other seasons of that show. Graves also won a Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding informational series in 1997 as host of Biography.[4]

Filmography

Up Front (1951) Fort Defiance (1951) The Congregation (1952) Red Planet Mars (1952) Stalag 17 (1953) War Paint (1953) East of Sumatra (1953) Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953) Killers from Space (1954) The Yellow Tomahawk (1954) The Raid (1954) Black Tuesday (1954) Fort Yuma (1955) The Long Gray Line (1955) Robbers' Roost (1955) Wichita (1955) The Naked Street (1955) The Night of the Hunter (1955) The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955) It Conquered the World (1956) Hold Back the Night (1956) Canyon River (1956) Beginning of the End (1957) Bayou (1957) Death in Small Doses (1957) Wolf Larsen (1958) A Stranger in My Arms (1959) Whiplash (TV series) (195960) A Rage to Live (1965) Texas Across the River (1966) The Ballad of Josie (1967) Mission: Impossible vs. the Mob (1968) (compilation of episodes released to European theaters) Sergeant Ryker (1968)

The Five Man Army (1969) Where Have All The People Gone? (1974) (TV movie) Scream of the Wolf (1974) Sidecar Racers (1975) The Mysterious Monsters (1976) (documentary) (narrator) High Seas Hijack (1978) (in English version) The Clonus Horror (1979) Survival Run (1980) Airplane! (1980) The Guns and the Fury (1981) Savannah Smiles (1982) Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) The Winds of War (1983) Aces Go Places 3 (1984) Murder, She Wrote 1 episode (1984) Number One with a Bullet (1987) War and Remembrance (1988) The Golden Girls 1 episode Mother Load (1991) Addams Family Values (1993) America: A Call to Greatness (1995) 7th Heaven 11 episodes (19962007) House on Haunted Hill (1999) Men in Black II (2002) Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) House 1 episode (2005) Cold Case 1 episode The Hen House (2006) American Dad! 1 episode (2007) WordGirl (2007) Darkstar: The Interactive Movie Game (2010)

References
1. 2. 3. ^ "Peter Graves: Biography". Yahoo! Movies. http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&id=1800014432&cf=biog&intl=us. Retrieved 2008-02-06. ^ a b "Peter Graves Biography". Film Reference. http://www.filmreference.com/film/81/PeterGraves.html. Retrieved 2008-02-06. ^ a b My-Thuan Tran (Monday, March 15, 2010). "Peter Graves dies at 83; star of TV's 'Mission: Impossible". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-me-petergraves15-2010mar15,0,836018.story. Retrieved 2010-03-15. ^ a b c Michael Pollak (March 15, 2010). "Peter Graves, 'Mission: Impossible' Star, Dies at 83". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/arts/television/15graves.html. Retrieved 2010-03-14. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Arness&action=edit&section=1 ^ Ancestry of James Arness ^ James Arness, James E. Wise Jr. (2001) "James Arness: an Autobiography", ISBN 0-78641221-6, McFarland & Company Inc., Accessed March 15, 2010 ^ InBaseline Database [1] ^ AmericaMovie Biographies (Peter Graves) [2] ^ Turner Classic Movies (Peter Graves) [3] ^ Turner Classic Movies (Peter Graves) [4] ^ InBaseline Database [5] ^ Turner Classic Movies (Peter Graves) [6] ^ InBaseline Database [7]

4.

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38.

^ AmericaMovie Biographies (Peter Graves) [8] ^ Turner Classic Movies (Peter Graves) [9] ^ The Winds of War at the Turner Classic Movie Database [10] ^ In 2011 WOW remained number 4 of most watched miniseries [11] ^ AmericaMovie Biographies (Peter Graves) [12] ^ a b c "'Mission: Impossible' actor Peter Graves dead at 83" CNN. 15 March 2010. 83". . http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/14/obit.peter.graves/index.html. http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/14/obit.peter.graves/index.html. Retrieved 2010 201003-15. ^ InBaseline Database [13] ^ AmericaMovie Biographies (Peter Graves) [14] aphies ^ InBaseline Database [15] ^ Call to Danger (1968) (TV) at the Internet Movie Database ^ Call to Danger (1973) (TV) at the Internet Movie Database ^ InBaseline Database [16] ^ InBaseline Database [17] ^ InBaseline Database [18] ^ America: A Call to Greatness Website [19] ^ a b "Internetiquette" AirTran Airways Retrieved 2010-03-15. Airways. ^ http://www.aargreverse. http://www.aargreverse.com ^ http://www.aagreverse.com/peter http://www.aagreverse.com/peter-graves-reverse-mortgage.shtml ^ [20] ^ Guardian obituary ^ TCM biography. ^ USA Today Obituary ^ "Emmy Awards 1969" IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Emmy_Awards/1969 1969". http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Emmy_Awards/1969. Retrieved 2010-03-15. ^ "Mission: Impossible" Golden Globe awards. Impossible". http://www.goldenglobes.org/browse/film/24569 Retrieved 2010-03-15. obes.org/browse/film/24569.

External links
Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Peter Graves

Peter Graves at the Internet Movie Database Peter Graves at the TCM Movie Database Peter Graves at AllRovi Biography and filmography at Brian's Drive-In Theater Peter Graves at The New York Times

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Source Material: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Graves More Info: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0336335/ http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/75447%7C123968/Peter-Graves/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killers_from_Space http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Conquered_the_World http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beginning_of_the_End