Actor Peter Graves was best known for his starring role as Jim Phelps, leader of the Impossible Mission Force, on the popular television drama series Mission: Impossible, from 1967 to 1973. He took over as star of the series from Steven Hill with the second season.
Graves was also a leading actor in science fiction films in the 1950s. He spoke with bible-quoting Martians in the 1952 Cold War thriller Red Planet Mars, and battled bug-eyed aliens in Killers from Space in 1954. He fended off a creepy Venusian invader in the Roger Corman cult classic It Conquered the World in 1956, and saved the country from gigantic grasshoppers in 1957’s Beginning of the End.
He was born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on March 18, 1926. He served in the United States Army Air Force near the end of World War II.
He followed his brother, actor and future Gunsmoke star Jim Arness, to Hollywood in the late 1940s,...
Graves was also a leading actor in science fiction films in the 1950s. He spoke with bible-quoting Martians in the 1952 Cold War thriller Red Planet Mars, and battled bug-eyed aliens in Killers from Space in 1954. He fended off a creepy Venusian invader in the Roger Corman cult classic It Conquered the World in 1956, and saved the country from gigantic grasshoppers in 1957’s Beginning of the End.
He was born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on March 18, 1926. He served in the United States Army Air Force near the end of World War II.
He followed his brother, actor and future Gunsmoke star Jim Arness, to Hollywood in the late 1940s,...
- 3/17/2010
- by Jesse
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
American actor and star of television's Mission: Impossible who made fun of his image in Airplane!
Despite his long career as a serious actor in dozens of films and television shows, Peter Graves, who has died aged 83, might be most remembered for a role that lampooned his square-jawed, stolid screen persona. As the captain of a plane heading for disaster in the spoof movie Airplane! (1980), Graves got laughs by playing it as straight as his other roles. (Although his roles in a number of trashy, low-budget science fiction movies in the 1950s had produced unintentional laughs.)
Audiences around the world were also familiar with Graves as the tall, gruff, deep-voiced, silver-haired Jim Phelps, head of the Imf (Impossible Missions Force), an elite American espionage group, in the TV series Mission: Impossible (1967-73). He won a Golden Globe in the role in 1971.
The show famously opened with the words: "Your mission,...
Despite his long career as a serious actor in dozens of films and television shows, Peter Graves, who has died aged 83, might be most remembered for a role that lampooned his square-jawed, stolid screen persona. As the captain of a plane heading for disaster in the spoof movie Airplane! (1980), Graves got laughs by playing it as straight as his other roles. (Although his roles in a number of trashy, low-budget science fiction movies in the 1950s had produced unintentional laughs.)
Audiences around the world were also familiar with Graves as the tall, gruff, deep-voiced, silver-haired Jim Phelps, head of the Imf (Impossible Missions Force), an elite American espionage group, in the TV series Mission: Impossible (1967-73). He won a Golden Globe in the role in 1971.
The show famously opened with the words: "Your mission,...
- 3/15/2010
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Peter Graves, who starred in TV series and films including Stalag 17 and Airplane!, died of natural causes in California on Sunday at the age of 83.
Born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Graves entered showbiz at an early age and his first film was 1951's Rogue River. He had a host of small roles in Westerns and also some horror films such as Killers From Space, but he was best known for his role as leader Jim Phelps in the Mission: Impossible TV series and as the comedic Capt. Clarence Oveur in the 1980 hit film Airplane!. Other notable film credits include playing a German spy in Billy Wilder's 1953 film Stalag 17, and the 1954 Western The Yellow Tomahawk.
Enjoy Graves at his comedy best in the Airplane! clip below...
>> Real the whole article | on Screenrush - Monday 15 March 2010...
Born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Graves entered showbiz at an early age and his first film was 1951's Rogue River. He had a host of small roles in Westerns and also some horror films such as Killers From Space, but he was best known for his role as leader Jim Phelps in the Mission: Impossible TV series and as the comedic Capt. Clarence Oveur in the 1980 hit film Airplane!. Other notable film credits include playing a German spy in Billy Wilder's 1953 film Stalag 17, and the 1954 Western The Yellow Tomahawk.
Enjoy Graves at his comedy best in the Airplane! clip below...
>> Real the whole article | on Screenrush - Monday 15 March 2010...
- 3/15/2010
- Screenrush
Actor Peter Graves has passed away at the age of 83. Graves, best known for playing Jim Phelps in the Mission: Impossible TV series, died of natural causes in Pacific Palisades, California yesterday. Born in Minneapolis, Graves moved to Hollywood after serving in the Air Force and studying drama at the University of Minnesota. Early roles included the 1951 feature Rogue River and horror Killers From Space. Parts in Billy Wilder's Stalag 17 and The Yellow Tomahawk followed, as well as recurring spots on the small screen for The Love Boat and 7th Heaven. (more)...
- 3/15/2010
- by By Simon Reynolds
- Digital Spy
Washington - Actor Peter Graves, who starred in the television series Mission: Impossible and disaster spoof movie Airplane, died Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 83. Graves died of a heart attack at his home in Pacific Palisades, California, according to his business manager Fred Barman, the New York Times reported. Born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Graves served in the military before following his older brother to Hollywood. He first appeared in the film Rogue River (1950), and went on to act in classics like Stalag 17 (1953), as well as A Rage to Live, The Guns and the Fury, Addams Family Values and Men...
- 3/15/2010
- Monsters and Critics
Sad news for fans of self-destructive tapes, German spies or Turkish prisons: actor Peter Graves, known for his warm gravitas and long career, has died at the age of 83.Graves got his start at a young age, launching a career as a radio announcer at the age of 16. But after a stint in the Air Force, his thoughts turned to acting and he studied drama at the University of Minnesota.Once he’d graduated, he made the move to Hollywood, following in the footsteps of his brother, James Arness, who had already established himself as the star of Gunsmoke.It would be a while before Graves enjoyed such name brand recognition, working his way up in the early 1950s though TV and in movies such as 1951’s Rogue River.Roles in the likes of Billy Wilder’s Stalag 17 and The Yellow Tomahawk followed, but the actor would really become...
- 3/15/2010
- EmpireOnline
Peter Graves who starred as Jim Phelps on the hit TV series "Mission Impossible," and more recently served as alternating host of the A&E series "Biography," has died.
The actor died Sunday of an apparent heart attack outside his Los Angeles home, a week away from his 84th birthday.
Graves was the younger brother of "Gunsmoke" star James Arness, a TV icon from the '50s. Graves is perhaps also best remembered by Baby Boomers as the ranch owner on the popular Saturday morning TV series, "Fury," the adventures of a boy and his horse. More recently, Graves was featured in the opening scene of "Men in Black II."
Playing against his image as a tall, silver-haired authority figure, Graves co-starred as Captain Oveur in the zany comedies "Airplane!" (1980) and "Airplane II: The Sequel" (1982). Along with such serious acting figures as Robert Stack and, at the time, Leslie Nielsen,...
The actor died Sunday of an apparent heart attack outside his Los Angeles home, a week away from his 84th birthday.
Graves was the younger brother of "Gunsmoke" star James Arness, a TV icon from the '50s. Graves is perhaps also best remembered by Baby Boomers as the ranch owner on the popular Saturday morning TV series, "Fury," the adventures of a boy and his horse. More recently, Graves was featured in the opening scene of "Men in Black II."
Playing against his image as a tall, silver-haired authority figure, Graves co-starred as Captain Oveur in the zany comedies "Airplane!" (1980) and "Airplane II: The Sequel" (1982). Along with such serious acting figures as Robert Stack and, at the time, Leslie Nielsen,...
- 3/14/2010
- by By Duane Byrge
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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