Peter Graves (born March 18, 1926^[1][2]) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his starring role in the television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973 (and again from 1988 to 1990). Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Mission: Impossible is the name of an American television series which aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to September 1973. ... is the 77th day of the year (78th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Minneapolis redirects here. ... An Emmy Award. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... Mission: Impossible is the name of an American television series which aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to September 1973. ... is the 77th day of the year (78th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Actor (disambiguation). ... Mission: Impossible is the name of an American television series which aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to September 1973. ...

Biography

Personal life

Graves was born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Rolf Cirkler Aurness, who worked in business, and Ruth Duesler, a journalist. Graves is a descendant of German, Norwegian and English immigrants. His brother is actor James Arness (Gunsmoke). Graves attended Southwest High School (Class of 1944) and the University of Minnesota, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. Minneapolis redirects here. ... For other uses, see Journalist (disambiguation). ... English Americans (occasionally known as Anglo-Americans) are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England. ... This biographical article needs additional references for verification. ... The cast of radios Gunsmoke: Howard McNear (Doc), William Conrad (Matt), Georgia Ellis (Kitty) and Parley Baer (Chester) Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. ... Southwest High School is a public high school in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA). ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the oldest and largest campus of the University of Minnesota. ... Phi Kappa Psi (ΦΚΨ, Phi Psi) is a U.S. national college fraternity. ...

Graves has been married to Joan Endress since 1950. They have three daughters: Kelly, Claudia and Amanda.

Career

Graves has appeared in more than seventy films, TV series and TV-movies. He is especially well known for the following roles:

• The rancher and single father to child actor Bobby Diamond on the 1950s TV series Fury
• Price, a German spy placed among allied POWs in Stalag 17
• A father on the run from the law in Night of the Hunter
• James (Jim) Phelps, the leader of the elite Impossible Missions Force in the iconic television show, Mission Impossible
• Captain Clarence Oveur in the comedies Airplane! and Airplane II: The Sequel
• Colonel John Camden on the WB's 7th Heaven

From 1960–61, Graves started as (lead role) Christopher Cobb in 34 episodes of the TV series Whiplash as an American who arrived in Australia in the 1850s and set up the country's first stagecoach line. Cobb mainly used a bullwhip rather than a gun to fight the many cowboy crooks he came up against. The series also starred Anthony Wickert as Dan. He had previously starred as Jim Newton in a kids series called Fury about a horse. He also starred in Court Martial five years later as well as TV shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Route 66. Fury was an American television program. ... Stalag 17 is a 1953 war film which tells the story of a group of American G.I.s held in a German World War II prisoner of war camp who come to believe one of their number is a traitor. ... The Night of the Hunter is a 1953 novel by American author, Davis Grubb. ... Airplane! is an American comedy film, first released on 27 June 1980, produced, directed, and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. ... This article is about the TV program. ... Whiplash is an Australian television series made by ATV and ITC Entertainment and transmitted in 1961. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Look up fury in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Alfred Hitchcock Presents was an anthology television series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. ... Route 66 was an American TV series in which two young men traveled across America. ...

In 1967, Graves was recruited by Desilu Studios to 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 six seasons of the series. Desilu Productions was a company jointly owned by American actors Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. ... Steven Hill as District Attorney Adam Schiff in Law & Order Steven Hill (born February 24, 1922 in Seattle, Washington as Solomon Krakovsky) is an American film and television actor who was a founding member of Lee Strasbergs Actors Studio. ... Mission: Impossible is the name of an American television series which aired on the CBS network from September 1966 to September 1973. ... Peter Lupus, Barbara Bain, Peter Graves, who played Jim Phelps, Martin Landau and Greg Morris Mission: Impossible Dossier (book cover} Jim Phelps is a fictional character of the television program Mission: Impossible. ... The Impossible Missions Force, IMF, is the fictional intelligence agency of the U.S. government from the American television series Mission: Impossible and series of films. ...

After the series ended in 1973 Graves traveled to Australia to play a cameo-type support role in feature film Sidecar Racers which was released in 1975. Graves also made a guest appearance in teen soap opera Class of '74 in mid-1974, playing himself. The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... Class of 74 was a secondary school based daily soap opera produced by the Reg Grundy Organisation and screened on Channel Seven Australia starting March 1974. ...

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). The series was filmed in Australia and Graves made his third journey to that country for ongoing acting work. The new version of Mission: 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 government agent who recruited civilians with special talents for secret missions.[1] The 1960s version of the pilot, according to Patrick White in The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier, is credited with winning Graves the role of Phelps; after Mission: Impossible ended in 1973, Graves filmed a second version of the pilot, but it did not sell as a series. The concept was later used in the 1980s series Masquerade. A television pilot is a test episode of an intended television series. ... Masquerade was an American secret agent television series that aired for a few months on ABC in the spring of 1983. ...

Between series, Graves had laser treatment on his face to make himself look young by removing wrinkles which unfortunately gave his face an unnaturally smooth look and as other stars found out later, made it difficult for him to show emotion.

During the 1990s, he hosted the documentary series Biography on A&E. Biography is a documentary television program. ... Biography is one of A&Es longest-running and most popular programs. ...

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, Attack of the Eye Creatures, Beginning of the End, and Parts: The Clonus Horror. Mystery Science Theater 3000, often abbreviated MST3K, is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc. ... SST Death Flight is a 1977 made-for-TV movie produced by ABC Circle Films. ... It Conquered the World is a 1956 science fiction film about an alien from Venus trying to take over the world with the help of a disillusioned human scientist. ... The Eye Creatures (also known as Attack of the Eye Creatures, or Attack of the the Eye Creatures from an unfortunate production error) is a 1965 science-fiction film about an invasion of an unnamed American countryside by a flying saucer and its silent, shambling alien occupants. ... Beginning of the End is a 1957 science fiction film starring Peter Graves and Peggie Castle whose plot involves gigantic grasshoppers (created at the Illinois State Experimental Farm) attacking Chicago. ...

Graves himself parodied his Biography work in the film Men in Black II, hosting an exposé television show. In contemporary usage, a parody (or lampoon) is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... Men in Black II is a 2002 science fiction comedy action film starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. ...

In the 1996 film update of Mission: Impossible, the character of Phelps was reimagined as a traitor who murdered three fellow IMF agents. Although Graves was reportedly offered the role, the character was played in the movie by Jon Voight. John Vincent Voight (born December 29, 1938) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. ...

Awards

He won a Golden Globe award in 1971 for his role as Jim Phelps in the series. He also received nominations for Emmy awards and Golden Globe awards in other seasons. The Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... An Emmy Award. ...

Filmography

• Winning Your Wings (1942) (short subject)
• 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)
• 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)
• 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)
• Number One with a Bullet (1987)
• Addams Family Values (1993)
• House on Haunted Hill (1999)
• Men in Black II (2002)

Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Stalag 17 is a 1953 war film which tells the story of a group of American G.I.s held in a German World War II prisoner of war camp who come to believe one of their number is a traitor. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Killers from Space is a 1954 science fiction film, directed by W. Lee Wilder and starring Peter Graves. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Black Tuesday was a 1954 film noir starring Edward G. Robinson. ... Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ... The Night of the Hunter is a 1955 film noir based on the novel by Davis Grubb. ... The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell is a film directed by Otto Preminger in 1955. ... It Conquered the World is a 1956 science fiction film about an alien from Venus trying to take over the world with the help of a disillusioned human scientist. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Beginning of the End is a 1957 science fiction film starring Peter Graves and Peggie Castle whose plot involves gigantic grasshoppers (created at the Illinois State Experimental Farm) attacking Chicago. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Five Man Army (Un Esercito di cinque uomini, 1969) is an Italian Zapata Spaghetti Western, taking place during the Mexican Revolution. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Airplane! is an American comedy film, first released on 27 June 1980, produced, directed, and written by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. ... Savannah Smiles is a 1982 comedy film starring Bridgette Andersen, Donovan Scott, and Mark Miller. ... The Winds of War was best-selling novellist Herman Wouks second book about World War II, the first being The Caine Mutiny (1951). ... Addams Family Values (1993) is an Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated sequel to the 1991 comedy The Addams Family. ... House on Haunted Hill is a 1999 Warner Brothers horror movie, directed by William Malone, written by Dick Beebe and starring Geoffrey Rush as Stephen Price. ... Men in Black II is a 2002 science fiction comedy action film starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. ...

References

External links

• Peter Graves at the Internet Movie Database
• Biography and filmography