Peter Graves Has Died At 83 Years
March 15 | Posted by admin | Featured Tags: james arness, james arness death, leslie nielsen, mission impossible, peter graves biography
Peter Graves Has Died At 83 Years: Peter Graves, the tall, stalwart actor likely best known for his portrayal of Jim Phelps, leader of a gang of special agents who battled evil conspirators in the long-running television series “Mission: Impossible,” died Sunday.
He was best known, of course, for the role of Jim Phelps, the leader of the Impossible Missions Force on Mission: Impossible. It’s almost incredible that he didn’t join the series until a near abortive first season with Steven Hill (Law & Order) as the lead. Six years and 143 episodes later, he became as synonymous with the show as his future Mission costar, Leonard Nimoy, did with Star Trek. The introduction to the taped mission briefings his character would receive clandestinely became one of television’s most famous catchphrases, “Good morning, Mr. Phelps.”
On film, he made at least three notable appearances. He played the handsome and helpful Price, a prisoner of war who secretly spies for his Nazi brethren in Billy Wilder’s Stalag 17 (1953). In Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter (1955), he played the pivotal role of Ben Harper, a convict executed for murdering during the course of a robbery. His cellmate, played by a terrifying Robert Mitchum, suspects he can find the stolen money if he insinuates himself into the dead man’s family. Both roles were an example of casting against the heroic type Graves would be most immediately qualified to play.
Having been typecast by his role of Phelps led him to try his luck at comedy, most memorably playing the role of the perverted pilot Captain Clarence Oveur in Airplane!, who gave us this famous exchange:
Tags: james arness, james arness death, leslie nielsen, mission impossible, peter graves biography
