Actor Peter Graves died 14 March 2010 of a heart attack. Born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 18 March 1926, he took his paternal grandfather’s last name for his acting career, to avoid confusion with his older brother, James Arness, who preceded him to Hollywood. Graves was best known as Jim Phelps, head of the Impossible Missions Force in Mission: Impossible, as well as Captain Oveur in the Airplane! movies, and as the narrator of A&E’s Biography. The series won an Emmy in 1997. Graves won a Golden Globe in 1971 for Mission Impossible, after having been nominated for the same role in 1969 and 1970 (the role also earned him an Emmy nomination in 1969).
Graves served in the US Army Air Forces in 1944 and 1945, and then used his GI Bill to study drama at the University of Minnesota. His first film appearance came in Rogue River (1950), and it was that contract which convinced his fiancée’s family to allow her to marry him. His television debut came in 1955, in the series Fury. The New York Times says he “became known for taking all his roles seriously, injecting a certain believability into even the campiest plot.”
As Agent Jim Phelps, in Mission: Impossible, he led other special agents to take down evil conspirators not with violence, but with intelligence. Graves credited clever writing with the show’s success. “It made you think a little bit and kept you on the edge of your seat because you never knew what was going to happen next,” he once said. The series ran on CBS from 1967 to 1973, and when it was revived on ABC (1988-90), Graves was the only original cast member to return.
The Times says that he was appalled when his agent sent him the script for Airplane! (1980), quoting Graves’ appearance on Biography when he said “I tore my hair and ranted and raved and said, ‘This is insane.'” Captain Oveur was something of a pedophile, and Graves feared some of his lines (“Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?” and “Have you ever been in a Turkish prison?”) might get him jailed, rather than merely ruining his career. But he talked with director/producers David and Jerry Zucker, they explained that their spoof would succeed on the deadpan behavior of the cast. They didn’t want a comedian in the role; they wanted Graves for his serious and gravitas. He wound up reprising the role in Airplane II: The Sequel (1982).
In the mid-1980s, Graves took his deep voice and serious manner into narration, hosting a number of science specials in Discover, and in 1987, he became the host of Biography (which profiled him in 1997).
His genre appearances include: Men in Black II (2002), House on Haunted Hill (1999), The Angry Beavers (1998), Addams Family Values (1993), Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense (1985), five episodes of Fantasy Island (1978-83), Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979), The Clonus Horror (1979), Where Have All the People Gone (1974), Scream of the Wolf (1974), The Invaders (1967), The Eye Creatures (1965), Beginning of the End (1957), It Conquered the World (1956), Killers from Space (1954), Red Planet Mars (1952), and Angels in the Outfield (1951).
Graves is survived by his wife of 59 years, the former Joan Endress, three daughters (Amanda, Claudia, and Kelly), and his elder brother James Arness.