‘Mission: Impossible’ actor Peter Graves has died
(HMG) – Farewell to silver haired actor Peter Graves, who passed away Sunday just a few days before his 84th birthday outside his home in Los Angeles. Graves who starred in the 1960s CBS hit TV series “Mission: Impossible” as Jim Phelps, and whose career took a comic turn in the disaster spoof “Airplane, had just returned from brunch with his family to celebrate his upcoming 84th birthday. He collapsed on the driveway before he could reach his house, said Sandy Brokaw, his publicist. One of Graves’ daughters tried to resuscitate but was unable to revive him, Brokaw said. In 1980, spoofing his serious onscreen roles, Graves took a bug chance starring in the comedy “Airplane!,” in which he played Capt. Clarence Oveur, the pilot whose one-liners included, “Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?” One of his first major roles was as a bad guy in on of my favorite films, “Stalag 17,” in which he played an undercover Nazi spy placed among American POWs in a German camp. Graves was the younger brother of fellow classic-TV icon James Arness, who starred on the long-running iconic Western series, Gunsmoke. I believe Peter is survived by three daughters and six grand children. R.I.P. Peter!
