Peter Graves (March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010) was an American actor.
Early life
His mother was of German ancestry; his father of Norwegian.
Career
In the early years of his career he starred in sci fi movies such as Red Planet Mars (1952), Killers from Space (1954), and some low-budget western movies, including Fort Defiance (1951) and Fort Yuma (1955). He played Morgan Earp, in Wichita (1955), with Joel McCrea and directed by Jacques Tourneur.
Peter Graves won the role of traitor prisoner Sgt. Price in the movie Stalag 17 (1953), directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden. Another of his movies was The Night of the Hunter (1955), with Robert Mitchum.
Other movies include Texas Across the River (1966), with Dean Martin, The Ballad of Josie (1967), The Five Man Army (1969), where he leads a group of mercenaries in Mexico.
In 1980s he plays a crazy pilot, in the comedy movie Airplane! (1980) and Airplane II: The Sequel (1982).
His last movie was Addams Family Values (1993).
Television
In 1967 Graves replaced Steven Hill in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible. He played the role Jim Phelps leader of a group of spies. He worked on the series from 1967 until 1973. He returned later to make Mission: Impossible 1988.
He also had a relative success in the series Fury (1955-1960), Whiplash (1961), and Court Martial (1965-1966).
Her performances include specials such as Hallmark Hall of Fame, Fireside Theatre, Celebrity Playhouse, Matinee Theatre, Cavalcade of America, Disneylandia, The Red Skelton Show.