Celebrity Biographies
Peter Graves
His face became very popular due to some outstanding interventions on celluloid, and above all, for his role in the Mission Impossible series , where he was the leader of the main spy team. Throughout his six-decade career, he has worked with directors such as Billy Wilder, Jacques Tourneur, and John Ford. Peter Graves has died at the age of 83, on March 14, 2010 in Los Angeles, as a result of a heart attack, which he suffered after breakfast.
Peter Aurness (actor’s real name) was born in Minneapolis (Minnesota) on March 18, 1926. He entered show business very early, at the age of 16, when he became a radio announcer. After studying drama at the University of California, he went to Hollywood, where his older brother James Arness made it big as the lead in the series Gunsmoke .
After several minor roles, he played a memorable supporting role, a Nazi spy, in Billy Wilder ‘s Traitor in Hell . He was also an army officer in John Ford ‘s drama Crib of Heroes and the father of the children in The Night of the Hunter , Charles Laughton ‘s classic thriller .
Recognition came to him in 1967, with his leading role in the legendary Mission Impossible television series , in which he remained for six seasons. He later returned in 1988 for a remake of the series for ABC. Another of his most popular roles was the food poisoning pilot in the wacky comedy Land as You Can .
Graves never retired, since despite his advanced age he continued to appear in series such as House or Seven in paradise .