Passing of Peter Graves

[Duncan Edwards]

Legendary tall, serious, leading man, actor Peter Graves died today of a heart attack on the front porch of his home. Great actor of Mission Impossible fame he entered into the lore of this interest in Valley of Mystery. He was the hero that fished Lois Nettleton out of one of the better sinking scenes from Hollywood. He was eighty-four, married for fifty years, had three kids and six grandchildren. Cool guy.

[kham]

AND the original Mission: Impossible guy -- not to mention a great role as the spy in Stalag 17 -- he will be missed

[PM2K]

Yep...

[wackypackcolonel]

"Ever seen a grown man Naked?" RIP Peter.

[water_bug_62208]

Read about this early in the morning. Very sad.

Peter Graves always added a certain spark when he appeared on movies or TV. As the news noted, he typically was the good guy, but he did exceptionally well as a bad guy in Stalag 17. I really enjoyed watching the Mission: Impossible series as a kid. Cool action, cool music.

Yes, he truly shall be missed.

[jack c]

"Oh, Jimmy... Scruff's a boy dog. Does he ever like to rub on your leg ... up and down?" Yeah, there were the Airplane lines, and they were great. I liked him on Mission Impossible - actually, he was the second guy on the show: Mr. Briggs was the first guy, and Peter Graves was Mr. Phelps. He was good in Stalag 17 in a counterpoint role: Otto Preminger's expression when he turned over Graves riddled body - to see his own spy - was priceless. William Holden wanted to quit the film over money, and wound up winning an Oscar.

Still, in this venue, the made-for-TV Valley of Mystery is the classic - I think second best mass media scene ever. "Now don't struggle,and do not thrash around - that only makes things ... worse. Now don't worry ... I'll get you out of here." Lois: " Hurry ... please, hurry!"

Lois: "I should write a book: "How to go native your first time out!"

The white dress, the red hair, the dark muck, the slow sink to the neck - one of the sexiest scenes ever.

RIP Peter, for being a good man and a good actor ... and for pulling Lois Nettleton out of the jungle muck in the movie. Never forget Captain Obeur!

[Robert]

Another TV show he did that was not mentioned here or on his obituary was "Fury". A Saturday morning classic that me and my brother never missed.

And until reading his obituary I never new he was the younger brother of James Arness of Gunsmoke fame.

Rest in Peace Peter.. well done!

Robert

[Duncan Edwards]

And until reading his obituary I never new he was the younger brother of James Arness of Gunsmoke fame.

I remember learning this some years ago and it didn't surprise me that much. They're both tall and sound a lot like each other. James Arness is three or four years older and still kicking. I also learned that brother James got that disctinctive Matt Dillon walk from having been badly wounded at Anzio. Both of them were good friends with John Wayne. It was he who recommended James for the role of Marshall Dillon.

[x42swamper]

He was such a good narrator back in the 70's. He did some Bigfoot documentaries and his voice was perfect.

[bbjohn]

Peter Graves was the perfect leading man. His height, that face, and that voice made him someone you noticed very quickly. I loved him in Mission: Impossible as a kid. In Airplane, he was almost as much as a comic discovery as Leslie Nielsen. I don't think anyone outside Hollywood realized just how funny they both were.

I hadn't realized he was the younger brother of Jim Arness. Now that I think about it, there were many similarities between them. They were both tall, had rugged good looks, and authoritative voices.

Curiously, both of them were not the first actor to play their most famous roles. Stephen Hill was the first lead character on Mission: Impossible. His character's name was Dan Briggs. Hill later went on to play DA Adam Schiff on Law & Order.

Jim Arness was not the first actor to play Marshall Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke. He was played on radio by William Conrad. When the show went to television, the producers thought Conrad was too pudgy for the part. They looked for another actor, and, yes, John Wayne recommended Arness.

Conrad went on to play Private Eye Frank Cannon. He was also the narrator on the Rocky & Bullwinkle cartoons.

You will be missed, Mr. Graves. Thanks for the memories.

This message will self-destruct in five seconds.

Sorry, I couldn't help that last one.

Big Bad John