PETER GRAVES BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Peter Graves was born on March 18th, 1926 in Minneapolis, Minnesota with the birth name Peter Aurness.  He was the son of Rolf Cirkler Aurness a businessman and Ruth a journalist.  Both of his parents were Methodist. 

Upon completion of high school at Southwest High School in 1944, Graves joined the United States Army Air Force towards the tail end of World War II.  He then chose to attend college at the Univeristy of Minnesota.

In 1950, he married his one and only wife, Joan Endress and they were together until his passing.  In the 1950's, when Graves was around 24 years old he became interested in pursuing a career in acting.  He joined NBC on a television series called, "Fury" co-starring Bobby Diamond and William Fawcett, follwed by a role in a war film called, "Stalag 17" (1953) starring alongside William Holden, Don Taylor, Robert Strauss, Neville Brand, Harvey Lembeck, Sig Ruman and Gil Stratton followed shortly by an seafaring adventure "Beneath the 12-Mile Reef" (1953) starring Robert Wagner, Terry Moore, Gilbert Roland, J. Carrol Naish, Richard Boone, Jay Novello and Harry Carey Jr.

Between 1960 and 1961, Graves was lucky to get cast in a total of 34 episodes of a television series called, "Whiplash".  He played the main character, Christopher Cobb.  His most well known role soon follwed when he was chosen to play the lead actor on, "Mission: Impossible" (1967).  His character was Jim Phelps and he worked for six series total. 

Majority of his roles throughout his career had been somewhat serious characters.  He took on a more fun approach entering into the eighties with a role on the comedy, "Airplane!" (1980) starring alongside Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lorna Patterson, followed by, "Airplane II: The Sequel" (1982) also starring Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Chad Everett, William Shatner, Rip Torn and Sonny Bono with William Shatner, Raymond Burr, Leslie Nielsen and Chuck Connors.

His career did not slow down as he enterred into the 1990's.  He took on some major roles in various feature films early in his career on, "Mystery Science Theater 3000" such as, "SST: Death Flight" (1977) starring Doug McClure, Burgess Meredith, Robert Ito, Ric Carrott, Robert Reed, Susan Strasberg, Brock Peters, Lorne Greene, Billy Crystal, Regis Philbin, Bert Convy and George Maharis, "It Conquered the World" (1956) starring with Lee Van Cleef, Beverly Garland and Sally Fraser, Beginning of the End" (1957) co-starring Peggy Castle, Morris Ankrum, Richard Benedict, James Seay and "Parts: The Clonus Horror" (1979) also starring Tim Connelly, Keenan Wynn and Dick Sargent .  His final project was as a narrator of a computer game called, Darkstar: The Interactive Movie" (2010). 

Throughout Graves' career, he appeared in more than seventy films, television shows, and television movies.  Graves received many honors such as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 30th, 2009.  Graves was also awarded a Golden Globe Award in 1971 for his role in the series, "Mission Impossible" playing the character of, Jim Phelps.  On top of that, Graves won an Emmy for outstanding informational series in 1997 as the host of the show, "Biography".

Peter Graves also has a famous actor for his brother named James Arness, best know for his portrayal as Matt Dillon in "Gunsmoke" which aired on television for 20 years (1955-1975). 

Peter Graves Passed away after suffering a heart attack at his home on March 14th, 2010 just four days prior to his eighty fourth birthday.  Peter was survived by his daughters, Kelly Jean, Claudia King and Amanda Lee. 
 

Filmography
 
2003  Looney Tunes: Back in Action
2002  Men in Black II
1999  House on Haunted Hill
1996-2007 7th Heaven 11 episodes
1993  Addams Family Values
1991  The Golden Girls 1 episode Mother Load
1988  War and Remembrance
1987  Number One with a Bullet
1984  Aces Go Places 3
1983  The Winds of War
1982  Savannah Smiles
1982  Airplane II: The Sequel
1980  Survival Run
1980  Airplane!
1979  The Clonus Horror
1975  Sidecar Racers
1981  The Guns and the Fury
1978  High Seas Hijack
1976  The Mysterious Monsters
1974  Where Have All The People Gone?
1974  Scream of the Wolf
1969  The Five Man Army
1968  Mission: Impossible vs. the Mob
1968  Sergeant Ryker
1967  The Ballad of Josie 
1966  Texas Across the River
1965  A Rage to Live
1959  A Stranger in My Arms
1958  Wolf Larsen
1957  Beginning of the End
1957  Bayou
1957  Death in Small Doses
1956  It Conquered the World
1956  Hold Back the Night
1956  Canyon River
1955  Fort Yuma
1955  The Long Gray Line
1955  Robbers' Roost
1955  Wichita
1955  The Night of the Hunter
1955  The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell
1954  Killers from Space
1954  The Yellow Tomahawk
1954  The Raid
1954  Black Tuesday
1953  Stalag 17
1953  War Paint
1953  East of Sumatra
1953  Beneath the 12-Mile Reef
1952  The Congregation
1952  Red Planet Mars
1951  Up Front
1951  Fort Defiance
1942  Winning Your Wings