There were very few things on teevee that I looked forward to more when I was young than Saturday re-runs of Mission: Impossible. I loved everything about that show, and especially its star, Peter Graves. He died today of a heart attack at age eighty-three. I thought he was indestructible, unlike the tapes he played to learn his missions. He was good on the Biography show, too, and great in Airplane! and Sergeant Ryker. I’ll miss him.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
I hadn’t heard the news. Sigh. He was classy all the way, and I always thought he had a great sense of humor, too.
Captain Oveur: You ever been in a cockpit before?
Joey: No sir, I’ve never been up in a plane before.
Captain Oveur: You ever seen a grown man naked?
Wasn’t James Arness his brother? Is he still living?
RIP, Mr. Graves
checked it – yes, never would have thought. original spelling Aurness. what a great show, sad, 83 is not that old. he was in The Night of the Hunter!!!
.
Great memories in TV serie Gunsmoke.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."is still alive and the former Marshal Dillon is three years older–86.
that role as Captain Oveur. He first turned it down.
He and Barbara Billingsley (the Beav’s mom) were a revelation in Airplane, by simply stepping out of their typecast roles.
RIP Mr. Graves.
one of the best tv themes ever.
Don’t forget him as the Rat in the classic Stalig 17.
Mission Impossible… when we thought the CIA was actually cool and competent.
I watched Stalag 17 just last week. He played a bad guy and he was good at it.
But I remember him mostly from Saturday mornings watching “Fury.”
Amazing…
slapping the shyt out of him, too.
He was soooo blond and sooooo ‘good,’ but he sold out those guys and paid the price.
Saw that first on the old Saturday Night at the Movies on NBC in the Sixties. Those were the days of good acting…
Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?
…which made one rethink everything one had just seen.
The Wild West was my other favorite.