Peter Graves, the tall, stalwart actor best known for his portrayal of Jim Phelps, leader of a team of special agents who battled evil conspirators in the 1960s television series “Mission: Impossible,” died yesterday.
Graves died of a heart attack outside his Los Angeles home, about a week shy of his 84th birthday, said his publicist.
Although Graves never achieved the stardom his older brother, James Arness, enjoyed on TV’s “Gunsmoke,” he had a number of memorable TV and film roles.
He turned in an unforgettable performance early in his career as the treacherous Nazi spy in the 1953 prisoner-of-war drama “Stalag 17.”
He also masterfully lampooned his straight-arrow image when he portrayed bumbling airline pilot Clarence Oveur in the 1980 disaster-movie spoof “Airplane!”