Mission Accomplished, Peter
The acting world lost another legend on Sunday when Peter Graves, star of the two Mission: Impossible television series and the two Airplane! movies, passed away at the age of 83.
In addition to a film and television career that encompassed over 50 years of acting, Mr. Graves was also a noted voice over talent. He’s most famously known for hosting A&E’s Biography series since 1987, a job that involved narrating the lives of numerous actors, sports figures, scientific pioneers, and notoriously famous personalities. Less known is the fact that Mr. Graves provided voice overs for numerous cartoons and video games, including Mickey Mouse and Looney Tunes projects in the ’90s and The Angry Beavers cartoon series. In fact, the last work he completed before his passing was a voice over as the narrator of the Darkstar video game. And while Mr. Graves spent over half a century in front of the camera, it was his indelible and instantly recognizable voice that helped make him such a popular actor.
Speaking personally, this writer has always been a fan of Mr. Graves’ work, growing up watching reruns of the original Mission: Impossible show and the original run of the remake series that aired in the late ’80s. And of course, the Airplane movies were an unforgettable part of my childhood and teen years. Whether he was starring in The Winds of War or guest-starring on Fantasy Island, I’ve always enjoyed Mr. Graves’ work.
Rest in Peace, Peter. We’ll miss you.
No one will forget him as “Jim Phelps” on the MI series, he actually did voice over work since the age of 16 when he was a radio announcer at WMIN in Minneapolis.
Thanks for the additional info, Federico!