Peter Graves, who starred as Jim Phelps on the long-running TV series Mission: Impossible, has died.
The actor passed away from an apparent heart attack outside his Los Angeles home yesterday, a week before his 84th birthday, reports The Associated Press.
Aside from Mission: Impossible, Graves was perhaps most famous for his portrayal of Captain Oveur in Airplane! and Airplane II: The Sequel, as his straight-man pilot uttered the most ridiculous yet memorable lines.
The tall, silver-haired actor typically played dignified characters. As the leader of a team of special operatives on the hugely popular Mission: Impossible, Graves played the hero role to perfection.
He portrayed Jim Phelps from 1967 to 1973, reprising it on a 1988-90 MI series on which he was the only returning member of the original cast.
In his post-Airplane! career, Graves appeared in several TV movies including SST: Death Flight, Where Have All The People Gone? and The Underground Man. Recently, the actor was played himself in House on Haunted Hill and in the opening scene of Men in Black II.
Graves was born Peter Aurness, the younger brother of Gunsmoke star James Arness. Graves and his wife, Joan, had three daughters, Kelly Jean, Claudia and Amanda.
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