Actor Peter Graves Dies at 83

Pacific Palisades - Peter Graves, a film and TV actor who starred in the original "Mission: Impossible" series, was found dead today at his home in Pacific Palisades, a police officer said. Graves was 83.

He died of "apparent natural causes," said Officer Karen Rayner of the Los Angeles Police Department.

She said the coroner was not investigating the death, and that there was no indication of foul play.

A journeyman actor with more than 130 film and TV credits listed on the Internet Movie Database Web site, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last Oct. 30.

The younger brother of Jim Arness of "Gunsmoke" fame, Graves made his film debut in the 1951 crime drama "Rogue River." Two years later, he portrayed a German spy placed among allied prisoners of war in "Stalag 17."

One of his early TV credits was as Jim Newton on the Saturday morning children's series "Fury," about a horse and the boy who loved him, which ran from 1955-60.

In 1967, Graves was cast to replace Steven Hill as the leader of the Impossible Missions Force following the first season of the CBS spy drama "Mission: Impossible."

Graves played Jim Phelps, who would receive instructions for his team's next mission via a tape that would memorably self-destruct in five seconds, until the series' cancellation in 1973. Graves reprised the role on a 1988-90 revival on ABC.

In a departure from most of his dramatic roles, Graves starred as Capt. Clarence Oveur in the classic 1980 spoof of disaster movies "Airplane!"

Graves parlayed his portrayal of authority figures on "Mission: Impossible" and "Airplane!" into the hosting role on A&E's "Biography" from 1994-2006.

Born Peter Aurness on March 18, 1926 in Minneapolis, Graves joined the announcing staff of the Minneapolis radio station WMIN when he was 16 years old. He later attended the University of Minnesota, majoring in drama.

Graves' other movie credits included "The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell"; "A Rage to Live"; "The Raid"; "The Ballad of Josie"; "The Long Grey Line"; "Texas Across the River"; "Five Man Army"; "Spree"; "Number One with a Gun"; "Savannah Smiles"; "Survival Run" "Cruise Missile"; "Black Tuesday" and "Fort Defiance."

Graves also appeared in the ABC miniseries "The Winds of War" and its sequel, "War and Remembrance."

His last performance was as the narrator in 2010's "Darkstar."