Dig A Hole: Peter Graves
March 15th, 2010 by Scott Marks
Peter Graves owed a great deal of his high Q Rating to actor/orthodox Jew Steven Hill. Before Graves’ Jim Phelps led the Impossible Missions Force, Hill was hired to play Dan Briggs. Hill made it clear to the folks at Desilu Productions that getting him to work between sundown Friday and sunset Saturday would indeed be an impossible mission. After one season heading the IMF, Hill’s stardom self-destructed due in part to his strict religious beliefs.
Hill didn’t work for 10 years and Peter Graves went on to become one of televisions most iconic leading men. Growing up, “Mission: Impossible” was a weekly ritual in the Marks household, at least until my driver’s license freed me from the tedious restraints of network television.
The white-haired, 6′ 2″ Minnesotan of German and Norwegian descent was born Peter Aurness on March 18, 1926. His older brother James, star of TV’s “Gunsmoke,” modified the family name to Arness while Peter’s sedate surname seemed perfectly suited to the actor.
He appeared in over 100 movies and television shows working for such distinguished directors as Billy Wilder (”Stalag 17″), John Ford (”The Long Gray Line”), Otto Preminger (”The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell”), Jacques Tourneur (”Wichita”) and Hugo Fregonese (”The Raid”). His most memorable contribution to cinema was as Ben Harper, the convict with the money-stuffed Pearl in Charles Laughton’s “The Night of the Hunter.”
Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams and David Zucker gave the aging Graves career a new lease on life when they cast him as the boy-loving pilot in “Airplane!” Graves called the script “the worst piece of junk” he had ever read. (This coming from a man who freely appeared in “Fantasy island” and “Life with Lucy.”) Graves eventually came around after meeting with the ZAZ team.
He appeared in the “Airplane!” sequel in 1982 and could have conceivably spent the rest of his career parodying himself. Graves pretty much turned his back on movies concentrating instead on TV work including the hosting chores for A&E’s “Biography.” Graves was also the voice-for-hire on many documentaries and commercials. The last time I remember seeing Graves on screen was his cameo in Joe Dante’s “Looney Tunes: Back in Action.”
Graves married Joan Endress in 1950 and the two remained together until his death. Their marriage produced three daughters: Kelly Jean, Claudia King and Amanda Lee. Graves had six grandchildren.
Peter Graves collapsed in the driveway of his Los Angeles home on Sunday where he was found by his daughter. Her attempts to resuscitate him proved unsuccessful. He died just days short of his 84th birthday.
Tags: Airplane, james arness, Jim Phelps, Mission Impossible, night of the hunter, Obituary, Peter Graves, Peter Graves Airplane, peter graves biography, Peter Graves dead, Peter Graves dies, peter graves james arness, steven hillFiled Under Obituaries
Dig A Hole: Corey Haim
March 10th, 2010 by Scott Marks
As easy as it would be to slam Corey Haim, I can’t. The kid could act.
“Firstborn,” Michael Apted’s divorce melodrama and Haim’s first feature, is a damn good little film with superb performances all around from a cast that included Teri Garr, Peter Weller, Christopher Collet, Robert Downey and Sarah Jessica Parker. Haim played one of two siblings impacted by the breakup of their family. He was a natural. Before decades of partying ravaged his looks, Haim was an adorable little kid with a killer smile and a talent for delivering dialog.
He had a few funny bits in the dopey teen comedy “Secret Admirer” and his third feature found him in a wheelchair battling werewolves in “Stephen King’s Silver Bullet.” At a time when lycanthropy was making a brief resurgence in Hollywood (”An American Werewolf in London,” “The Howling”), “Silver Bullet” was more than passable entertainment and Haim was wonderful as the young paralytic who acts as human wolfbane in order to save his small town from sharp fangs and dull dialog.
He had a supporting role in the James Garner, Sally Field romantic comedy “Murphy’s Romance” before delivering his career defining performance at the age of 15. I remember “Lucas” as being a sloppy, sentimental ode to suicide in which Haim was a standout.
Stardom and the title of teen heartthrob came calling with “The Lost Boys.” It was also the first of several collaborations with his future second banana Corey Feldman. It was all downhill from there. Their rich partnership would yield two more features (”License to Drive” and “Dream a Little Dream), a made-for-cable exploitation film (”Blown Away”) most notable for Nicole Eggert’s nude scenes, two direct to home video turds (”National Lampoon’s Last Resort” and “Dream a Little Dream 2″) and self-conscious cameo’s in the David Spade debacle “Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.” The nostalgia ghouls at A&E gave the strung out duo one last shot at fame reality TV style with “The Two Coreys” a show that was almost painful to watch.
The 38-year-old Haim was found dead this morning of what authorities are calling an “apparent overdose.” According to the LA Times, “Haim was taken to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank after being found unresponsive, reportedly by his mother whom he was staying with as she battled cancer.”
No one could claim surprise when the news hit. Haim had been battling drugs for years now. The long discussed sequel to “Lost Boys” went straight to DVD and the 10 projects he currently had in production were not enough to keep him on the straight and narrow. Both he and Feldman had long become human punch lines, but unlike his partner Haim had talent. I can’t claim to be shocked by his sudden passing, but I sure am saddened by it.
Tags: corey feldman, corey haim, Corey Haim dead, corey haim movies, corey haines, corey haines dead, corey haines died, corey hanes, corey haynes, Cory Haim, FIrstborn, lost boys, Nicole Eggert, Stephen King's Silver Bullet, the two coreysFiled Under Obituaries
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