James Arness born May 26, 1923 is an American actor best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke for 20 years. Arness has the distinction of having played the role of Marshal Matt Dillon in five separate decades: 1955 to 1975 in the weekly series, then in 1987 Return to Dodge and four more made-for-TV Gunsmoke movies in the 1990.
Peter Aurness known professionally as Peter Graves, was an American film and television actor. He was known for his starring role in the television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973, and its revival, from 1988 to 1990. He was the younger brother of character actor James Arness.
Graves was found dead at his home on March 14, 2010,. He collapsed outside his home in Pacific Palisades, shortly after returning from a Sunday brunch with his family. Though primarily identified with Westerns, he also is remembered for appearing in two science fiction films, The Thing from Another World in which he portrayed the title character) and Them!. He was a close friend of John Wayne and co-starred with him in Big Jim McLain, Hondo, Island in the Sky and The Sea Chase.
Jim Phelps always opened Mission Impossible by receiving an order “Good morning, Mr. Phelps..” in an uncommon way, and always with the tape recorder self destructing within seconds. Mission Impossible was the the thinking person’s James Bond series with interesting plot twists, disguises, and people you wanted to root for. Jim Phelps, the can do boss of the IMF team, was one of them.
While Peter Graves has roles in more than 70 productions spanning a 60-year career, he will always be known as secret agent Jim Phelps in Mission Impossible. James Arness and star of one of this bloggers favorite shows other than Star Trek, Mission Impossible, and the movie Airplane, died today, Sunday, at 83 years of age.
