Peter Graves, via Wikipedia Commons
Peter Graves (born Peter Duesler Aurness) (1926-2010) was an American actor whose acting work spanned a period of almost sixty years. On House, M.D., he had a brief role as Myron, the boyfriend of a clinic patient in the Season 1 episode Love Hurts.
Graves introduction to show business started at the age of 16 when he started out in radio. After graduating from the University of Minnesota's drama department, he wound up doing bit parts in the movies in the early 1950s. However, he soon made the move to television, and appeared in several of the anthology drama series that were produces in the mid 1950s. Shortly thereafter, he started to receive larger roles and in 1955 finally found regular work as the human star of the series Fury, a role that lasted for five years. After that, he spent a year on the series Whiplash. For two years starting in 1965, he starred in Court Martial as a military lawyer.
However, it was in 1967 that he found the role that defined his career, replacing Steven Hill as the head of the Impossible Mission Force as Jim Phelps on Mission Impossible. The role made him one of the most recognizable actors on television, but when the series ended in 1973, he found himself back in supporting roles.
All that was to change with the release of Airplane! in 1980, where he played Captain Clarence Oveur, turning his straight persona into comedy genius. The role invigorated his career, later leading to a revival of Mission Impossible and numerous guest roles. In 1994, he became the primary host for the A&E series Biography, which further increased his profile.
Graves worked until the end, completing both a television movie and a video game voiceover the year he died.
Acting was probably in Graves' blood as his older brother Jim Arness was also an actor, most notably playing Sheriff Matt Dillon on the long running western series Gunsmoke.