Diana Muldaur
Muldaur at the 1990 Emmy Awards
Born	Diana Charlton Muldaur (1938-08-19) August 19, 1938 (age 73) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1964–1993
Spouse	James Vickery (1969-1979) (his death) Robert Dozier (1981–2012) (his death)

Diana Muldaur (born August 19, 1938) is an Emmy-nominated American film and television actress.

Career[link]

Born in New York City, but raised on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts,^[1] Muldaur started acting in high school and continued on through college, graduating from Sweet Briar College in Virginia in 1960.^[2] She studied acting under Stella Adler^[1] and made her name on the New York stage.^[3] She was at one point a board member of the Screen Actors Guild and was the first woman to serve as president of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (1983–1985).^[4]

Muldaur's television roles include L.A. Law's Rosalind Shays, and Dr. Katherine Pulaski in the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. She also appeared in the Original Star Trek as Science Officer Dr. Ann Mulhall in "Return to Tomorrow" and as Dr. Miranda Jones in "Is There In Truth No Beauty?". She provided the voice of Dr. Leslie Thompkins in Batman: The Animated Series. She starred in movies such as The Other, One More Train to Rob, McQ and The Lawyer.

Muldaur worked with future co-star Richard Dysart at New York's Circle in the Square in the mid-1960s. She guest starred on the Gunsmoke episode, "Fandango" (1967), with James Arness. An excerpt of that episode's dialogue was sampled on the Pink Floyd album The Wall, after "Hey You" and before the brief song "Is there anybody out there?"^[5] Muldaur also appeared in the Hawaii Five-O episode "Time and Memories" as a former love interest of Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord).

In 1979, she starred on the made-for-television film version on NBC of The Miracle Worker in which she played the role of Katie Keller, the mother of the Helen Keller in which she played opposite Melissa Gilbert, Charles Siebert, and Patty Duke Astin.

Muldaur was a guest star in the episodes "Return to Tomorrow" and "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" of Gene Roddenberry's original Star Trek. She also had a recurring role on the McCloud television series, and she played the part of conservationist Joy Adamson in the short-lived television drama Born Free about Elsa the Lioness. In 1968 she appeared as a friendly alien in The Invaders episode "The Life Seekers". In the second season of the television series Kung Fu in 1973, opposite David Carradine, she guest-starred in the episode titled "The Elixir" playing a travelling show-woman who yearned for freedom from men — topical at the time — and starred in the pilot episode of Charlie's Angels. She also appeared on The Tony Randall Show and guest-starred on The Incredible Hulk, playing the part of Helen Banner, David Banner's sister, in the third season episode, "Homecoming". She played a nun in the fifth season episode "Sanctuary". She played Dr. Alice Foley in the television drama A Year in the Life with Sarah Jessica Parker and praised the show as an example of how television was becoming more realistic about women.^[4]

In 1991, she played Lauren Geoffries, the main guest-star client of Perry Mason and lifelong friend of Della Reese in the NBC television movie Perry Mason and the Case of the Fatal Fashion. Valerie Harper, Scott Baio and Ally Walker also appeared. ^[6]

[edit] Star Trek: The Next Generation

Muldaur was noted for playing "dignified, sophisticated characters"^[7]. Consequently, for the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, producers chose her to replace Gates McFadden, who had played the role of Chief Medical Officer Dr. Crusher in the first season; unlike Dr. Crusher, Dr. Pulaski does not share a romantic interest with Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart).^[7][8] "We needed someone with a little more of an edge", Rick Berman explained of the choice. "Kate's a strong, confident woman with a crusty edge who can hold her own with Captain Picard. Their relationship is not all that unlike the one between Kirk and McCoy ... although from the onset we had no intention of trying to duplicate the original team."^[9]

Muldaur said after her casting:

I hadn't kept in touch with Gene over the years. I'd only done a pilot of his, Planet Earth, in 1974. So this call was totally out of the blue. I love being back in Star Trek. It's a challenge, but a healthy challenge. I find so much TV depressing—even the sitcoms. The chances of shows working and being funny or meaningful are very slim. But this show is very exciting. It has such an uplifting view of humanity in the 24th century. They want the crafty old doctor, so basically I'm a woman Dr. McCoy.^[1]

Muldaur had experience working alongside DeForest Kelley, who played Dr. McCoy, when she guest-starred in the original Star Trek series, playing Dr. Ann Mulhall in the episode "Return to Tomorrow."

Of Pulaski's willingness to stand up to the captain, Muldaur said:

We've been in a fairly stormy relationship due to two very strong personalities. But we end up admiring each other. I'm also giving Brent Spiner (as the android, Data) a very hard time, treating him as a total machine, because that's how I see him, a machine that I can't treat and I don't deal with. But I'm also beginning to see the wonderful android that he is.^[1]

Some television critics praised Muldaur's performance, with one noting her "wry, no-nonsense warmth that plays nicely off of some of the icier regulars".^[10] The addition of Muldaur, along with Whoopi Goldberg, also served to redress the absence of women from the principal cast, as the departure of McFadden and Denise Crosby had left only Marina Sirtis, a rapid attrition of women that recalled the imbalance of the original Star Trek series.^[7]

Ultimately, however, Muldaur found working on the syndicated show an "unhappy" experience, saying, "The imagination and joy wasn't there."^[11] "Everybody was out for themselves. I don't think they were happy to have me there."^[3] "It wasn't what I hoped it would be. I thought it would be wonderfully inventive and wonderfully creative, and I found it was not any of those things. But it did give me Trekkies. I love Trekkies. I find them very dear."^[2]

The "crusty"^[12] character also proved very unpopular with fans, who among other things found her treatment of the lovable android Data to be mean spirited. ^[13]Muldaur left the series after only one season. Show representatives denied that she had been fired, saying, "Technically, she's just not returning", while other sources said that her option had not been renewed.^[14] Roddenberry described Muldaur as "a most talented actress", and said that the decision "to let her go was made solely because the hoped-for chemistry between her and the rest of the starship cast did not develop."^[14][15][16] Berman added, "The thought of bringing Gates back was a good idea to us. The feeling was that we had perhaps made a mistake, and the best way to remedy it was to bring her back."^[17] The "revolving door"^[18] and the limited opportunities for female crew led critics to suggest that the mostly-male series still had a problem featuring women.^[19][20]

[edit] L.A. Law

Muldaur subsequently earned two Emmy nominations for her role as pushy and power-hungry lawyer Rosalind Shays on L.A. Law. Of Roz's creation, Muldaur said:

We didn't think of her as an evil wench at the time. I don't think they knew, and I don't think I knew, what she was going to evolve into. Obviously, they wanted her to stir things up in the office. I don't think they quite understood how she was going to stir things up in America ... The hardest part is having to gear up to play her because some of the things she does are so horrifying. I just say, 'Oh, no, they can't have her doing that.' If it were a man doing the same thing, no one would blink. In fact, it wouldn't even be good copy. It goes on every day. It's that a woman is doing... things a man has done forever and ever.^[2]

In one episode Jill Eikenberry's character Ann Kelsey tells Shays: "If you were a man, you'd be applauded for your achievements."^[2] Muldaur insisted her character "was just too strong for a lot of men".^[3]

Muldaur described the L.A. Law actors as "the closest family",^[3] and said she was "thrilled" to play a villain like Shays after portraying "everybody's mistress for 20 years",^[11] and expressed fascination with the public reception for Shays:

Not my kind of lady at all. I often read a script and am just horrified. I can't believe they'd be having me do these things. I find very little to like about her. But I'm shocked by the reaction of people. They say, 'Yea! Rosalind!' A lot of women come up to me and say, 'I wish I could have said something like that when so-and-so said such-and-such to me.' I think, 'What a terrible thing to want to do,' but they mean it. I don't think anybody would have really noticed if it had been a man. They would have said, 'He's a pain in the neck,' or something, but they wouldn't have doubted his word for a second. I'm doing some things now that horrify me, but if Leland had done the same things, nobody would be reacting the way they are now.^[11]

The scene where Roz and Leland are discovered in bed was ranked as the 38th greatest moment in television in an issue of EGG magazine. Equally spectacular was Roz's fatal exit from the show, falling down an elevator shaft.^[18][21] Muldaur joked: "I was as shocked as everybody else. I thought maybe I had asked for too much money!"^[3]

After L.A. Law, Muldaur retired from show business.^[3] At one point she contemplated a face-lift, noting in 2000 at the age of 61, "You don't see many people my age on television", but eventually decided against it, remarking, "Somebody has to look the right age."^[3] Her stated ambition is "to play all the great women's roles... I'd love to play Lady Macbeth."^[3]

Jill Eikenberry, who played Ann Kelsey on L.A. Law, said on "E! True Hollywood Story" that the whole L.A. Law cast loved the dynamic between Muldaur and Richard Dysart, and that they were all very sad to see Muldaur leave the show.

[edit] Murder, She Wrote

Diana Muldaur was a guest star on Murder, She Wrote (Season 1/Episode 18, Footnote to Murder at the Internet Movie Database, Air Date 03/10/1985) ^[22]

Dog breeder[link]

Diana Muldaur is also an Airedale Terriers breeder, owner, and judge.

Personal life[link]

Muldaur is a 1960 graduate of Sweet Briar College, a small private women's school in central Virginia. Muldaur is the older sister of singer/songwriter Geoff Muldaur and the aunt of singer/songwriter Jenni Muldaur and singer/songwriter Clare Muldaur-Manchon.^[22] She lived in Los Angeles from 1970 to 1991.^[1]

Muldaur was married to actor James Vickery until his death from cancer in 1979.^[3] She then married writer/producer Robert Dozier, who died from cancer in 2012.^[23] She has no children.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Diana Muldaur at the Internet Movie Database
• Diana Muldaur at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)

Peter Graves
Graves in October 2009
Born	Peter Aurness (1926-03-18)March 18, 1926 Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Died	March 14, 2010(2010-03-14) (aged 83) Los Angeles, California, United States
Cause of death	Heart attack
Nationality	American
Education	Southwest High School
Alma mater	University of Minnesota
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1942–2010
Spouse	Joan Endress (m. 1950–2010, his death)
Children	3 daughters
Relatives	James Arness (brother, deceased)

Peter Aurness (March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010),^[1][2][3][4] known professionally as Peter Graves, was an American film and television actor. He was best known for his starring role in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973 (original) and from 1988 to 1990 (revival). His elder brother was actor James Arness (1923–2011).

Early life[link]

Graves was born Peter Aurness in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a son of Methodist^[5] parents Rolf Cirkler Aurness (1894–1982), a businessman, and his wife Ruth (née Duesler, died 1986), a journalist. Graves' ancestry was Norwegian, English and German. The family name originally was "Aursnes," but when Rolf's Norwegian father, Peter Aursnes, immigrated to New York City in 1887, he changed the spelling.^[6] Peter used the stage name "Graves", a maternal family name.^[7] He used the name Graves to honor his mother's family, and also so as to not be confused with his older brother, James Arness, who was a famous actor in his own right, as the star of the television series "Gunsmoke".

Graves graduated from Southwest High School in 1944, and spent two years in the United States Army Air Force near the end of World War II. He then enrolled at the University of Minnesota on the G.I. Bill, and was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.

Career[link]

Graves attending a ceremony to receive a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in October 2009

Throughout Graves' career he appeared in more than seventy films, television shows, and television movies. In the 1950s, Graves joined the NBC television series Fury, as the rancher and adoptive single father, Jim Newton.^[8][9] Graves also was involved in the 1953 World War II film, Stalag 17, where he portrayed a German spy pretending to be a prisoner of war.^[10]

From 1960-61 Graves starred as leading character Christopher Cobb in 34 episodes of the TV series Whiplash.^[11] In the story line Cobb is an American who arrives in Australia in the 1850s to establish the country's first stagecoach line, using a bullwhip rather than a gun to fight the crooks that he encounters.^[12] The series also starred Anthony Wickert. Graves also starred in the British made ITC series Court Martial playing U.S. Army Lawyer Major Frank Whittaker (one of the series two American Leads starring opposite Bradford Dillman's Captain David Young ) as well as guest roles in such series as Alfred Hitchcock Presents,^[13] Route 66 and The Invaders,(episode; 'Moonshot') In 1967, Graves was recruited by Desilu Studios to replace Steven Hill as the lead actor on Mission: Impossible. Graves played Jim Phelps, the sometimes gruff leader of the Impossible Missions Force or IMF, for the remaining six seasons of the series.^[14][15] After the series ended in 1973, Graves played a cameo-type support role in the feature film Sidecar Racers in Australia which was released in 1975. Graves also made a guest appearance in the teen soap opera Class of '74 in mid-1974, playing himself.^[16]

Graves was cast as Palmer Kirby in the 1983 ABC miniseries, The Winds of War.^[17] He played opposite Robert Mitchum, Jan Michael Vincent, Deborah Winters and Ali McGraw in what became in '83, the second most watched miniseries of all time (after Roots).^[18][19] After playing mainly serious roles in the 1970s, he acted as Captain Clarence Oveur in the early 80s comedies Airplane! and Airplane II: The Sequel.^[20][21][22]

In 1988 a Hollywood writers' strike resulted in a new Mission: Impossible series being commissioned. Graves was the only original cast member to return as a regular (although others made guest appearances).^[23] The series was filmed in Australia, and Graves made his third journey there for acting work. The new version of Mission: Impossible lasted for two seasons, ending in 1990. Bookending his work on Mission: Impossible, Graves starred in two pilot films called Call to Danger, which were an attempt to create a Mission: Impossible-style series in which Graves played a government agent (the Bureau of National Resources) who recruited civilians with special talents for secret missions.^[24][25][26]

The 1960s version of the pilot, according to Patrick White in The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier (which White reports was actually the second such pilot, but Graves was not involved in the first), is credited with winning Graves the role of Phelps; after Mission: Impossible ended in 1973, Graves filmed a third version of the pilot (this one structured as a made-for-TV movie), but it did not sell as a series. The concept was later used in the brief 1980s adventure series Masquerade.

Graves with wife Joan Endress in October 2009

During the 1990s, he hosted the documentary series Biography on A&E.^[27] He also acted in a number of films featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, which subsequently featured running jokes about Graves' Biography work and presumed sibling rivalry with Arness. The films that have been featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 include SST: Death Flight, It Conquered the World, Beginning of the End, Parts: The Clonus Horror, and an uncredited voiceover in The Eye Creatures. The film Killers from Space was featured in The Film Crew, Michael J. Nelson's follow-up to MST3K.^[28] Graves himself parodied his Biography work in the film Men in Black II, hosting an exposé television show. He also played Colonel John Camden on the television series 7th Heaven. In 1995, Graves starred with Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney and Deborah Winters in the Warren Chaney docudrama, America: A Call to Greatness.^[29]

In the 1996 film update of Mission: Impossible, the character of Phelps (played by Jon Voight) was re-imagined as a traitor who murders three fellow IMF agents only to be killed himself at the end of the film, a decision that disappointed Graves.^[20]

On October 30, 2009, Graves was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[20]

AirTran Airways featured Graves in a series of web-only "Internetiquette" videos in 2009 in which Graves appeared in a pilot's uniform and references classic Airplane! lines.^[30] The videos were part of an AirTran Airways campaign to promote their in-flight wireless Internet access.^[30]

In the summer of 2009 Graves signed on as a spokesperson for reverse mortgage lender American Advisors Group (AAG).^[31] Graves appeared in a national commercial in which he marketed reverse mortgages.^[32]

Graves' final project was narrating the computer game epic Darkstar: The Interactive Movie,^[33] released November 5, 2010.

Personal life[link]

Handprints of Peter Graves in front of Hollywood Hills Amphitheater at the Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park

Graves was a devout Christian.^[34] He was married to Joan Endress Graves from 1950^[2] until his death. Their marriage produced three daughters: Kelly Jean, Claudia King and Amanda Lee.^[35] Graves had six grandchildren.^[36]

Death[link]

After returning from a brunch on March 14, 2010, Graves collapsed and died of a heart attack at the age of 83. He was four days from his 84th birthday. It was reported that one of his daughters attempted to revive him, but was unsuccessful.^[3]

Awards[link]

Graves was awarded a Golden Globe Award in 1971 for his role as Jim Phelps in the series Mission: Impossible.^[4] He also received nominations for an Emmy Award^[37] and Golden Globe awards^[38] in other seasons of that show. Graves also won a Primetime Emmy Award for outstanding informational series in 1997 as host of Biography.^[4]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Peter Graves

• Peter Graves at the Internet Movie Database
• Peter Graves at the TCM Movie Database
• Peter Graves at AllRovi
• Biography and filmography at Brian's Drive-In Theater
• Peter Graves at The New York Times