George Peppard (; October 1, 1928 – May 8, 1994) was an American actor.
was born October 1, 1928, in Detroit, the son of building contractor George Peppard, Sr.
It was a giant boost to my career, and made me a viable actor for other roles." During the series' run Peppard guest starred on the Tales of the Unexpected episode "The Dirty Detail" (1983). ===Later career=== Peppard's last series was intended to be several television movie features entitled Man Against the Mob (1988) and set in the 1940s.
He graduated from Dearborn High School in Dearborn, Michigan in 1946. Peppard enlisted in the United States Marine Corps July 8, 1946, and rose to the rank of corporal, leaving the Corps at the end of his enlistment in January 1948. During 1948 and 1949, he studied civil engineering at Purdue University where he was a member of the Purdue Playmakers theatre troupe and Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
He graduated from Dearborn High School in Dearborn, Michigan in 1946. Peppard enlisted in the United States Marine Corps July 8, 1946, and rose to the rank of corporal, leaving the Corps at the end of his enlistment in January 1948. During 1948 and 1949, he studied civil engineering at Purdue University where he was a member of the Purdue Playmakers theatre troupe and Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
He graduated from Dearborn High School in Dearborn, Michigan in 1946. Peppard enlisted in the United States Marine Corps July 8, 1946, and rose to the rank of corporal, leaving the Corps at the end of his enlistment in January 1948. During 1948 and 1949, he studied civil engineering at Purdue University where he was a member of the Purdue Playmakers theatre troupe and Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
He spent a portion of his 1966 honeymoon training to fly his Learjet in Wichita, Kansas. ==Acting== ===Theatre=== Peppard made his stage debut in 1949 at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.
(It took longer than normal because he dropped out for a year when his father died in 1951 and he had to finish his father's jobs.) He also trained at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.
"It was the best decision I ever made." Peppard then transferred to Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1955.
The Strange One came out in April 1957 but despite some strong reviews - The New York Times called Peppard "resolute".
- it was not a financial success. In September 1957, he appeared in a trial run of a play by Robert Thom, The Minotaur, directed by Sidney Lumet. Peppard played a key role in Little Moon of Alban (1958) alongside Christopher Plummer for the Hallmark Hall of Fame.
He was cast in part because he was unfamiliar to moviegoers. ===MGM=== In October 1958 Peppard appeared on Broadway in The Pleasure of His Company (1958) starring Cyril Ritchard, who also directed.
"I would like to be an actor who is starred but being a star is something you can't count on whereas acting is something I can work on." It was a success at the box office, although the film's high cost meant that it was not profitable. Peppard's next film for MGM was The Subterraneans, an adaptation of the 1958 novel by Jack Kerouac co starring Leslie Caron.
In February 1959, Hedda Hopper announced Peppard would leave Company to make two films for MGM.
In April 1959 Hedda Hopper said he would be in Chatauqua but that was not made until a decade later, starring Elvis Presley, as The Trouble with Girls (1969).
At the end of 1959 Hopper predicted Peppard would be a big star saying "he has great emotional power, is a fine athlete, and does offbeat characters such as James Dean excelled in." Sol Siegel announced he would play the lead in Two Weeks in Another Town.
He was cast in July 1960.
He is best remembered for his role as struggling writer Paul Varjak in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's, and for playing commando leader Col.
During filming Peppard did not get along with Hepburn or Patricia Neal, the latter calling him "cold and conceited". In November 1961, a newspaper article dubbed him "the next big thing".
He bought a script by Robert Blees called Baby Talk but it was also unmade. Instead MGM cast him in the lead of their epic western How the West Was Won in 1962 (his character spanned three sections of the episodic Cinerama extravaganza).
But the really talented people loved working with him because of all his wonderful creative energy. "My performances bore me", said Peppard in a 1964 interview, adding that his ambition was to deliver "one great performance.
He was cast as the lead in Sands of the Kalahari (1965) at a fee of $200,000 but walked off the set after only a few days of filming in March 1965 and had to be replaced by Stuart Whitman.
He spent a portion of his 1966 honeymoon training to fly his Learjet in Wichita, Kansas. ==Acting== ===Theatre=== Peppard made his stage debut in 1949 at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.
"It's a big mistake to think I'm making a lot of money and turning out a lot of crap," he said in a 1966 interview. ===Decline=== Seeking to ensure his financial security, Peppard bought a cattle ranch.
The funding required by this venture prompted Peppard to sign a multi-million-dollar, five-picture contract with Universal in August 1966 - two films for the first year, then one each in the following three.
She also claimed Peppard turned down The Heart is a Lonely Hunter because he did not want to play a weak or possibly homosexual character. In 1967, he bought the script Midnight Fair by Sheridan Greenway, to produce.
Neither was a version of The Most Dangerous Game for MGM, announced in 1967. He did a thriller, Pendulum (1969), directed by George Schaefer with Jean Seberg, and went to England to make The Executioner (1970) with Joan Collins. In Cannon for Cordoba (1970) he played the steely Captain Rod Douglas, who has been put in charge of gathering a group of soldiers on a dangerous mission into Mexico.
In 1968 he announced he had co-written a script Watch Them Die, which he planned to direct, but not play a starring role.
There were no good scripts, no good directors and at some point it became icily clear that there weren't going to be any." In September 1970 he toured Vietnam with a USO show. ==Television== In March 1971 Peppard announced his company, Tradewind Productions, had optioned a novel by Stanley Ellin, The Eighth Circle, but it was not made. Peppard starred in a Western TV movie The Bravos (1972) with Pernell Roberts.
There were no good scripts, no good directors and at some point it became icily clear that there weren't going to be any." In September 1970 he toured Vietnam with a USO show. ==Television== In March 1971 Peppard announced his company, Tradewind Productions, had optioned a novel by Stanley Ellin, The Eighth Circle, but it was not made. Peppard starred in a Western TV movie The Bravos (1972) with Pernell Roberts.
He returned to features with The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972) co starring Michael Sarrazin, shot in Canada for Universal; Peppard's fee was $400,000. In August 1971, Peppard signed to star in Banacek (1972–1974), part of The NBC Mystery Movie series, starring in 90-minute whodunits as a wealthy Boston playboy who solves thefts for insurance companies for a finder's fee.
"Ever since The Carpetbaggers I've played the iron-jawed cold-eyed killer and that gets to be a goddamed bore," he said in 1972.
Banacek is the best character I've played in a long time." In February 1972, Peppard stood trial in Boston, accused of attempting to rape a stripper in his hotel room.
As per their 1972 divorce settlement, Peppard paid Ashley $2,000 per month in alimony for four years, up to $400 per month for psychiatric care, and $350 per month in child support for their son Christian Peppard.
The Peppard family stone was not damaged, and the cemetery was subsequently restored. ==Critical appraisal== David Shipman published this appraisal of Peppard in 1972: In 1990, Peppard said "an enormous amount of my film work has been spent charging up a hill saying, "Follow me, men! This way!" Even though I did "Breakfast at Tiffany's," nobody seemed to think I could do comedy.
Ashley's two awards were nullified in 1975 when she married James McCarthy, whom she divorced in 1981. Sherry Boucher (1975–1979), a realtor from Springhill, Louisiana, who remarried John Lytle. Alexis Adams (1984–1986), also known as Joyce Ann Furbee, a bit part TV actress, who never remarried. Laura Taylor (1992-1994) In 1990 he said, "Getting married and having a bad divorce is just like breaking your leg.
Later owned by designer Brenda Antin, who spent a year renovating it, the small home was purchased by writer/actress Lena Dunham in 2015 for 2.699 million dollars. ==Later years and death== Peppard overcame a serious alcohol problem in 1978, after which he became deeply involved in helping other alcoholics.
The movie cost $8.5 million - Peppard said Jack Smight's original cut was "wonderful" but claimed the film was re-edited by executives. With fewer interesting roles coming his way, he acted in, directed and produced the drama Five Days from Home in 1979. ===Five Days from Home=== Peppard later said the low point of his career came over a three-year period around the time of Five Days from Home.
Eventually, he got his money back and was able to concentrate on his career."I'm quite proud of it," he said in 1979.
It was the best time of my life." He had the lead in the TV movies Crisis in Mid-air (1979) and Torn Between Two Lovers (1979) and went to Europe for From Hell to Victory (1979). In a rare game show appearance, Peppard did a week of shows on Password Plus in 1979, in which he could often be seen smoking cigarettes while filming.
In April 1979, Peppard said "I want to act again - and I need a good role.
John "Hannibal" Smith in the 1980s television series The A-Team. Peppard secured a major role when he starred alongside Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), and later portrayed a character based on Howard Hughes in The Carpetbaggers (1964).
John "Hannibal" Smith, the cigar-smoking leader of a renegade commando squad in the hit 1980s action show The A-Team. ==Early life== George Peppard, Jr.
The Sam Shepherd story I did for TV was the only good role I've had in the last seven to ten years." He added he was developing two movies and a TV drama series plus an educational series. ===Dynasty=== In 1980, Peppard was offered, and accepted, the role of Blake Carrington in the television series Dynasty.
Ashley's two awards were nullified in 1975 when she married James McCarthy, whom she divorced in 1981. Sherry Boucher (1975–1979), a realtor from Springhill, Louisiana, who remarried John Lytle. Alexis Adams (1984–1986), also known as Joyce Ann Furbee, a bit part TV actress, who never remarried. Laura Taylor (1992-1994) In 1990 he said, "Getting married and having a bad divorce is just like breaking your leg.
You find out some people you thought were your friends aren't really." ==The A-Team== In 1982, Peppard auditioned for and won the role of Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith in the television action adventure series The A-Team, acting alongside Mr.
And, frankly, I need the money." "I wanted to change from leading man to character actor for years now but have never been given the chance before," he added. The show started filming in late 1982 and premiered in January 1983.
"It was a bad time", he said in 1983.
And, frankly, I need the money." "I wanted to change from leading man to character actor for years now but have never been given the chance before," he added. The show started filming in late 1982 and premiered in January 1983.
The series ran five seasons on NBC from 1983 to 1987, made Peppard known to a new generation and is arguably his best-known role.
"I knew I had to stop and I did," he said in 1983.
The series ran five seasons on NBC from 1983 to 1987, made Peppard known to a new generation and is arguably his best-known role.
In 1988, he portrayed Ernest Hemingway in the play PAPA, which played a number of cities including Boise, Idaho; Atlanta, Georgia; and San Francisco.
In 1988, he said, "Once I saw this thing, I knew that if I was going to do it, I'd have to stick with it.
The second film The Chinatown Murders was broadcast in December 1989.
In 1989, he said "I'm afraid I'm typecast.
If you don't do it, they get disappointed and it shows up at the box office." In 1990, he was seeking finance for The Crystal Contract, a film about an international cocaine cartel in which he would produce and star (but was never made)." I would like to do another series because it would mean steady work - and because I would like one more hit." In 1992, he toured in The Lion in Winter, in which he played Henry II to Susan Clark's Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Ashley's two awards were nullified in 1975 when she married James McCarthy, whom she divorced in 1981. Sherry Boucher (1975–1979), a realtor from Springhill, Louisiana, who remarried John Lytle. Alexis Adams (1984–1986), also known as Joyce Ann Furbee, a bit part TV actress, who never remarried. Laura Taylor (1992-1994) In 1990 he said, "Getting married and having a bad divorce is just like breaking your leg.
The Peppard family stone was not damaged, and the cemetery was subsequently restored. ==Critical appraisal== David Shipman published this appraisal of Peppard in 1972: In 1990, Peppard said "an enormous amount of my film work has been spent charging up a hill saying, "Follow me, men! This way!" Even though I did "Breakfast at Tiffany's," nobody seemed to think I could do comedy.
If you don't do it, they get disappointed and it shows up at the box office." In 1990, he was seeking finance for The Crystal Contract, a film about an international cocaine cartel in which he would produce and star (but was never made)." I would like to do another series because it would mean steady work - and because I would like one more hit." In 1992, he toured in The Lion in Winter, in which he played Henry II to Susan Clark's Eleanor of Aquitaine.
After being formally diagnosed with lung cancer in 1992 and having an operation to remove part of one lung, he quit smoking. Despite health problems in his later years, he continued acting.
George Peppard (; October 1, 1928 – May 8, 1994) was an American actor.
If I could have my wish come true, I'd spend the next two years doing nothing but this play." His last television role was guest-starring in an 1994 episode of Matlock entitled "The P.I".
In 1994, just before his death, Peppard completed a pilot with Tracy Nelson for a new series called The P.I.
It aired as an episode of Matlock and was to be spun off into a new television series with Peppard playing an aging detective and Nelson his daughter/sidekick. On May 8, 1994, still battling lung cancer, Peppard died from pneumonia in Los Angeles. Peppard, born and raised in Dearborn, Michigan, was one of Dearborn's most famous residents, after Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford and legendary long-serving Congressman John Dingell.
Later owned by designer Brenda Antin, who spent a year renovating it, the small home was purchased by writer/actress Lena Dunham in 2015 for 2.699 million dollars. ==Later years and death== Peppard overcame a serious alcohol problem in 1978, after which he became deeply involved in helping other alcoholics.
Peppard wanted to go home, and is buried simply and plainly with his mother and father in his home town's Northview Cemetery. In April 2017, Peppard's name resurfaced in the media after the cemetery was vandalized for the third time and 37 stones were overturned.
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