Peter Graves, the actor best known for portraying James Phelps on the television series Mission: Impossible and then starring in the disaster movie spoof, Airplane, has passed away at the age of 83. Graves apparently suffered a heart attack upon returning home from lunch on Sunday afternoon with his family in celebration of his upcoming 84th birthday.
Throughout his career Graves traditionally played the straight-laced hero and won a Golden Globe in 1971 for his role in Mission: Impossible.
Despite belonging to a generation well ahead of my own, the comedy, Airplane, figured prominently in video rental stores during the dawn of home video in the early 80s and because of this Graves and his famous portrayal in that film were permanently etched into my mind at a very early age.
Thank you, Mr. Graves, for the early childhood education in aviation… amongst others things that were well beyond my years at that point 
Michael "Obi-Wan" Kasaboski, aka massacremike, is a life-long geek and pop culture enthusiast. He's also an aspiring artist and huge comic book nerd.
You can check out samples of his artwork on his personal blog, 
[New Blog Post] – Your Mission Impossible is Now Complete – RIP Peter Graves http://goo.gl/fb/xbqB
Roger, Roger. What's ur vector, Victor? RT @thegeekeffect – Your Mission Impossible is Now Complete – RIP Peter Graves http://goo.gl/fb/xbqB