Mission: Impossible followed a team of secret government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force, taking us along to watch their adventures and strategies of manipulating and defeating Iron Curtain governments, third-world dictators, and more. This was the beginning of the Mission: Impossible franchise, continuing with a different cast and a string of hit films starring Tom Cruise, which actually didn’t resonate with the original Mission: Impossible stars. But we’ll get to that, as well as why Mr. Briggs was replaced after season one.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to revisit the Mission: Impossible cast. Rest assured, however: this tape will not self-destruct in five seconds.
Peter Graves (Jim Phelps)
Jim Phelps is the leader of the IMF agents, the main man in charge. The show was essentially how to out-think your opponents, using your brains and not your brawn. Few embody these skills quite like Phelps.
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After two years in the Air Force, Peter Graves studied drama at the University of Minnesota before heading to Hollywood, where he quickly nabbed a leading man kind of role in 1951’s Rogue River.
One of his better film roles came quite early in his career with 1953’s World War II film, Stalag 17. Two years later, he was cast as the lead in the series Fury, not as the horse or the boy, but the man.
By 1967, Graves was recruited by Desilu Studios – the studio owned by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz – to replace Steven Hill as the lead in the cast of Mission: Impossible.
There were two main reasons for this. First, as an Orthodox Jew, he was oftentimes unable to work due to religious conflicts, and could not abide by the show’s production schedule. Further conflicting filming was his disruptive behavior, so they said goodbye to Dan Briggs, and hello to Jim Phelps. But Steven Hill did quite alright, completing over 200 episodes of Law and Order in the 1990s.
On the lighter side of Peter Graves’ resume is captaining two of the best farce comedies of all time. We have clearance, Clarence!
Graves had refused to reprise the role of Jim Phelps in the first 1996 theatrical film, after the character was revealed to be a traitor and the villain of the film, played then by Jon Voight. Most die-hard fans of the show, including the actors who birthed the franchise, absolutely despised this plot decision. Aside from Airplane and Mission: Impossible, Peter was prolific in the cast of westerns. That actually runs in the family, as his older brother is none other than James Arness of the esteemed Gunsmoke fame. Although he and James never acted onscreen together, Peter did direct him in the episode Gunsmoke: Which Doctor. in 1966.
In 2010, Peter collapsed and died of a sudden heart attack, four days before his 84th birthday.
Greg Morris (Barney)
Barney was known as the go-to mechanical and electronics wiz kid, and Greg Morris was one of only two actors to appear in every season. So when he was invited to the ’96 film premiere, it certainly held weight when he got up halfway through and walked out. Shouldn’t have made Jim Phelps the bad guy huh? He called it “an abomination.” Yikes.
Greg Morris began working in Hollywood in 1963, but his Barney is his best-known role. His second is probably Lt. David Nelson from the detective series Vega$. He enjoyed filming there so much that he and his wife moved there permanently.
When the show was rebooted in 1988, his son Phil Morris was cast as Barney’s son, Grant – and Greg appeared three times. It’s not just his son who followed his acting path, Greg’s daughter Iona also acts and voice acts.
A lifelong smoker, he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1990 and battled it for six years until he was found dead in his Las Vegas apartment at 62 years old.
Peter Lupus (Willy)
Willy was a world record-holding weight lifter, known as the Impossible Missions Force’s muscle man, which ended up being pretty relatable to the actor who portrayed him. Lupus actually began his career by earning the titles of Mr. Indianapolis, Mr. Indiana, Mr. Hercules, and Mr. International Health Physique, standing at 6 feet 4 inches.
We also saw him as a boxer with a glass jaw on The Joey Bishop Show and as a caveman on an episode of Fantasy Island.
Lupus was also one of the first well-known male actors to pose fully nude for Playgirl‘s Man of the Month in April of 1974.
In 2007 and at the age of 75, Lupus set a world weightlifting endurance record by lifting 77,560 pounds over the course of 24 minutes and 5 / Everett Collection / ImageCollect0 seconds. He also holds the Guinness world record for the oldest person to bench-press over 300 pounds.
Today he’s 91 years old and has been married to his wife Sharon, a fitness consultant, since 1960. They kept their marriage a secret initially because of the vast amount of fan mail that Peter received from women all over the world.
Martin Landau (Rollin Hand)
Rollin Hand is an actor, a magician, and a master of disguises who billed himself as “The Man Of A Million Faces” and “The World’s Greatest Impersonator.” Pick a lane, Rollin. He was only in the first three seasons because Martin was too in-demand. He was an immensely talented character actor who triumphed not just in film and TV, but also on the stage. Therefore, he wouldn’t sign a five-year contract so that he had time to work in the New York theatre scene.
After auditioning for the Actors Studio in 1955, Marty and Steve McQueen were the only applicants accepted out of 500 who applied. His first major film appearance was in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic North by Northwest in 1959. He had featured roles in two epics: Cleopatra in 1963 and The Greatest Story Ever Told in ‘65. He also starred alongside his old classmate Steve McQueen in Nevada Smith that same year.
In 1989, Landau was nominated for an Oscar for Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors but lost to Denzel Washington in Glory. He did, however, win the Oscar for 1994’s Ed Wood.
The guy is a pro. He even coached a number of famed actors, including Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston. One of his final performances was in 2015, starring alongside Christopher Plummer in the critically acclaimed film Remember.
Sadly, Martin Landau died in July of 2017 at the age of 89, but his two daughters continue his legacy by working in the entertainment business, which was a no-brainer because their dad was Martin, and their mom was this next actress.
Barbara Bain (Cinnamon Carter)
Cinnamon Carter is a fashion model and actress and a member of the IMF as Bain. At first, Carter was afraid she was only getting hired because she was the wife of Martin Landau. She put all those concerns to rest when she became the first actress in history to receive three consecutive Emmy Awards for Best Dramatic Actress. It is too bad she and Martin decided to leave the show after season three, due to salary negotiations falling short, as Desilu Studios had just been bought and the show had lost a percentage of its budget.
After Mission: Impossible success, she reprised her character in a different cast, this time a 1997 episode of Diagnosis: Murder, then starred opposite Landau again in the TV series Space: 1999.
Barbara met Landau during classes with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. The couple married in 1957 and stayed together until 1993.
Today, Bain is 92 years old and still at it. In 2020 she was in the Bill Murray-led AppleTV film, On The Rocks. When she’s not doing that, she’s also not watching any of the Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible films, another OG Actor who says “no” to Tom’s rendition.
Leonard Nimoy (“The Great” Paris)
Paris, also known as “The Great” Paris, was an actor, a magician, and a master of disguise – so yes, you guessed it, he came on to replace Martin Landau. At this point, he had already been Spock and even had already made music as Spock, so needless to say his joining the Mission: Impossible cast was a huge boost that the show needed to cover the loss of Rollin Hand and Cinnamon Carter.
From 1982 to 1987, Nimoy hosted the children’s educational show Standby…Lights! Camera! Action! on Nickelodeon. He also narrated the Ancient Mysteries series on A&E.
Aside from acting, Leonard enjoyed photography, directing, writing, and music – oh and pets! As the esteemed actor owned a pet store in California during the 1960s. His photography specialized in black and white shots, and he really was quite good.
Leonard Nimoy passed away in February 2015, one month shy of his 84th birthday. His final Tweet, posted four days prior, read, “A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP” (Live Long and Prosper).
This was one of the most talented casts of any TV show ever. Mr. Tom Cruise can thank each and every one for sparking a franchise that still continues to this day. So tell us, what did you think about the original Mission: Impossible show? What about the 1988 reboot? Who was your favorite character from the series? And finally, what are your thoughts on the Tom Cruise-led explosion fests?
