Best remembered by the public for his starring role as "Jim Phelps" in "Mission: Impossible" (1966).
Daughters with Endress: Kelly, Claudia and Amanda Graves.
Ex-brother-in-law of Virginia Chapman.
Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He directed the "Which Dr." episode of "Gunsmoke" (1955), his older brother James Arness being the star of that series.
He said it was almost over for Captain Oveur before the movie Airplane! (1980) took flight. Graves said he was astounded when his agent sent him the script for the 1980 spoof, and after reading it, he felt that it was "the worst piece of junk" he had ever seen. However, he changed his mind after meeting with the movie's writers, Jerry Zucker and David Zucker.
He was a registered Republican.
Interviewed in "Earth vs. the Sci-Fi Filmmakers" by Tom Weaver (McFarland, 2005).
Uncle of Craig Aurness, Rolf Aurness and Jenny Lee Arness.
Words of remembrance tribute provided by critic Richard Corliss for "Time" magazine's milestones section (Issue: March 29, 2010).
Younger brother of James Arness, star of the long-running "Gunsmoke" (1955) TV series.