Seven Things to Know About George Peppard

Peppard in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

1. George Peppard didn't get along with either of his female co-stars on the set of Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). According to Breakfast at Tiffany's: The Official 50th Anniversary Companion, he and Patricia Neal were friends when they attended the Actors Studio in the 1950s. However, her opinion of him had changed by the time they made Tiffany's: "Boy, he'd gotten rotten. At the Actors Studio, I'd adored him." As for Audrey Hepburn, she and Peppard seemed unable to overcome their different personalities. He sometimes referred to her as the "Happy Nun" on the set (she had made The Nun's Story two years earlier).

2. George Peppard was married five times. His second wife was actress Elizabeth Ashley, who commented  in a 2015 interview: "I married a movie star 11 years older than me because I was looking for a father. Big mistake! Granted, he was gorgeous. Maybe too gorgeous! And good for breeding. But I believe it was doomed from the start." Peppard and Ashley had met on the set of The Carpetbaggers (1964) and they shared top billing the following year in The Third Day. Their marriage lasted six years and they had a son, Christian (also an actor).

George Peppard as Banacek.

3. After Peppard's film career hit a lull, he starred in Banacek, one of the rotating series that aired as part of the NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie in 1972. Thomas Banacek was a very successful free-lance insurance investigator who lived in a plush house on Boston's Beacon Hill and had a chauffeur. In the first season episode "Project Phoenix," Banacek mentioned that he learned "combat judo" in the Marine Corps. Peppard actually served in the Marines from 1946-48 and rose to the rank of corporal.

4. At the 2004 SF Ball X, A-Team regular Dwight Schultz talked about working with George Peppard. On Schultz's first day on the set, Peppard walked up to him and said: "Hello, I’m George Peppard. I’m not a very nice man. I used to be a drunk. I tell everybody that. I’m not a drunk anymore." Schultz also said that both Peppard and Mr. T considered themselves to be the star the show. So, when Peppard started leaving the set at 5:00 pm each day, so did Mr. T. The shooting schedule had to be rearranged so that Schultz and Dirk Benedict could stay late to complete any scenes without the show's "stars."

5. Although known for his film and TV roles, Peppard also performed on stage. He made his Broadway debut in 1956 opposite Shelley Winters and Pat Hingle in Girls of Summer. A young Stephen Sondheim, who wrote the title song, was uncredited in the play's original program.

Peppard and Linda Evans on Banacek.

6. According to TV Guide, George Peppard was the original choice to play Blake Carrington on the TV series Dynasty. He was replaced by John Forsyte due to "creative differences" with the show's producers (interestingly, Linda Evans had been a guest star on Banacek). Peppard did star in another TV series between Banacek and The A-Team. He portrayed a neurosurgeon in Doctors' Hospital, which lasted 16 episodes on NBC in 1975-76. The show co-starred Zohra Lampert and John Larroquette.

7. George Peppard was married five times. In addition to Ashley, his fourth wife Sherry Boucher was an actress. He had three children, one with Ashley and two with his first wife Helen Davies. George Peppard died in 1994 at age 65 from pneumonia. A former smoker for many years, he had been battling lung cancer.

The 5 Best Smart and Sexy Female TV Characters

Good TV shows have strong female characters. The greatest shows have women who steal the series and leave lasting impressions. This is a list of my personal favorite of all those wonderful ladies who have graced the television screen.

1. Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg/The Avengers). The Avengers was the first British series to be broadcast for a fall schedule in the U.S., but that wasn’t until 1965 with the fourth season (or fourth series, as they say in the UK). That particular year was the introduction to the beguiling Emma Peel, her name derived from a condensed version of “Man Appeal” in the original script. An agile fighter and skilled agent, Emma was most often adorned in a variety of attire, with, particularly in her second series, a predilection for jumpsuits. Her presence literally made the series glow, as The Avengers moved from black-and-white to full, radiant color, and audiences were treated to the resplendence of Mrs. Peel’s red hair. Her physical attributes were pronounced, but one of Emma’s most prominent qualities was her above-average intelligence, most amply displayed in “The Master Minds”, when she takes an IQ test on behalf of her partner, John Steed, for admittance into a school of intellectuals. She also aces her own test and later, working at the school as a secretary, must “fix” a test Steed takes on his own, even with some answers provided for him (“And now you’re brilliant,” Emma tells him, “genius level”). It is fitting that Mr. Peel is never shown (he can be seen only from afar in Emma’s final episode, “The Forget-Me-Not”), as no man seems worthy of such a woman. Rigg was irresistible in the role that made her a star: delightful, charming and undeniably beautiful.

2. Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn/Twin Peaks). Twin Peaks was a small town in Washington with a brooding, underlining evil that began exposing itself following the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer. But the town did have a pleasant side, and nothing shone more brightly than Audrey Horne. When Audrey walked into a room, everyone noticed, like in the pilot when she turned the heads of a roomful of investors. She even had her own theme, “Freshly Squeezed” (as named on the show’s soundtrack), a reference to Audrey’s breakfast encounters with Special Agent Dale Cooper at her father’s hotel. She set her eyes solely upon Special Agent Cooper, and she used her wits to conduct her own investigation (simply to help the object of her affection). Though she’s halted by being held captive, Audrey was actually a few steps ahead of the cops. The consummate professional, Cooper never reciprocated Audrey’s advances, but because Audrey craved a relationship that seemed unattainable, it’s an indication of her unfaltering determination and independence. Fenn is classically beautiful, as if she’s stepped off a film lot in Old Hollywood (and aided in Twin Peaks with Audrey’s retro wardrobe). And like a softly-lit movie star on a giant theatre screen, Audrey remains forever graceful and poetic. Special Agent Cooper dreams of Laura and the Black Lodge, but the viewers’ dreams are filled with Audrey Horne.

3. Laura Holt (Stephanie Zimbalist/Remington Steele). In a male-dominated world, gumshoe Laura Holt creates a non-existing male detective for her agency, hoping to earn clients who are confounded by a female sleuth. With some actresses given little to do, Remington Steele is a refreshing change of pace by making a male the eye candy (in this case, the Irish Pierce Brosnan). The unnamed conman, assuming the role of Remington Steele, was the front, as Laura did the majority of the crime solving. But while having a capable, smart female character in the lead is noteworthy, the show’s most commendable trait is helping an audience see that the attractive characters in the past were more than their external beauty. Laura’s expertise and proficiency are unprecedented, but with Zimbalist portraying the detective, she was also alluring, a vision in a fedora (allowing other fedora-donning sleuths such as Sam Spade to fall into obscurity). The series title is an allusion to the agency’s name, not the man. And the responsibility of running the agency, as well as the true source of all that romance, fell at the rather adept feet of Laura Holt.

4. Amy Allen (Melinda Culea/The A-Team) It takes quite a woman to stand out among a cast full of testosterone, but reporter Amy Allen did just that with minimal effort. It was her newspaper article (which she was researching) that introduced audiences to the A-Team. She was a good fit with the men: not constantly barraged by Face’s flirtatious ways, never the victim of B.A.’s infamous bad attitude, and respected by Hannibal as if she were a soldier under his command. Amy could even understand the sometimes incomprehensible (and legally insane) Murdock. Culea played the character as resilient and flexible in largely unfamiliar circumstances, and her girl-next-door appeal was a way that young male viewers could, perhaps ironically, relate to stories involving Vietnam War vets. Unfortunately, Amy was gone halfway through the sophomore season, but Culea’s female replacement wasn’t genuinely a replacement, as she only appeared sporadically and was dropped early in the subsequent season. Reportedly, Tia Carrere, a guest star in the Season 4 finale, was meant to join the cast in the fifth season but was unable to do so (due to her role in General Hospital). In short, there was no one equivalent to Amy, as she is not remembered as a cohort, but rather a former member of the A-Team.

5. Colonel Wilma Deering (Erin Gray/Buck Rogers in the 25th Century). In the 30+ years since its debut on television (the pilot actually premiered in theatres months before), Buck Rogers in the 25th Century has aged considerably, its more derivative features all the more noticeable with the growing popularity of 1977’s Star Wars (an obvious source of, let’s say, “inspiration”). Colonel Wilma Deering, however, was a character all her own, and her skintight uniforms and corresponding outfits made it easy to forget that she was a high-ranking officer. More significant was the fact that the presumably dashing titular character, who caught the fancy of the villainous Princess Ardala and somehow managed to bed a new woman each week, had to earn any respect and potential affection from Col. Deering. Romance between the two was not a focus of the series, which seems to suggest that even the writers did not believe Buck Rogers was a worthwhile partner for Wilma. Gray’s bright eyes and warm smile (with those impossible-to-miss dimples), along with her rank, gave her a commanding presence. Producers reportedly asked her to lighten her hair for the show, but as the series progressed, she returned to her natural brunette hue, because, behind all the spaceships and lasers, the real reason to watch Buck Rogers had not a thing to do with Buck What’s-his-face and everything to do with a certain Colonel in snug apparel.

Honorable mentions: Cinnamon (Barbara Bain/Mission: Impossible) -- The sole female IMF member (for the first three seasons), she was more than just the female agent, as she was often pitted in dangerous situations like the men. Cinnamon also had the distinction of retrieving the mission details in Season 1’s “Action!”, the only other person aside from team leaders Dan and Jim to do so. Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith/Charlie’s Angels) -- A seemingly ever-changing cast did not deter from the draw of Smith or her portrayal of Kelly. She was the only actress who starred in all five seasons of the series, a beautiful constant and an incentive to continue watching. Morticia Addams (Carolyn Jones/The Addams Family) -- With her perpetual smirk and her arms generally crossed, the Addams Family matriarch evidently believes that running a household filled with eccentric characters is a cakewalk. A precursory look at promotional shots for the series is telling: Morticia, surrounded by her family, is sitting in her famous chair, the center of everything.

... If You Can Find Them, Maybe You Can Hire "The A-Team"

Tomorrow, June 11th, will see the release of the big budget, big screen remake of the classic TV series, The A-Team. If you've seen the trailers, you might notice that much of the focus is on the characters, as each individual member of the titular team is spotlighted, allowing any appraisal of a probable storyline to fall by the wayside. This is likely the best way in which to market the film. The original series, created by Frank Lupo and Stephen J. Cannell, thrived on the characters, their nuances, their peculiarities, and their sometimes predictable behavior. Every week, a voice-over would reintroduce audiences to these four men, telling their back story of how they were imprisoned for a crime they did not commit. After their escape, they took jobs to help the everyday man, those less fortunate who can find support nowhere else. Each actor receives his credit, but this was really just another way to showcase the characters, with clips displaying their abilities and mannerisms. The title said it all: it was about the A-Team. If you've never made their acquaintances, here they are:

Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith (George Peppard): He is the highest ranking officer of the team, and the leader. With an ever-present cigar, Hannibal devises the team's plans, most of which either fail miserably or don't quite turn out as one would hope. However, the colonel excels under pressure, and his backup plans -- typically created out of sheer necessity and/or threat of incarceration or death -- are more often than not solid strategies with favorable conclusions, leading to Hannibal's catchphrase, "I love it when a plan comes together." Hannibal is also a master of disguise, and he will frequently meet with clients masquerading as someone else, to ensure that the person's story and situation is legitimate. The colonel's second "job," if you will, is related to his disguises, with appearances in low budget horror films, hiding inside the costume of a monster.

Lieutenant Templeton "Faceman" Peck (Dirk Benedict): Faceman, most often called "Face," earned his nickname for a basic reason: he's the conman, the "face" that most people -- usually the ladies -- prefer to see. Face could supply the team with all types of things, including vehicles, weaponry, equipment, or simply information. And Peck was able to obtain such supplies with his conning finesse, such as literally talking a particular person into letting him take three or four large trucks. It's perhaps quite apparent that Face's most important asset to the team is his good looks. This leads to many amusing sequences of scuffles, as Face -- although a skilled fighter -- tries desperately to avoid getting hit in his namesake. (Tim Dunigan played Face in the show's pilot, but he was replaced in the second episode by Benedict, who retained the role for the remainder of the series.)

Sergeant Bosco Albert "B.A." Baracus (Mr. T): His initials, while short for his given name, are generally accepted as having a much more colorful meaning: "Bad Attitude." Even though each A-Team member can hold his own in a fistfight, B.A. is still considered the muscle, because if he's fighting, men aren't just knocked down but are thrown through the air. B.A. is also, as described in the pilot, "a mechanical genius." In many episodes, the men build a weapon or armed vehicle of some sort, and B.A. almost becomes the team leader, designing and crafting the machines, as everyone else just seems to be helping him. Despite the bulky man's "bad attitude," B.A. is a sucker for the children, and it is he who insists they undertake a mission if a child is involved. And with his drink of choice being milk, B.A. essentially becomes the team's paternal figure. Hannibal may be the leader, but B.A. is the one who barks orders, usually yelling at Face and Murdock as if they were his disobedient sons. One of B.A.'s most recognizable qualities is his intense fear of flying, forcing the others to trick him into air transportation (often by drugging him) if flying proves necessary.

Captain H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock (Dwight Schultz): Although Murdock outranks both Face and B.A., he seems to have the lowest rank as a member of the A-Team. This may be for one of two reasons: (1) Though he was the pilot for the team's mission that led to their arrest and subsequent incarceration, Murdock was actually never charged by the military and is technically not on the run with the others; and (2) Murdock is clinically insane. He spends the majority of his time (and the series) in an institution with a seemingly endless list of symptoms, perhaps most famously his incessant conversing with and caring for an invisible dog named Billy. Murdock, however, is an accomplished pilot, and as part of the team, he makes a habit of "escaping," usually with Face the conman helping him. Throughout the course of the series, the audience never learns Murdock's first or middle name.

There were other people with the A-Team, although not necessarily official members. The most notable is Amy Allen (Melinda Culea), an ambitious newspaper reporter whose desire to write a story on the mysterious A-Team is the catalyst for the entire series. Amy certainly wasn't integral to either the team or the majority of their missions, but she was superbly portrayed by Culea, and Amy was fun to watch as she occasionally suffered through the team's bickering. Amy also helped periodically, such as Season 1's "Pros and Cons", in which she assists Face in one of his cons. Reportedly, Culea wanted her character to more actively participate in episodes, so the actress either quit or was fired (depending on which account you believe). Her "replacement" was another reporter, Tawnia Baker (Marla Heasley), who joined the show in the middle of the second season. Heasley's name, unlike Culea, did not even appear in the opening credits, and given that actor Peppard was supposedly unhappy that the producers/writers thought a female character would work on the series, Tawnia was predictably gone early in Season 3. The fifth season saw a fifth member, Frankie Santana (Eddie Velez), join the team. He was more involved than Amy and Tawnia, but he was a special effects man, a job more suitable to the A-Team than a reporter.

Those four men are almost like a family. While the military wants three of the men arrested, the greatest concern is not that Hannibal, Face, and B.A. will be imprisoned, but rather that their arrest would break apart the team. So many of their missions dealt with helping the "little man." Sometimes it was racketeers trying to muscle into a smaller territory, other times it was a biker gang or a rich family committing murders. In the Season 1 episodes, "Holiday in the Hills" and "Till Death Do Us Part", the team rescued, respectively, a man about to be burned at the stake and a young woman being coerced into marrying her deceased father's former business partner. Whatever the mission, it can all be boiled down to a simple concept: the splitting of a unit or family. Numerous episodes end, rather appropriately, with a family thanking the A-Team for their help.

One of the series' best episodes, and an example of how the show revolves around its engaging characters, is "Black Day at Bad Rock" from the first season. While Hannibal, Face, and B.A. are on a mission, B.A. is wounded, and the other two men rush him to a local doctor in a small town. B.A. blames Face for his injury, and Face expresses concern over B.A.'s possible retaliation when his health improves. Not only is Face worried about physical pain inflicted upon him, but he's also acting like a child who knows that he is in trouble and is fearing the inevitable punishment from his "father." Hannibal, in an attempt to maintain order as the team leader, tries to placate Face by hysterically telling him: "Face, B.A. loves you." (This apparently works, as Face responds hopefully: "He does?") Murdock has to escape from the hospital, literally running out the front door with Amy in the getaway car. Although the A-Team may not be family by blood, when B.A. needs a blood transfusion, Murdock is happy to be the donor (even if B.A. is worried that Murdock's "crazy blood" will be inside him). The most significant thing about "Black Day at Bad Rock" is that the plan evidently only "comes together" because Murdock (and, in this case, Amy, too) reunites with the others. In essence, only when the team is a whole can it truly succeed.

The upcoming feature film was directed by Joe Carnahan, who also helmed Narc (2003) and Smokin' Aces (2007). The cast includes Liam Neeson as Hannibal, Bradley Cooper as Face, Sharlto Copley as Murdock, and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson as B.A. While Neeson has recently reinvented himself as an action star with 2008's profitable Taken, Cooper and Copley have had similar success with, respectively, The Hangover and District 9, both released last year. Jackson, a mixed martial artist and former UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) Light Heavyweight champ, makes his debut in a leading role with The A-Team.