George Peppard, Jr. (October 1, 1928 – May 8, 1994) was a popular American film and television actor.
He secured a major role early in his career when he starred alongside Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), but he is probably best known to the younger audiences for his role as Col. John "Hannibal" Smith in the 1980s television show The A-Team, where he is the cigar-chomping leader of a renegade commando squad, and as the millionaire sleuth Banacek.
George Peppard, Jr. was born in Detroit, Michigan. The son of building contractor George Peppard, Sr. and opera singer Vernelle Rohrer, he graduated from Dearborn High School in Dearborn, Michigan.
Peppard enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at 17 and rose to rank of acting Gunnery Sergeant in the artillery, leaving the Marines at the end of his first tour. He studied Civil Engineering at Purdue University where he was a member of Beta Theta Pi. He also attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Peppard made his stage debut in 1949 at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. He then enrolled in The Actors Studio in New York. His first work on Broadway led to his first television appearance, with a young Paul Newman, in The United States Steel Hour (1956). Peppard’s Broadway appearance in "The Pleasure of His Company" (1958) led to an MGM contract. Prior to a strong film debut in The Strange One (1957), he was discovered playing Robert Mitchum's illegitimate son in the popular melodrama Home from the Hill (1960).
His good looks, elegant manner and superior acting skills landed Peppard his most famous film role as Paul Varjak (though Holly Golightly would usually refer to him as "Fred") in Breakfast at Tiffany's with Audrey Hepburn. This role boosted him briefly to a major film star. His leading roles included How the West Was Won in 1962, The Carpetbaggers in 1964 and The Blue Max in 1966.
Peppard developed a tendency to choose tough guy roles in big, ambitious pictures where he was somewhat overshadowed by ensemble casts; for example, his role as German pilot Bruno Stachel, an obsessively competitive officer from humble beginnings who challenges the Prussian aristocracy during World War I in The Blue Max (1966). For this role, Peppard learned to fly, earned a private pilot's license and did his own stunt flying.
Due to Peppard's tendencies toward alcohol, his career led to a string of B films (see list below), except for a brief moment of notable success with the highly successful TV series Banacek (1972-74), (part of the NBC Mystery Movie series), and one of his most critically acclaimed, though rarely seen, performances in the TV movie Guilty or Innocent: The Sam Sheppard Murder Case (1975).
Among the disappointing films was the 1970 Western, Cannon for Cordoba, in which Peppard played the steely Captain Rod Douglas, who has been put in charge of gathering a group of soldiers on a dangerous mission into Mexico, and 1967's Rough Night in Jericho in which he co-starred with Dean Martin. Peppard appeared in the short lived (only 1/2 season) Doctors' Hospital (1975) and several other television films. He was in the science fiction film Damnation Alley in 1977. With fewer interesting film roles coming his way, he acted in, directed and produced the drama "Five Days from Home" (1979).
In a rare game show appearance, Peppard did a week of shows on Password Plus in 1979. Out of five shows, one was never broadcast on NBC (but aired much later on GSN) due to a rant where Peppard expressed dissatisfaction with NBC executives watching "as if you're some sort of crook." Peppard was never asked to return to the show again.
Peppard was offered the original role of Blake Carrington in the TV series Dynasty (1981) and filmed the pilot episode with Linda Evans and Bo Hopkins. Peppard later turned down the role due to disagreements with writers; the part was subsequently offered to John Forsythe and the scenes with Peppard were reshot.
Peppard as "Hannibal" in The A-Team
In the early 1980s, George Peppard re-emerged as a television star for his role as Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith in the action adventure series The A-Team, acting alongside Mr. T, Dirk Benedict and Dwight Schultz. In the series, the A-Team was a crack squad of renegade commandos on the run from the military for a crime they did not commit while serving in the Vietnam war. The A-Team made a living as soldiers of fortune, albeit only helping people with a just grievance.
"Hannibal" Smith was the leader of the A-Team, distinguished by his cigar-smoking, black leather gloves, disguises and catch phrase, "I love it when a plan comes together." The show ran five seasons on NBC from 1983–1987. It made Peppard known to a younger generation and is arguably his most well-known role. The role was reportedly written with James Coburn in mind, but went to Peppard when Coburn had to pull out.
Peppard married five times, and was the father of three children:
Peppard gave up drinking in 1978 and spent his later years trying to assist other alcoholics with recovering.
A life-long smoker, Peppard was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1992 and subsequently quit. His fifth wife and "number one fan", former West Palm Beach banker Laura Taylor, met and married him shortly after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and nursed him through his last 18 months. Cancer never forced his retirement from acting, and Peppard completed a pilot for a new series in 1994 (a Matlock spin-off) just shortly before his passing.
Peppard died on May 8, 1994, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 65. Although he was being treated for cancer, his actual cause of death was a complication arising from the treatment he was getting - chemotherapy-induced leukemia. He is buried in Northview Cemetery in Dearborn, Michigan.
Once on Password Plus, Peppard was supposed to appear on the very first Elaine Joyce and George Peppard week. The first episode of that week was cancelled because of his rant where he expressed his true feeling about the rules of NBC game shows. He was never invited back to any NBC game show again (it's currently unknown whether or not he appeared on non-NBC game shows afterwards). Despite this, GSN has aired this episode.
