Biography
Though actor George Peppard could have succeeded on his looks alone, he underwent extensive training before making his first TV and Broadway appearances. The son of a building contractor and a singer, Peppard studied acting at Carnegie Tech and the Actor's Studio. His early TV credits include the original 1956 production of
Bang the Drum Slowly, in which he sang the title song. He made his film debut in 1957, repeating his Broadway role in
Calder Willingham's End As a Man, retitled
The Strange One for the screen. His star continued to ascend in such films as
Home From the Hill (1960) with
George Hamilton, and
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) as the boyfriend/chronicler of carefree Holly Golightly (
Audrey Hepburn). He was also effective as
James Stewart's son in
How the West Was Won (1962), a characterization that required him to age 30 years, and as the Howard Hughes counterpart in
The Carpetbaggers (1963), in which he co-starred with the second of his five wives,
Elizabeth Ashley. In 1978 he made a respectable directorial debut with
Five Days From Home, but never followed up on this. A familiar television presence, he starred on the TV series
Banacek (1972-1973), Doctors Hospital (1975), and
The A-Team (1983-1987), and delivered a powerhouse performance as the title character in the 1974 TV-movie Guilty or Innocent: The Sam Sheppard Case. Forced to retire because of illness, George Peppard died of cancer at the age of 64. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide