biography Born Joseph Peter Breck on March 13, 1929, in Rochester, New York, actor Peter Breck's father was a jazz musician. As his father spent most of his time on the road, Breck lived with his grandparents in Massachusetts until his parents divorced in 1937. Upon the divorce, he went to live with his father, while his brother lived with his mother in New York after she remarried. Following high school, Breck served a stint in the Navy and, after his discharge, studied drama and literature at the University of Houston and began appearing in local theater productions. After graduation, Breck toured extensively with several theater troupes and was discovered by actor Robert Mitchum during a Washington, D.C. performance of Man of Destiny. Mitchum encouraged the young actor to give Hollywood a try and cast him in a small role in his independently produced thriller Thunder Road (1958; with Robert Mitchum and Gene Barry), shot in North Carolina. Breck also appeared in guest-star roles on television in the late 1950s in such series as Have Gun - Will Travel and Highway Patrol and secured a supporting role in the western film The Wild and the Innocent (1959; with Audie Murphy, Joanne Dru, and Gilbert Roland). Breck's career picked up steam with his first film starring role in the low-budget crime drama The Beatniks (1960; with Tony Travis) and with his first TV series, the NBC (later ABC) show Black Saddle (1959-1960; with Russell Johnson).  In 1960, he signed a contract with Warner Bros., appearing as a guest star in many of the studio's television series such as Sugarfoot, Maverick, and Hawaiian Eye and acting in the films Portrait of a Mobster (1961; with Vic Morrow and Leslie Parrish) and Lad: A Dog (1962; with Peggy McCay and Carroll O'Connor). With an already formidable selection of contract players, Warner Bros. dropped Breck's option in late 1962. Without a studio contract, he freelanced in several low-budget films, including Hootenanny Hoot (1963; with Ruta Lee and Joby Baker), The Crawling Hand (1963; with Kent Taylor and Allison Hayes), and Shock Corridor (1963; with James Best and Constance Towers). His career was set when he was cast in the ABC western The Big Valley (1965–1969; with Barbara Stanwyck, Linda Evans, Richard Long, and Lee Majors). |
the films of peter breckThe Wild and the Innocent (1959) 
LEFT: From the Universal-International western The Wild and the Innocent with Audie Murphy and Jim Backus. RIGHT: With Joanne Dru and Audie MurphyBlack Saddle (1959-1960 ABC TV Series) 
LEFT: Breck starred alongside Russell Johnson in the 1959-1960 NBC/ABC series Black Saddle. RIGHT: With Aneta Corsaut and John Lupton in an episode titled Client: Peter WarrenThe Beatniks (1960) 
Breck is a thug with a penchant for knives in the low-budget crime drama The BeatniksPortrait of a Mobster (1961)
From the Warner Bros. crime drama Portrait of a Mobster with Leslie ParrishLad: A Dog (1962)
With Peggy McCay in the Warner Bros. family drama Lad: A DogThe Crawling Hand (1963)
With B movie veteran Kent Taylor in the horror flick The Crawling HandHootenanny Hoot (1963)
From the campy MGM musical Hootenanny Hoot with Pamela Austin and Joby BakerShock Corridor (1963) 
LEFT: Breck stars as Johnny Barrett, a journalist who commits himself to an insane asylum in an attempt to solve a murder in the Allied Artists drama Shock Corridor. RIGHT: With James BestKraft Suspense Theatre (1963-1965 NBC TV Series)
With Sally Kellerman and Gary Lockwood in a July 1965 episode of Kraft Suspense Theatre titled Connery's HandsThe Big Valley (1965-1969 ABC TV Series)  
LEFT: Cast photo from the ABC TV western The Big Valley with Lee Majors, Linda Evans, Richard Long, and Barbara Stanwyck. CENTER: A 1966 photo with Linda Evans. RIGHT: With Lee MajorsBenji (1974)
With Deborah Walley in the low-budget family film Benji. Shot in Texas for $500,000, this film made nearly $40 million at the box officeEnemy Action (1999)
From the low-budget action flick Enemy Action with Ed O'Ross. This direct-to-video film was shot in ten dayslater yearsFollowing the end of The Big Valley, Breck's television and film career began to flounder. In the 1970s, he did quite a bit of stock company tours around the country and had a nightclub act with his wife, Diane. On occasion, he guest-starred on such TV programs as The Six Million Dollar Man, The Fall Guy, and Fantasy Island until 1985, when he left Hollywood and made Vancouver, British Columbia, his home. For ten years, he founded and ran an acting school in Vancouver called The Breck Academy. In the 1990s, he acted in a handful of low-budget films, often produced in Canada, such as Terminal City Ricochet (1990; with Jello Biafra), Highway 61 (1991; with Don McKellar), and Decoy (1995; with Peter Weller). In his final years, Breck suffered from dementia, which his wife revealed in 2010. He passed away in Vancouver on February 6, 2012, at the age of 82. He was survived by his wife, Diana. Their son Christopher (born in 1965) died of leukemia in the late 1980s. |
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This page premiered November 20, 2012.
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