Tracycap
Joseph Peter Breck was born on March 13, 1929 in Haverhill, Massachusetts.
Peter stands 6’2”, and his childhood nickname was "Buddy".
Peter stands 6’2”, and his childhood nickname was "Buddy".
His career has spanned five decades and includes starring roles and appearances on television, the stage, and in numerous movies. His father was a jazz musician and Peter’s parents were on the road for much of his early life. Peter was sent to live with his grandparents until his parents divorced and young Peter returned to Rochester to live with his mother and her new husband.
* side note - I live in Rochester, and have frequented some of the places Peter did during his life here.
* side note - I live in Rochester, and have frequented some of the places Peter did during his life here.
Following his schooling at John Marshall High School in Rochester, Peter served in the United States Navy aboard the USS Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He then turned his attention back to education and studied English and drama at the University of Houston in Houston. While performing in college plays, he started to apprentice at Houston's Alley Theatre. He also had a talent for singing and performed in several clubs around the Houston area.
Peter extended his stage resume at Washington D.C.'s Arena Theatre. While performing there in a 1957 production of George Bernard Shaw's "The Man of Destiny", he was "discovered" by Robert Mitchum, who cast him in an unbilled role in the film Thunder Road (1958). Mitchum invited Peter to Los Angeles and helped set him up there.
Peter struggled to establish himself in films like The Beatniks (1960) - Peter played a troubled young hoodlum, and although his billing listed him as a co-star, Peter's performance stole the title of "star" from Tony Travis.
Tracycap from The Beatniks
Tracycap from The Beatniks
Peter and the powers that be soon discovered that rugged TV roles came easier to him. He found his first series lead as "Clay Culhane" in the western "Black Saddle" (1959), the story of a gunfighter (Breck) who switches guns for law books and tries to tame the West through reason. Costarring Russell Johnson (later the "Professor" on "Gilligan's Island" (1964) who plays a suspicious U.S. Marshal, and Anna Lisa (from Bonanza's The Savage). Although the series was canceled after a single season, Peter was signed to a Warner Brothers studio contract.
Promo cap from Black Saddle
Tracycap from Black Saddle
Tall, dark and handsome, Peter guest-starred on all the top Warner Bros. TV shows of the day -- "The Roaring 20's" (1960), "Sugarfoot" (1957), "Surfside 6" (1960), "Bronco" (1958), "Hawaiian Eye" (1959), "77 Sunset Strip" (1958), "Cheyenne" (1955), Tombstone Territory, and played a recurring "Doc Holliday" in the popular series "Maverick" (1957).
Tracycap from Tombstone Territory - The Lady Gambler, 1958
cap from Maverick
He returned to the movies as well, but this time in stronger leads or co-leads. Handed a choice co-starring assignment in Portrait of a Mobster (1961) opposite star Vic Morrow, who played the infamous "Dutch Schultz", Peter also managed to show a rare, gentler side in the outdoor family drama Lad: A Dog (1962).
Tracycap from The Court of Last Resort - The Mary Morales Case, 1958
cap from Portrait of a Mobster - with Leslie Parrish, 1961
Tracycap from The Outer Limits, 1963
Tracycap from Gunsmoke - The Odyssey of Jubal Tanner, 1963
cap from Shock Corridor, 1963
Peter left Warners after only a few years but managed to win the leads in two low-budget cult thrillers in its wake -- Shock Corridor (1963) and The Crawling Hand (1963).
Tracycap from Shock Corridor, 1963
In 1964, Peter appeared in The Cheating Game on Bonanza.
Tracycap from The Cheating Game
Tracycap from The Cheating Game
Peter won the role of Nick on "The Big Valley" (1965-1969), a show with a strong ensemble cast that included oldest brother Richard Long (Jarrod), youngest brother Lee Majors (Heath), sister Linda Evans (Audra), and Barbara Stanwyck as Victoria Barkley.
cap of The Big Valley cast
Tracycap of Nick Barkley, The Big Valley
After The Big Valley, Peter continued in movies and television.
Tracycap from Benji, 1974
Tracycap from The Sword and The Sorcerer, 1982
In 1981, Peter reunited with The Big Valley co-star Lee Majors in a guest starring role in Majors' television show, The Fall Guy.
Tracycap from Masquerade - Girls For Sale, 1983
Peter abruptly left Hollywood in the 1970s and focused on the theater both in the U.S. and Canada, appearing in such showcase vehicles as "The Gazebo", "A Thousand Clowns", "The Rainmaker" and "Mister Roberts". Married to former dancer Diana Bourne since 1960, the couple settled in Vancouver, Canada, with their son Christopher. Peter set up a full-time acting academy school, The Breck Academy, which ran for ten years. Tragically, it was during this time that their son, Christopher, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and died (two years later).
Though Peter continued to make several “B” movies, he made the decision to slow down after the loss of his son. On the side, he wrote a western column for Wildest Westerns magazine and showed up occasionally at nostalgia conventions.
Peter recorded a CD entitled "Just Kickin' Back with Peter Breck." It is all original tunes.
Peter and his wife have announced that he now suffers from dementia.
This is Peter's book, A Family Album. I have been unable to find information on the year it was published.
Peter passed away on February 6, 2012.
Two personal quotes:
"I love doing theatre, any kind of theatre, anywhere. Some theatre was carnival or small town circus. I have never not worked. I never went hungry. As long as there were restaurants available, I would eat. Of course, I worked in those restaurants. I wouldn't want to do it again but if it has to be done, you do it!"
A quote about Barbara Stanwick, his co-star on The Big Valley - "I'd get chills, she would look at me with those eyes and our characters had a bond. Barbara was a tiger."
"I love doing theatre, any kind of theatre, anywhere. Some theatre was carnival or small town circus. I have never not worked. I never went hungry. As long as there were restaurants available, I would eat. Of course, I worked in those restaurants. I wouldn't want to do it again but if it has to be done, you do it!"
A quote about Barbara Stanwick, his co-star on The Big Valley - "I'd get chills, she would look at me with those eyes and our characters had a bond. Barbara was a tiger."
I've read on several fan-based websites, as well as Peter's old website, that he was good friends with Pernell Roberts, and continues to be friends with Steven Speilberg and Tom Hanks.
I also read on Peter's website (which is no longer available) that his wife, Diane, said that telling Peter of Pernell's death was very difficult, and that Peter's dementia made it difficult for Peter to comprehend the loss of his friend.
I also read on Peter's website (which is no longer available) that his wife, Diane, said that telling Peter of Pernell's death was very difficult, and that Peter's dementia made it difficult for Peter to comprehend the loss of his friend.
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