Terresa M. Graves (January 10, 1948October 10, 2002), credited as Teresa Graves, was an American actress and singer best known for her starring role as undercover police detective Christie Love in the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

crime-drama television series ''

Get Christie Love! ''Get Christie Love!'' is an American crime drama TV series starring Teresa Graves as an undercover African-American female detective which originally aired on ABC from January 22, 1974, until April 5, 1975. The starring television role made Gr ...

'' (1974–1975). Graves was the second African-American woman to star in her own hour–long television series and the first for a

drama television series Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

Career

Singing

Graves was born on January 10, 1948, the middle of three children in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

to Marshall (1921–1967) and Willie Graves (1920–2005). After graduating from high school in 1966, Graves began the early portion of her career as a singer with

The Doodletown Pipers The Doodletown Pipers (also known as the New Doodletown Pipers) were a 1960s and 1970s easy listening vocal group founded by Ward Ellis, George Wilkins, Bernie Brillstein and Jerry Weintraub. The Doodletown Pipers made numerous appearances on netw ...

. She also recorded a self-titled album in 1970.

Acting

She soon turned to acting and became a regular in the two variety shows: '' Our Place'' (1967) and the infamous single episode of ''

Turn-On ''Turn-On'' is an American sketch comedy series that aired on ABC in February 1969. Only one episode was shown, leaving one episode unaired, and the show is considered one of the most infamous flops in TV history. ''Turn-Ons sole broadcast ...

'' (1969). In 1969, Graves toured with

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

's USO tour in Southeast Asia. Graves later landed more acting roles, becoming a regular on ''

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (often simply referred to as ''Laugh-In'') is an American sketch comedy television program that ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to March 12, 1973, on the NBC television network, hosted by comedians Da ...

'' during its third season. Graves appeared in several films. In the 1973 film ''

That Man Bolt ''That Man Bolt'' is a 1973 American action film directed by David Lowell Rich and Henry Levin. It stars Fred Williamson in the title role of a courier and Byron Webster. The film combined several genres: blaxploitation, the martial arts film ...

'', in which she played Samantha Nightingale, Graves' character is shot to death when she is in bed during a love scene with

Fred Williamson Frederick Robert Williamson (born March 5, 1938), also known as The Hammer, is an American actor and former professional American football defensive back who played mainly in the American Football League during the 1960s. Williamson is perhaps ...

, who plays the leading role of Jefferson Bolt. Graves pivotal role in the 1974 ABC

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

television movie and later series ''

'' featured

Charles Cioffi Charles M. Cioffi (born October 31, 1935) is an American film and television actor best known as Lt. Matt Reardon in ''Get Christie Love!'' opposite co-star Teresa Graves. Born in New York City, he attended Michigan State University, where he ...

and Jack Kelly as Lieutenants Reardon and Ryan, respectively, Love's supervisors. At the time of the series creation, Graves' was noted as the second African-American woman to star in her own hour–long television series, after

Diahann Carroll Diahann Carroll (; born Carol Diann Johnson; July 17, 1935 – October 4, 2019) was an American actress, singer, model, and activist. She rose to prominence in some of the earliest major studio films to feature black casts, including ''Car ...

in ''

Julia Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g ...

'' which aired six years prior. An article in the November 1974 issue of '' Jet'' magazine described Graves as "television's most delightful detective, the epitome of a tough lady cop with more feminine features than Venus". In 1983, Graves retired from show business to devote her time to her faith.

Personal life and death

On June 25, 1977, Graves married William D. Reddick in Los Angeles, California. The marriage later ended in divorce by 1983. Graves was baptized as a

Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ev ...

in 1974, and almost immediately began using her celebrity to bring international awareness to the persecution of Witnesses in Malawi under then-leader

Hastings Kamuzu Banda Hastings Kamuzu Banda (1898 – 25 November 1997) was the prime minister and later president of Malawi from 1964 to 1994 (from 1964 to 1966, Malawi was an independent Dominion / Commonwealth realm). In 1966, the country became a republic and ...

's "

one-party rule A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...

". For the rest of her life, Graves resided at 3437 West 78th Place in the

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

neighborhood in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

where she cared for her mother. On October 10, 2002, Graves' home caught fire due to a space heater. Graves was found unconscious in a bedroom before being rushed to the hospital where she later died. She was 54 years old.

Acting roles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, Teresa 1948 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American actresses Accidental deaths in California Actresses from Texas 20th-century African-American women singers Converts to Jehovah's Witnesses American Jehovah's Witnesses American women pop singers Deaths from fire in the United States Musicians from Houston Traditional pop music singers African-American actresses American television actresses American film actresses 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women United Service Organizations entertainers