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 crime-drama television series ''
Get Christie Love!'' (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 ha ...
.
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 i ...
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. 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'' (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 ...
'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'', in which she played Samantha Nightingale, Graves' character is shot to death when she is in bed during a love scene with
Fred Williamson, 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 comb ...
television movie and later series ''
Get Christie Love!'' 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 h ...
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 film studio, major studio films to feature black cas ...
in ''
Julia'' 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 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's "
one-party rule".
For the rest of her life, Graves resided at 3437 West 78th Place in the
Hyde Park neighborhood in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
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
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{{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