- Jim Phelps
Infobox character
colour =#bfdfff
name =James "Jim" Phelps
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gender =Male
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occupation =Dead
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portrayer =Peter Graves|Jon Voight (film)James "Jim" Phelps is a
fictional character in thetelevision program "" and its . He was portrayed by Peter Graves on television and byJon Voight in the .On television
Phelps was the Director of the
Impossible Missions Force , or IMF, in seasons 2-7 of the initial television series,1967 -1973 . The Director of the IMF in season 1,1966 -1967, was , played by actorSteven Hill . No explanation was ever given in the series for why Dan Briggs was replaced, although the real life reason was because Steven Hill's contract was not renewed. [ White, P., "The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier," pages 60-61, Avon Books 1991.]In the late 1980s revival, which lasted for two seasons from
1988 to1990 , Phelps had a successor who was killed off in the first episode, prompting him to come out of retirement.On film
In the 1996 film and its sequels, Phelps was replaced by
Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise ) after Phelps was revealed to be a traitor who murdered three fellow IMF agents, having become disillusioned with his work and selling secrets to an arms dealer called 'Max'. Despite his attempts to frame Hunt for his crimes with the aid of his wife Claire (whom he also kills when his deception is exposed), Phelps ended up being killed himself as a result during a final confrontation in theChannel Tunnel , when the helicopter he would have escaped in exploded, and with him under it, crushes him at more than 500 m/h on the tracks below.Peter Graves turned down the role of James Phelps in the movie for two reasons. The first was because he viewed the Phelps character as a patriot, not a traitor; the second was because in the movie, the Phelps character dies. Phelps was instead portrayed by
Jon Voight in the film.References
External links
*imdb title|id=0060009|title=Mission Impossible (television)
*imdb title|id=0117060|title=Mission Impossible (film)
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