Introduction

 'Childhood'  3

By his own admission, Peter had an idyllic childhood. Living not far from the banks of the Minnehaha Creak, a 22-mile-long tributary of the Mississippi river that flows east from Bray’s Bay Dam; together with James they would spend hours playing on its banks and swimming and fishing in the waters with their friends.

Here Peter also learned to skillfully navigate the sometime treacherous waters in a boat, which stood him in good stead when he appeared some years later in ‘Rogue River’. To the surprise of the director who was insisting that a stunt man do the shot of the dangerous navigation of the waters, Peter insisted that he do it himself.

Boys will be boys, and Peter spoke briefly about his childhood in the commentary he did for the Blu-ray release of the episode ‘Which Doctor’ that he directed at his brothers suggestion.

“Jim and I as kids, we grew up like boys I guess. There were just us two boys in the family, but Jim was the adventurous one. I remember my mother saying that she could put me down with a couple of toys for four hours and wouldn’t hear a word from me, and Jim would be out trying to hop freight trains to Montana, and he did.

So as kids we were just natural and I was the younger brother and not quite as big as him. We would have disagreements as happens sometimes, but I would learn how to do things. I once shot him with an arrow. I thought I was Robin Hood. I was doing Errol Flynn or something and I loved archery. I was mad at him and I shot him in the leg with an arrow, and I think punctured the skin, He, you know, went after me, but by that time I had learned how to run faster and hide. I think I let him cool off for a few hours, and everything was all right, but, our childhood is just nice happy memories.

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Childhood

And at that time when I first came into view, Minneapolis itself was much smaller than it is now, and we lived on the very edge of it. The creek that flowed out of Minnehaha lake and into the Mississippi, and everything beyond that to the south, was farm land so we had the benefit of all the countryside. When we played, and you know, stole the farmers water melons, it was a wonderful beginning. To what was then just an insipient actors first feeling it was something artistic and basic and wonderful about it to me. That has stayed with me I think, I hope all of the years, you never want to loose that and get away, or get forgetful. 

Peter Graves