Joseph Peter Breck (March 13, 1929 – February 6, 2012) was an American character actor of stage, television, and film. The rugged, dark-haired Breck played the gambler and gunfighter John H. "Doc" Holliday on the ABC/Warner Brothers television series Maverick but is best known for his role as Victoria Barkley's (Barbara Stanwyck) hot-tempered, middle son Nick in the popular 1960s ABC western, The Big Valley.
March 13, 1929, Rochester, New York, United States
Died
February 6, 2012, Vancouver, Canada
Place Of Birth
Haverhill, Massachusetts, USA
Height
6' 3" (1.91 m)
Profession
Actor
Education
University of Houston
Spouse
Diana Bourne (m. 1960–2012)
Children
Christopher Breck
Parents
Joseph Breck, Doris Goings Breck
Siblings
Georgie Breck, Virginia Weber, Judith Weber
Movies
Shock Corridor, Thunder Road, The Beatniks, Benji, The Crawling Hand, Lad: A Dog, Terminal City Ricochet, The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter, Portrait of a Mobster, Highway 61, I Still Dream of Jeannie, Hootenanny Hoot, The Glory Guys, Sworn to Vengeance, Red Nightmare, The Wild and ...
TV Shows
The Big Valley, Black Saddle, The Secret Empire
Star Sign
Pisces
#
Quote
1
[o the disappearance of television westerns] I think they've just forgotten how to make them. Everybody is so anti-violence these days.
2
[on the demise of TV western series, 1998] I think they've just forgotten how to make them. Everybody is so anti-violence these days.
3
[Of Barbara Stanwyck]: Barbara Stanwyck was certainly an advocate of this lifestyle. You will recall, as I do, that she did Cattle Queen of Montana (1954) and many more westerns in her earlier career. She loved horses. She knew how to ride without making a big deal out of it and was at home on the set with all of the western paraphernalia around her. She was a classy lady and never forgot that she was representing the women of the west and their struggles. I was totally captured by Barbara's work in every scene that I had with her and I learned.
4
[on his on- and off-screen chemistry with Barbara Stanwyck, who played Victoria Barkley]: I'd get chills, she would look at me with those eyes and our characters had a bond. Barbara was a tiger.
5
I do miss the old Hollywood. I'm not too happy with what's there now. I did Jiminy Glick in Lalawood (2004) - they gave me the role of the head of the studio - and it was just a rush job. Everything's too fast now and you can't go bang-bang-bang and get a performance. They don't make good movies anymore.
6
[When his and Lee Majors's characters encounter a rabid beast ready to pounce on another livestock]: It was a timber wolf. They threw him off a rock and on to me and doubled the close-up with a German shepherd. We would rehearse it and the gaffers would get up there with him and throw him at me. The paws were going every which way.
7
[on remembering a scene with Martin Landau, who guest-starred on The Big Valley (1965)]: I was dragged. Martin Landau was shooting over a rock and as I rode up, an explosion went off, I was over my mark, and Boom! The horse went on the wildest eleven seconds I ever had. At one point, I looked up and got it right in the bottom of my chin.
8
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!
#
Fact
1
According to Wildest Westerns Magazine, Peter Breck was able to draw his gun in 16/100 of a second, making the character of Nick Barkley the fastest draw in television history.
2
Actor James Drury reported that Peter had a photographic memory. And that Peter only had to go over the script a couple of times before he had the entire thing memorized.
3
Son of a traveling jazz musician. He was raised by his grandparents in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He served in the United States Navy. After his naval services, he studied drama and English at the University of Houston in Houston, Texas where he performed in theater productions at the Alley Theater in Houston, Texas before moving to the Arena Theater in Washington D.C. where Robert Mitchum saw him in George Bernard Shaw's play, "Man of Destiny," and offered him a small role in his next film, "Thunder Road.".
4
After moving to Vancouver, Breck was asked by a casting director if he would consider teaching young actors about the film technique, one class a week. The class grew and he would eventually found The Breck Academy, an acting school which he was operating.
5
For the last ten years of his life he suffered from dementia. On January 10, 2012 he went into the hospital and passed very peacefully on February 6.
6
Best known for his starring role as Nick Barkley on The Big Valley (1965).
7
He wrote a column for Wildest Westerns magazine.
8
His parents divorced and remarried when he was quite young. Had a younger half-brother, Georgie, who died at age 24 of heart problems, from his father's remarriage, and two sisters, Judith and Virginia, from his mother's remarriage.
9
Stepfather was Al Weber, who was the sports editor of the Rochester - Times Union in Rochester, New York.
A club singer in Houston, Texas back in the early days, he put together a CD entitled "Just Kickin' Back with Peter Breck." It is all original tunes.
12
He moved to Vancouver, Canada in the mid-eighties with his wife, Diana and their son, Christopher (born in 1962). Christopher died of acute myeloid in his twenties, after fighting the disease for two years.
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Jiminy Glick in Lalawood
2004
Tibor
John Doe
2002
TV Series
William Leverton
Enemy Action
1999
Gen. Turner
The New Batman Adventures
1998
TV Series
Farmer Brown / Enoch Brown / Goat
L.A. Heat
1997
TV Series
Wayne Berry / Captain Crimestopper
Lulu
1996/I
The Outer Limits
1996
TV Series
Kendal's Father
Decoy
1995
Wellington
Sworn to Vengeance
1993
TV Movie
Chief Kelly
The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter
1992
Sheriff Hatch
Yes Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus
1991
TV Movie
Chambers
I Still Dream of Jeannie
1991
TV Movie
Sahm-Ir
Highway 61
1991
Mr. Watson
Terminal City Ricochet
1990
Ross Glimore
The Fall Guy
1981-1985
TV Series
Reggie Marinak / Nick Barkley / Sheriff Owens
Masquerade
1983
TV Series
Senator Weyburn
Fantasy Island
1979-1982
TV Series
Colonel / Casey West
The Sword and the Sorcerer
1982
King Leonidas
The Dukes of Hazzard
1981
TV Series
J.J. Sunday
The Incredible Hulk
1980
TV Series
Hull
The Secret Empire
1979
TV Series
Jesse Keller
Vega$
1978
TV Series
Walter Melford
Black Beauty
1978
TV Mini-Series
Dr. Halverson
The Six Million Dollar Man
1977
TV Series
Silver Cloud
S.W.A.T.
1975
TV Series
Marco
Benji
1974
Dr. Chapman
McMillan & Wife
1974
TV Series
George Noland
Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law
1973
TV Series
Mike Palmer
Mission: Impossible
1972
TV Series
Harry Cordel
A Man for Hanging
1972
TV Movie
Avery Porter
Alias Smith and Jones
1971
TV Series
Chuck Morgan
The Virginian
1964-1970
TV Series
Lafe Harkness / Jess Carver
The Big Valley
1965-1969
TV Series
Nick Barkley
The Glory Guys
1965
Lt. Bunny Hodges
Kraft Suspense Theatre
1965
TV Series
Wiley Bondesen
Perry Mason
1963-1965
TV Series
Peter Warren / William Sherwood / Clay Elliot
Branded
1965
TV Series
Crispo
Bonanza
1964
TV Series
Ward Bannister
Mr. Novak
1963
TV Series
Dr. Ted Dietrich
The Outer Limits
1963
TV Series
Sen. Orville
Shock Corridor
1963
Johnny Barrett
The Crawling Hand
1963
Steve Curan
Hootenanny Hoot
1963
Ted Grover
Gunsmoke
1958-1963
TV Series
Jubal / Fly Hoyt
General Hospital
1963
TV Series
The Magus / Masters (1982)
Red Nightmare
1962
Short
Russian Officer
77 Sunset Strip
1958-1962
TV Series
Claude 'Opie' Price / Mark Wade / Tim Winslow / ...
Cheyenne
1961-1962
TV Series
Tony Chance / Sheriff Matt Kilgore / James Abbot
The Gallant Men
1962
TV Series
Pvt. Draper
Lawman
1958-1962
TV Series
Pete Bole / Hale Connors / First Ranchhand
Lad: A Dog
1962
Stephen Tremayne
Surfside 6
1961-1962
TV Series
Harry Sturgis / Mark Goodwin
Maverick
1960-1962
TV Series
Doc Holliday / Sheriff Dan Trevor
Hawaiian Eye
1960-1962
TV Series
Ray Martins / Johnny Arnold / Lou Norris
The Roaring 20's
1961
TV Series
Benny Lester / Buddy Benedict / Joe Peabody
Portrait of a Mobster
1961
Frank Brennan
Bronco
1958-1961
TV Series
Theodore Roosevelt / Jim Brandt
The Beatniks
1960
Mooney
Sugarfoot
1960
TV Series
Theodore Roosevelt / Lt. John Stickney
Black Saddle
1959-1960
TV Series
Clay Culhane
Sea Hunt
1959
TV Series
Joe Gordon
The Wild and the Innocent
1959
Chip
Zane Grey Theater
1958-1959
TV Series
Roy Bancroft / Marshal / Sundance Kid - Harry Longabaugh
The Restless Gun
1958
TV Series
Brett Dixon
I Want to Live!
1958
Ben Miranda (uncredited)
Wagon Train
1958
TV Series
Alf Meadows
Have Gun - Will Travel
1958
TV Series
Kurt Sprague / Frank Weaver
Highway Patrol
1958
TV Series
Whitey Sims
Tombstone Territory
1958
TV Series
Sam Dixon
Thunder Road
1958
Stacey Gouge (uncredited)
The Court of Last Resort
1958
TV Series
Deputy Bart Styles
The Gray Ghost
1957
TV Series
Dooley
The Sheriff of Cochise
1956
TV Series
Doyle Ranker
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Donald O'Connor Show
1969
TV Series
Himself
The Joey Bishop Show
1968-1969
TV Series
Himself
The 10th Annual TV Week Logie Awards
1968
TV Special
Himself
Here's Hollywood
1961
TV Series
Himself
About Faces
1960
TV Series
Himself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
2013
TV Special
Himself - In Memoriam
Pioneers of Television
2011
TV Mini-Series documentary
Nick Barkley from Big Valley
The Men Who Made the Movies: Samuel Fuller
2002
TV Movie documentary
Johnny Barrett (uncredited)
A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies
1995
TV Movie documentary
Johnny Barrett, 'Shock Corridor' (uncredited)
Hollywood Mavericks
1990
Documentary
Actor 'Shock Corridor' (uncredited)
Broken Sabre
1965
Crispo
Known for movies
The Big Valley (1965-1969) as Nick Barkley
General Hospital (1963) as Masters (1982) / The Magus
$700,000
