 Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith
The cigar chomping leader of the A-Team was forever "on the jazz" (meaning he loved the adrenaline of action). He just loved to tough to biggest bad guy. Named after the
Carthaginian general who almost destroyed the Roman Empire 2200 years ago. Like his namesake, Hannibal is a master tactician, but his
plans never quite turned out as they were supposed to. According to Amy Allen, "Hannibal's plans never work like they're supposed to, they
just work".
Hannibal was also famed for his "mastery" of disguise - usually involving a wig and a pair of false teeth, that any
person with some semblance of vision could have seen through. Nethertheless he was man the Team revolved around and after every successful victory he
would utter his infamous catchphrase, "I just love it when a plan comes together!".
About George Peppard
The actor that played Hannibal was George Peppard. He has now been dead for seven years after contracting pneumonia. Some basic information
about him is given below:
Born : 1st October 1928.
Place of Birth : Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Died : 8th May 1994 in L.A., California of pneumonia (aged 66).
Spouses : Helen Davies 1954-1964, Elizabeth Ashley 1964-1972, Sherry Boucher 1975-1979, Alexis Adams 1984-1986, Laura Taylor 1992- his death.
Children : Bradford, Julie (both by Helen Davies) and Christian (by Elizabeth Ashley).
Famed for his role in The A-Team, Breakfast At Tiffany's and Banacek, George Peppard had many other film and television roles. Interestingly, despite having
numerous appearances as a member of the military, the highest rank he achieved was that of colonel in the A-Team. Could this represent the pinnacle of his career?
The appearances are listed below (taken from Imdb.com):
-Tigerin, Die (1992) - Sid Slaughter
-Ultra Warrior (1992) - ?
-Night of the Fox (1990)(TV) - Colonel Harry Martineau/Max Vogel
-Man Against the Mob: The Chinatown Murders (1989)(TV) - Frank Doakey
-Zwei Frauen (1989) - Mr. Martin
-Man Against the Mob (1988)(TV) - Frank Doakey
-The A-Team (1983-1987) TV Series - Colonel John 'Hannibal' Smith
-Jugando con la muerte (1982) - McFadden
-Race for the Yankee Zephyr (1981) - Theo Brown
-Your Ticket Is No Longer Valid (1981) - Jim Daley
-Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) - Cowboy
-An Almost Perfect Affair (1979) - Himself (uncredited)
-Da Dunkerque alla vittoria (1979) - Brett Rosson
-Torn Between Two Lovers (1979)(TV) - Paul Rasmussen
-Crisis in Mid-air (1978) - T.M. Pryor
-Damnation Alley (1977) - Major Eugene Denton
-Guilty or Innocent: The Sam Sheppard Murder Case (1975)(TV) - Dr Samuel Sheppard
-Doctors Hospital (1975) TV Series - Dr. Jake Goodwin (1975-1976)
-One of Our Own (1975)(TV) - Dr. Jake Goodwin
-Newman's Law (1974) - Vince Newman
-Banacek (1972) TV Series - Thomas Banacek
-The Groundstar Conspiracy (1972) - Tuxan
-Banacek (1972)(TV) - Thomas Banacek
-The Bravos (1972)(TV) - Major John Harkness
-One More Train to Rob (1971) - Harker Fleet
-Cannon for Cordoba (1970) - Captain Rod Douglas
-The Executioner (1970) - John Shay
-Pendulum (1968) - Captain Frank Matthews
-Rowan & Martin at the Movies(1968) - Himself
-House of Cards (1968) - Reno Davies
-What's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968) - Pete
-P.J. (1968) - P.J. Detweiler
-Rough Night in Jericho (1967) - Dolan
-Tobruk (1967) - Captain Kurt Bergman
-The Blue Max (1966) - Bruno Stachel
-The Third Day (1965) - Steve Mallory
-Operation Crossbow (1965) - Lt. John Curtis
-The Carpetbaggers (1964) - Jonas Cord
-The Victors (1963) - Corporal Chase
-How the West Was Won (1962) - Zeb Rawlings
-Breakfast At Tiffany's (1961) - Paul Varjack ("Fred")
-The Subterraneans (1960) - Leo Percepied
-Home from the Hill (1960) - Raphael "Rafe" Copley
-Pork Chop Hill (1959) - Corporal Chuck Federson
-The Strange One (1957) - Cadet Robert Marquales
George Peppard led a troubled life, he was an alcoholic for almost 30 years (he started drinking after his father died in 1951 and finally quit in 1978 and in many ways he had a self-destuctive personality: the many wives, the drinking, the smoking).
Unfortunately this all caught up with him in later life. He never really got the big part that he truly deserved - he almost made it in Breakfast in Tiffany's but he played second fiddle to
Audrey Hepburn's 'Holly Go Likely'. George (a lifetime smoker) died of pneumonia, a result of his weakness from chemotherapy sessions to treat cancer.
George Peppard's grave in his hometown of Detroit:
Links
For more information on George Peppard go to The George Peppard Memorial Site.
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