Actor George Peppard Dies; Career Spanned Films And TV

LOS ANGELES - Actor George Peppard, who befriended Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and commanded Mr. T and his mates on "The A-Team," has died of pneumonia. He was 65.

Peppard, who underwent lung cancer surgery two years ago, died last night at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center, said his publicist, Cheryl Kagan. He had been hospitalized Thursday with breathing problems and quickly developed pneumonia, Kagan said.

After appearing in several television drama specials, Peppard began his film career in the late 1950. He found early success with his role as a sympathetic young writer who befriended the flighty Holly Golightly, played by Hepburn, in 1961's "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

In 1964's "The Carpetbaggers," Peppard played a young playboy who inherits an aircraft business and becomes a megalomaniacal tycoon - a role he said typecast him for later tough-guy film roles.

"After the success of `The Carpetbaggers,' I haven't played a character with much warmth," Peppard said in a 1972 interview.

He co-starred with Robert Mitchum in "Home From the Hill" (1960) and with Gregory Peck in "Pork Chop Hill" (1959). He also appeared in "How the West Was Won" (1962) and "Damnation Alley" (1977). In all he appeared in more than 25 movies.

In the 1970s, Peppard turned to series television. He starred as a shrewd Polish detective in NBC's "Banacek," which ran from 1972-74, and a neurosurgeon on "Doctors' Hospital," an NBC medical drama, from 1975-76.

But he was perhaps best known to younger generations for his work on "The A-Team," in which he played Hannibal Smith, a cigar-chomping former Army colonel who leads a team of renegade Vietnam veterans who help citizens in distress.

"The character is probably the best part I've had in my career," Peppard said. "It was a good script and a good script is hard to find."

"The A-Team," which ran from 1983-87 on NBC, marked his return to television after several years out of the limelight.

"I was cold. Cold as you can get," Peppard said of the years before the series.

Most recently, he co-starred on the March 3 episode of the TV series "Matlock."

Peppard was born in Detroit and attended Purdue Unviersity before transferring to the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh.

He was married five times, including two failed marriages to Elizabeth Ashley, his co-star in "The Carpetbaggers."

In 1992, doctors removed a cancerous tumor from Peppard's right lung and he had been in remission ever since, Kagan said. He was a two-pack-a-day smoker for much of his life, but quit after the surgery.

Peppard is survived by his wife, Laura; a daughter, Julie; sons Brad and Christian; and three granddaughters.

Funeral arrangements were pending.