Teresa Graves

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Teresa Graves (born Terresa Graves; January 10, 1948 - October 10, 2002) was an American actress and singer. As the star of the 1974 Get Christie Love!, Graves is credited as being the first African-American woman to star in her own hour-long drama television series.

Video Teresa Graves

Early life and career

Born in Houston, Texas, Graves began her career singing with The Doodletown Pipers. She soon turned to acting and became a regular in the two variety shows: Our Place (1967) and the infamous single episode of Turn-On (1969). She then became a regular on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In during its third season. Graves appeared in a number of films before her pivotal role in the 1974 crime drama series Get Christie Love!, which featured Charles Cioffi and Jack Kelly as Lieutenants Reardon and Ryan, respectively, Love's supervisors. Jet magazine described Graves as "television's most delightful detective, the epitome of a tough lady cop with more feminine features than Venus". In 1969 she toured with Bob Hope's USO tour in Southeast Asia.

Maps Teresa Graves

Later years and death

Graves was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witness in 1974, and almost immediately began using her celebrity to bring international awareness to the persecution of Witnesses in Malawi under then-leader Hastings Kamuzu Banda's "one-party rule". In 1983, she retired from show business to devote her time to the religion. For the rest of her life, Graves resided at 3437 West 78th Place in the Hyde Park neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, and took care of her mother. On October 10, 2002, Graves' home caught fire. She was found unconscious in a bedroom before being rushed to the hospital where she later died. She was 54 years old.