Whatever happened to Peter Breck, of "The Big Valley"? - B. Podnar, Troy, Mich.
STATS: Born March 13, 1929, in Rochester, N.Y. He attended the University of Houston. He married twice.IN EARLY YEARS: Breck's parents were in show business as a band leader and a singer. He started singing in high school but service in the Navy interrupted him. After his discharge, he returned to band singing, then studied drama in Houston. For 10 years, he worked in theaters across the country. Robert Mitchum saw him in Washington, D.C., and signed him for the movie "Thunder Road" in 1958. In 1959, Breck did his first TV series, "Black Saddle." He did movies and TV guest roles, then, from 1965-69, he was Nick Barkley in "Big Valley." He did another TV series, "The Secret Empire," in 1979.
FAMOUS FOR: Those four seasons in "Big Valley" were to make him a star - as happened to co-stars Linda Evans and Lee Majors. But it didn't work.
IN RECENT YEARS: Breck did guest roles. In 1985, he moved to Vancouver, B.C., and established the Breck Academy for Performing Arts. He now also has schools in Bellingham, Wash., and Victoria, B.C. Both Breck and his students act in the many TV series and movies filmed in Vancouver.