Leslie Graves

Leslie Graves's father, Michael Graves, was a theatre actor and introduced her to the entertainment industry when she was about 10. She started her career with a small role in the Broadway play A Cry of Players (1968–1969), written by William Gibson.^[1] She then moved to acting for TV series, including Sesame Street (1969, first 13 episodes), The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1971, in the episode titled "Baby Sit-Com"), and Here We Go Again (1973).^[2][3]

In the late 1970s, she left Hollywood, supposedly to move with a boyfriend to Texas, where she worked on a shrimp boat for three years.^[4]

Graves' return to Hollywood in early 1980 was marked by some nude photoshoots. Phillip Dixon shot her for Oui, a Playboy corporation affiliate and put her on the cover in November 1980 and again in May 1981 with a shoot by five photographers). At that time, rumors arose about her involvement with Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione and an argument with Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner.^[4][5]

She had small roles in two exploitation movies: Piranha II: The Spawning (1982)^[6] and Death Wish II (1982).^[7] In 1982, CBS cast her in the role of Brenda Clegg in the daytime soap Capitol.^[8]

In late summer 1984, Graves left the CBS show due to a serious drug problem and a heroin overdose, but her departure was reported as stress-related. Her last public appearance was a nude photo shoot by Jean Rougeron published in the October 1984 issue of Oui.^[9]

Leslie Graves was married and had two children. On August 23, 1995, she died of an AIDS-related illness in Los Angeles.^[9]