Actor. Born Joseph Peter Breck, he was best remembered for his role as Nick Barkley on the popular ABC-TV Western series, “The Big Valley” (1965-69). After serving in the US Navy, he studied English and drama at the University of Houston, Texas. In addition to performing in college plays, he started acting at Houston’s Alley Theatre and appeared in the George Shaw production of “The Man of Destiny”, at Washington D.C.’s Arena Theatre. By the mid 1950s, Breck had several guest roles on a number of TV series such as “Sea Hunt”, Perry Mason”, Wagon Train” and “Gunsmoke”, when he was signed to a Warner Brothers Studio contract. There he starred on all the top Warner Bros. TV shows of the day to include “Marverick”, “The Roaring 20s”, “Sugarfoot”, “77 Sunset Strip”, “Cheyenne” and many more. For feature films, his credits included “The Beatniks” (1960), “Lad, A Dog” (1962), “The Crawling Hand” (1963) “The Glory Guys” (1965) and “Benji” (1974). In his later years, he taught at a drama school and performed in the theatre as well as in a few films and TV shows from time to time. (bio by: John “J-Cat” Griffith)  Family links:  Parents:  Doris Helen Goings Kraft (1910 – 1990)