Teresa Graves (born Terresa Graves; January 10, 1948 – October 10, 2002) was an American actress and singer. As the star of the 1974 made-for-television film Get Christie Love!, Graves is credited as being the first African-American woman to star in her own hour-long drama television series.
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 television movie Get Christie Love!. She reprised the role of police investigator “Christie Love” in a short-lived TV series of the same name, 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”.
Graves was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses 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.