Dan Briggs (Mission: Impossible)
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Dan Briggs was a character in the first season of the Mission: Impossible original television series who ran the Impossible Missions Force. He was played by Steven Hill.
Like most characters in the series, Briggs' background and personal life was never explored in detail. The first episode of the series indicated that he had not worked with the IMF for some time prior to that mission. Another episode ("Old Man Out") revealed that he had once romanced an IMF agent played by Mary Ann Mobley. The novel Mission: Impossible by John Tiger suggested a relationship existed between Briggs and his agent Cinammon Carter, but there was no indication of this in the series.
Briggs was depicted at times as a cold, calculating character, quite willing to kill in order to complete a mission. At other times, he exhibited a father-like attitude towards his agents, and was frequently seen smiling encouragement and patting shoulders as missions progressed. Several episodes, such as "Shock", revealed that Briggs has acting, voice mimickry and disguise abilities similar to that that of his agent, Rollin Hand.
During the course of production of the first season, as indicated by Patrick White in The Complete Mission: Impossible Dossier, disagreement arose between actor Hill and the producers over work hours related to Hill's desire to keep strict observance of the Sabbath. Such a disagreement resulted in Hill being removed from production of the episode "Action!" Afterwards, Hill's (and Briggs') appearances in the remaining season 1 episodes were scaled back. In the aforementioned "Shock", for example Briggs spends most of the episode in disguise, allowing another actor to play the role. However a later episode, "A Cube of Sugar" still featured Briggs (and Hill) in an active role.
At the start of the second season, Peter Graves appeared as IMF leader Jim Phelps and no explanation was offered for Briggs' disappearance.
