# Teresa Graves
**Teresa Graves** (born 1948 or 1949; died October 10, 2002) was an American actress and singer best known for starring as the title character in the ABC crime drama *Get Christie Love!* (1974–1975), the first hour-long primetime drama on United States network television to star an African American woman in the central role.[1](https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2023/04/why-christie-love-matters/) She began in show business as a singer with the Doodletown Pipers, became familiar to television audiences as a regular on *Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In*, and left acting entirely in 1983 to devote herself to her religion.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-11-me-graves11-story.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | Houston, Texas; sources give 1948[3](https://blackamericaweb.com/2017/10/02/little-known-black-history-fact-teresa-graves/) or 1949[4](https://www.graves-fa.org/info/Newsletters/Gfnl1002.pdf) |
| Died | October 10, 2002, in a house fire at her home in the Hyde Park district of Los Angeles, age 54 by the Los Angeles Times' count[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-11-me-graves11-story.html) |
| Signature role | Christie Love, an undercover detective with the Los Angeles Police Department, on ABC's *Get Christie Love!* (1974–1975, 22 episodes plus a 90-minute pilot)[5](https://www.memorabletv.com/tv/get-christie-love-abc-1974-1975-teresa-graves/) |
| Historic first | First Black woman to headline a primetime drama on US network television, and the first to lead an hour-long drama[1](https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2023/04/why-christie-love-matters/) |
| Early career | Singer with the Doodletown Pipers in the 1960s; acting debut as a regular on *Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In* in 1969[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-11-me-graves11-story.html) |
| Recognition | Golden Globe nomination, Best TV Actress, Drama, 1975[6](https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/get-christie-love/1060066365/) |
| Departure from acting | Abandoned her career in 1983 to concentrate on her life as a Jehovah's Witness; final screen appearance was a Bob Hope special in 1982[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-11-me-graves11-story.html) |
## Early career
Graves was born in Houston, Texas, and started her entertainment career as a singer with the Doodletown Pipers in the 1960s.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-11-me-graves11-story.html) Her acting debut came in 1969 on *Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In*, the sketch comedy show hosted by [Dan Rowan](https://www.edgepedia.org/dan-rowan) and Dick Martin that also launched [Goldie Hawn](https://www.edgepedia.org/goldie-hawn) and [Arte Johnson](https://www.edgepedia.org/arte-johnson).[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-11-me-graves11-story.html) She appeared on several Bob Hope television specials in 1970 and 1971 and had a featured role in the television series *The Funny Side* in 1971 and 1972.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-11-me-graves11-story.html)
During the early 1970s she appeared in several films of the blaxploitation era: *That Man Bolt* (1973), *Black Eye* (1974), and *Old Dracula* (1974), the last with [David Niven](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-niven).[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0336358/bio/)
## Get Christie Love!
**The series.** *Get Christie Love!* grew from a novel, *The Ledger*, by Dorothy Uhnak, a former policewoman turned crime writer whose original protagonist was a white officer named Christie Opara. After the producers learned of Olga Ford, a Black New York police officer who had joined the force in 1958, the lead character's race was changed and Ford joined the series as its technical advisor.[1](https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2023/04/why-christie-love-matters/) The role was reportedly offered first to [Cicely Tyson](https://www.edgepedia.org/cicely-tyson) before Graves was cast.[1](https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2023/04/why-christie-love-matters/)
A 90-minute made-for-television movie pilot aired on ABC on January 22, 1974, and did well enough that a series was ordered the same year.[5](https://www.memorabletv.com/tv/get-christie-love-abc-1974-1975-teresa-graves/) • [3](https://blackamericaweb.com/2017/10/02/little-known-black-history-fact-teresa-graves/) The regular series premiered on September 11, 1974, two days before [Angie Dickinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/angie-dickinson)'s *Police Woman* debuted on NBC, giving the "network first" to Graves.[1](https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2023/04/why-christie-love-matters/) Graves played Christie Love, a former "street kid" turned undercover officer in the Special Investigations Division of the [Los Angeles Police Department](https://www.edgepedia.org/los-angeles-police-department), whose catchphrase was "You're under arrest, Sugar!"[1](https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2023/04/why-christie-love-matters/) • [5](https://www.memorabletv.com/tv/get-christie-love-abc-1974-1975-teresa-graves/) As the character, she was described in one account as the first Black woman officer hired by a big-city police department.[3](https://blackamericaweb.com/2017/10/02/little-known-black-history-fact-teresa-graves/)
**Historic standing.** When it premiered in September 1974, the show achieved two milestones: Graves became the first Black woman to serve as the lead of a primetime drama on US network television, and she was also the earliest of three professional female investigators to front a network crime series that year, coming almost ten years after the previous such series had ended.[8](https://www.maifeminism.com/shaping-the-black-female-detective-in-get-christie-love/) She remains one of only a handful of Black actresses to be the solo lead of their own hour-long network drama, a group that later included [Oprah Winfrey](https://www.edgepedia.org/oprah-winfrey) in *Brewster Place*, Kerry Washington in *[Scandal](https://www.edgepedia.org/scandal-tv-series)*, and [Viola Davis](https://www.edgepedia.org/viola-davis) in *How to Get Away with Murder*.[1](https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2023/04/why-christie-love-matters/)
**Cancellation.** The series ran 22 episodes before ABC canceled it in April 1975; it ended the season ranked number 72 out of 84 programs.[1](https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2023/04/why-christie-love-matters/) Graves received a Golden Globe nomination for Best TV Actress in a Drama in 1975.[6](https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/get-christie-love/1060066365/) Scholars have attributed the show's failure to several factors, including poor writing, a ratings system that discounted Black viewers, a relatively low budget, and Graves's religious conversion, after which she refused to swear, tell a direct lie, engage in excessive violence, or be overtly sexualized on screen.[8](https://www.maifeminism.com/shaping-the-black-female-detective-in-get-christie-love/) • [9](https://kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART001879852)
## Later life and death
Graves converted to [Jehovah's Witnesses](https://www.edgepedia.org/jehovahs-witnesses) just before *Get Christie Love!* Graves converted to Jehovah's Witnesses just before Get Christie Love! began production.[1](https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2023/04/why-christie-love-matters/) Her final screen appearance was a [Bob Hope](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-hope) special in 1982, and Hollywood publications indicate she abandoned acting in 1983 to concentrate on her religious work.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-11-me-graves11-story.html) She lived with her ailing mother, Willie Graves, in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles; neighbors said they did not know of her past as a television star.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0336358/bio/)
On October 10, 2002, a fire broke out about 12:30 a.m. at the back of her home in the Hyde Park district of Los Angeles, apparently caused by a faulty space heater. A smoke detector in the front of the house activated but failed to awaken her. Firefighters found her unconscious in a rear bedroom, and she died at Daniel Freeman Hospital in Inglewood.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-11-me-graves11-story.html) Her mother, hospitalized after a stroke at the time of the fire, survived her.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-11-me-graves11-story.html)
## Legacy
*Get Christie Love!* has been largely unavailable since its original run; the Library of Congress holds seven episodes, and the full series is not legally available on DVD or streaming.[1](https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2023/04/why-christie-love-matters/) In 2017, Courtney Kemp, creator of the Starz crime drama *[Power](https://www.edgepedia.org/power-tv-series)*, announced a deal to develop a reboot making Christie Love a CIA agent, to air on ABC.[3](https://blackamericaweb.com/2017/10/02/little-known-black-history-fact-teresa-graves/) The Library of Congress's 2023 retrospective argued that the series, often dismissed as kitsch, deserves reassessment both for its lead performance and for what it began, since *Police Woman*, *Cagney & Lacey*, and later female-led police procedurals followed in its wake.[1](https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2023/04/why-christie-love-matters/)
## References
1. [Cary O'Dell (2023). Why "Christie Love" Matters. Now See Hear!, Library of Congress.](https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2023/04/why-christie-love-matters/)
2. [Eric Malnic (2002). Home Fire Kills 'Laugh-In' Star. Los Angeles Times, October 11, 2002.](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-11-me-graves11-story.html)
3. [D.L. Chandler (2017). Little Known Black History Fact: Teresa Graves. BlackAmericaWeb.](https://blackamericaweb.com/2017/10/02/little-known-black-history-fact-teresa-graves/)
4. [Graves Family Newsletter, August 1997.](https://www.graves-fa.org/info/Newsletters/Gfnl1002.pdf)
5. [Get Christie Love (ABC 1974–1975, Teresa Graves). Memorable TV.](https://www.memorabletv.com/tv/get-christie-love-abc-1974-1975-teresa-graves/)
6. [Get Christie Love! – Where to Watch and Stream. TV Guide.](https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/get-christie-love/1060066365/)
7. [Teresa Graves – Biography. IMDb.](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0336358/bio/)
8. [Catherine Martin (2021). How to Make 'Positive Moral' Blaxploitation: Shaping the Black Female Detective in Get Christie Love! MaiFeminism.](https://www.maifeminism.com/shaping-the-black-female-detective-in-get-christie-love/)
9. [Hye Jean Chung (2014). The Identity Crisis of Christie Love: Situating ABC's Get Christie Love in 1970s Network Television.](https://kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART001879852)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1940s to 1960s › Surnames F to G*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license