Peter Breck  Joseph Peter Breck (March 13, 1929 – February 6, 2012) was an American character actor. The rugged, dark-haired Breck played the gambler and gunfighter Doc Holliday on the ABC/Warner Bros. Television series "Maverick" but is best known for his role as Victoria Barkley's (Barbara Stanwyck) hot-tempered, middle son Nick in the 1960s ABC/Four Star Western, "The Big Valley". Breck also had the starring role in an earlier NBC/Four Star Western television series entitled "Black Saddle". Joseph Peter Breck was born in Rochester, New York. He grew up living with his grandparents in Haverhill, Massachusetts, because they felt they could provide a more stable home environment than his father, who often traveled as a jazz musician. He attended the University of Houston, where he studied English and drama. Breck was the son of bandleader Joe Breck, who was nicknamed "The Prince of Pep", and whose band once included trombone player Jerry Colonna. His parents divorced when Peter was eight. Peter went with Joe, while his younger brother George accompanied their mother, resulting in a decades-long separation. In 1959 an Associated Press photograph showed the brothers reunited after being out of touch for 22 years. The caption explained: "George told newsmen he saw Peter on television and recognized a resemblance. He went to the actor's studio and the relationship was confirmed." After post-World War II United States Navy service in the 1940s on the aircraft carrier , Breck played professional basketball for the Rochester Royals during the 1948-49 season. He then worked as a ranch hand while studying drama at the University of Houston, and went on to make his on-screen debut in a 1958 film that was eventually released under the title "The Beatniks". As well as performing in live theatre, Breck had several guest-starring roles on a number of popular series, such as "Sea Hunt", several episodes of "Wagon Train", "Have Gun – Will Travel", "Perry Mason" and "Gunsmoke". In 1956, he and David Janssen appeared in John Bromfield's syndicated series "Sheriff of Cochise" in the episode entitled "The Turkey Farmers". He appeared in another syndicated series too in the episode "The Deserter" of the American Civil War drama "Gray Ghost", with Tod Andrews in the title role. When Robert Mitchum saw Breck in George Bernard Shaw's play "The Man of Destiny" in Washington, D.C., he offered Breck a role as a rival driver in "Thunder Road" (1958).