In his later years Peppard appeared in several stage productions. In 1988, he portrayed Ernest Hemingway in the play "PAPA", which played a number of cities including Boise, Idaho; Atlanta, Georgia; and San Francisco. Peppard financed it, and played in it. In 1988, he said, "Once I saw this thing, I knew that if I was going to do it, I'd have to stick with it. I've got a couple bucks in the bank, so I'm not working on anything else. I got an adrenalin rush when I first read this play - part joy, part fear." Peppard said he understood Hemingway. "We were both married four times; that's one similarity. Up until 10 years ago I used to drink a lot, as he did. And then, he had to deal with living the life of a famous person."