Chuck Connors
Encyclopedia
Chuck Connors was an American
actor
, writer
, and professional basketball
and baseball
player. His best known role from his forty-year film career was Lucas McCain
in the 1960s ABC
hit Western series The Rifleman
.
, second of two children and only son of Allan and Marcella Connors, emigrants from the Dominion of Newfoundland
. He was raised Roman Catholic and served as an altar boy at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
in the Sunset Park
neighborhood of Brooklyn.
His sister found out Connors didn't like his first name and was looking at a number of possible first-name changes: he tried out "Lefty" and "Stretch" before settling on "Chuck", because while playing first base, he would always yell, "Chuck it to me, baby, chuck it to me!" to the pitcher. The rest of his teammates and fans soon caught on and the name stuck. He loved the Dodgers despite their losing record during the 1930s. Connors knew that he too would be a Dodger, like: Jackie Robinson
, Gil Hodges
, Pee Wee Reese
, Carl Furillo
, Duke Snider
, Roy Campanella
, Billy Cox
, Ralph Branca, Preacher Roe
and Carl Erskine
, the participants of the great championship team that Connors was part of, the Brooklyn Dodgers of 1949.
Connors's athletic abilities earned him a scholarship
to both the elite Adelphi Academy (where he graduated in 1939) and Seton Hall University
in South Orange, New Jersey
. He left college after two years. During World War II he enlisted in the Army
at Fort Knox. He spent most of the war as a tank-warfare instructor, stationed at Camp Campbell, Kentucky
, and later at West Point, New York
.
in 1946, he joined the newly formed Boston Celtics
of the Basketball Association of America
. Connors left the team for spring training with Major League Baseball
's Brooklyn Dodgers
. He played for numerous minor league teams before joining the Dodgers in , for whom he played in only one game. He joined the Chicago Cubs
in , for whom he played in 66 games as a first baseman and occasional pinch hitter. In , he was sent to the minor leagues again to play for the Cubs' top farm team, the Los Angeles Angels
. Connors was also drafted by the Chicago Bears
, but never suited up for the team. He is one of only 12 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have played for both Major League Baseball
and in the NBA. He is also credited as the first professional basketball player to break a backboard. During warm-ups in the first-ever Boston Celtics game on November 5, 1946, at Boston Arena, Connors took a shot that caught the front of the rim and shattered an improperly installed glass backboard
.
In 1966, Connors played an off-field role by helping to end the celebrated holdout by Los Angeles Dodgers
pitchers Don Drysdale
and Sandy Koufax
when he acted as an intermediary during negotiations between the team and the players. Connors can be seen in the Associated Press photo with Drysdale, Koufax, and Dodgers general manager Buzzie Bavasi
announcing the pitchers' new contracts.
casting director and subsequently signed for the 1952
Tracy
-Hepburn
film
Pat and Mike
. In 1953
, he starred opposite Burt Lancaster
as a rebellious Marine private in the film South Sea Woman
. Connors also starred in 1957
's Old Yeller
as Burn Sanderson. That same year, he co-starred in The Hired Gun.
, Move Over Darling with Doris Day
and James Garner
and Soylent Green
, with Charlton Heston
. He also became a lovable character actor
, guest-starring in dozens of shows. His first guest-starring debut was on an episode of Dear Phoebe
. He also appeared on television in roles in Hey, Jeannie!
, The Loretta Young Show, Schlitz Playhouse, Adventures of Superman
, Screen Directors Playhouse, Four Star Playhouse
, Matinee Theatre
, Cavalcade of America
, Gunsmoke, Crossroads
, The Gale Storm Show
, West Point, The Millionaire, Tales of Wells Fargo
(2 episodes), General Electric True Theater, Wagon Train
, The Restless Gun
, Murder, She Wrote
, Date with the Angels
, The DuPont Show with June Allyson
, The Virginian
, and many others.
, portraying Lucas McCain, a widowed rancher known for his skill with a customized Winchester rifle. This ABC
, Western
series was also the first show ever to feature a widowed father raising a young child. Connors said in a 1959 interview with TV Guide
that the producers of Four Star Television
(Dick Powell
, Charles Boyer
, Ida Lupino
and David Niven
) must have been looking at 40-50 thirty-something males." The reason why he was the producers' first choice for the role of McCain was because he was a good actor who had performed some roles the producers liked. At the time, the producers offered a certain amount of money to do 39 episodes for the 1958-59 season. The offer turned out to be less than Connors was making doing freelance acting, so he appropriately turned it down. A few days later, the producers of The Rifleman took their own children to watch Old Yeller
in which Connors played a strong father-figure role. After the producers watched him in the movie, they decided they should cast Connors in the role of Lucas McCain and make him a better offer, including a 5% ownership of the show.
The Rifleman was an immediate hit, ranking #4 in the Nielsen ratings
in 1958-59, behind three other Westerns: Gunsmoke, Wagon Train
, and Have Gun - Will Travel.
The producers were looking for an unfamiliar child actor
, to play Mark McCain. Johnny Crawford
, a former Mousketeer, baseball fan, and Western
buff, who loved Connors' movies, beat out 40 young stars to play the role. Crawford remained on the series from 1958 until its cancellation in 1963.
The Rifleman was an audience/family favorite show for 4 seasons, where it landed in the Nielsen ratings
until the last year in the 1962-63 season when ratings began to drop. The show was cancelled in 1963 after 5 seasons and 168 episodes, although ABC
would have been happy to ask Connors to renew his contract for the sixth season. Connors, however, wanted to move on to other projects, as did Crawford.
Johnny Crawford said of his relationship with Connors: "I was very fond of Chuck, and we were very good friends right from the start. I admired him tremendously." Crawford also said about the same sport that Connors had played: "I was a big baseball fan when we started the show, and when I found out that Chuck had been a professional baseball player, I was especially in awe of him. I would bring my baseball and a bat and a couple of gloves whenever we went on location, and at lunchtime I would get a baseball game going, hoping that Chuck would join us. And he did, but after he came to bat, we would always have trouble finding the ball. It would be out in the brush somewhere or in a ravine, and so that would end the game."
Crawford stayed in touch with Connors until his death in 1992. "We remained friends throughout the rest of his life. He was always interested in what I was doing and ready with advice, and anxious to help in any way that he could . . . He was a great guy, a lot of fun, great sense of humor, bigger than life, and he absolutely loved people. He was very gregarious and friendly, and not at all bashful . . . I learned a great deal from him about acting, and he was a tremendous influence on me. He was just my hero." He and Connors reprised their roles as the McCains on a TV Western
movie, The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw.
. He also appeared opposite James Garner
and Doris Day
in the outrageous comedy, Move Over, Darling
.
As Connors was strongly typecasted for playing the firearmed rancher turned single father, he then starred in several short-lived series, such as: ABC
's Arrest and Trial
, featuring two young actors Ben Gazzara
and Don Galloway
, NBC
's post-Civil War-era series Branded (1965–1966) and the 1967-1968 ABC series Cowboy in Africa
, alongside British actor Ronald Howard
and Tom Nardini. In 1973 and 1974 he hosted a television series called Thrill Seekers
. He had a key role against type as a slaveowner in the 1977 miniseries
Roots
.
The actor achieved notoriety for an incident on an NBC prime-time baseball telecast in the 1970s. The network regularly invited a celebrity commentator to join the regular play-by-play crew in the broadcast booth. Connors accidentally said "fuck" during the live national telecast, stunning both the announcers and the audience.
Connors hosted a number of episodes of Family Theater
on the Mutual Radio Network. This series was aimed at promoting prayer as a path to world peace and stronger families, with the motto, "The family which prays together stays together."
In 1983, Connors joined Sam Elliott
and Cybill Shepherd
in the short-lived NBC
series The Yellow Rose
, about a modern Texas
ranching family. In 1985, he guest starred as "King Powers" in the ABC
TV series Spenser: For Hire
, starring Robert Urich
. In 1987, he co-starred in the Fox
series Werewolf
, as drifter Janos Skorzeny. In 1988, he guest starred as "Gideon" in the TV series Paradise
, starring Lee Horsley
.
In 1991, Connors was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
in Oklahoma City
.
Connors was a supporter of the Republican Party
and attended several fundraisers for campaigns of U.S. President Richard M. Nixon.
Connors was introduced to Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev
of the Soviet Union at a party given by Nixon at the Western White House
in San Clemente, California
, in June, 1973. Upon boarding his airplane bound for Moscow, Brezhnev noticed Connors in the crowd and went back to him to shake hands, and jokingly jumped up into Connors' towering hug. The Rifleman was one of the few American shows allowed on Russian television at that time; that was because it was Brezhnev's favorite. Connors and Brezhnev got along so well that Connors traveled to the Soviet Union in December 1973. In 1982, Connors expressed an interest in traveling to the Soviet Union for Brezhnev's funeral, but the U.S. government would not allow him to be part of the official delegation. Coincidentally, Connors and Brezhnev died on the same day, ten years apart.
A heavy smoker, Connors died on November 10, 1992 in Los Angeles
at the age of 71, of pneumonia
stemming from lung cancer
. At the time of his death, he had a companion named Rose Mary Grumley. He was interred in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery
in Los Angeles
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, and professional basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player. His best known role from his forty-year film career was Lucas McCain
Lucas McCain
Lucas McCain is the rancher and widowed father with a penchant for using his Winchester firearm -- as a last resort -- in the Western television series, The Rifleman, which ran on ABC from 1958-1963. The part was portrayed by the former athlete-turned-actor Chuck Connors...
in the 1960s ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
hit Western series The Rifleman
The Rifleman
The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...
.
Early life
Connors was born Kevin Joseph Connors in Brooklyn, New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, second of two children and only son of Allan and Marcella Connors, emigrants from the Dominion of Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
. He was raised Roman Catholic and served as an altar boy at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Brooklyn, New York)
The Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is an architectural landmark in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is located on 5th Avenue between 59th and 60th streets in the Sunset Park neighborhood and occupies about half the square block extending back to 6th Avenue, with the rectory and...
in the Sunset Park
Sunset Park, Brooklyn
Sunset Park is a neighborhood in the western section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA. It is bounded by Greenwood Heights to the north, Borough Park to the east, Bay Ridge to the south, and Upper New York Bay to the west...
neighborhood of Brooklyn.
His sister found out Connors didn't like his first name and was looking at a number of possible first-name changes: he tried out "Lefty" and "Stretch" before settling on "Chuck", because while playing first base, he would always yell, "Chuck it to me, baby, chuck it to me!" to the pitcher. The rest of his teammates and fans soon caught on and the name stuck. He loved the Dodgers despite their losing record during the 1930s. Connors knew that he too would be a Dodger, like: Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
, Gil Hodges
Gil Hodges
Gilbert Ray Hodges was an American Major League Baseball first baseman and manager. During an 18-year baseball career, he played in 1943 and from 1947–63, spending most of his career with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers...
, Pee Wee Reese
Pee Wee Reese
Harold Peter Henry "Pee Wee" Reese was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers from to . A ten-time All Star, Reese contributed to seven National League championships for the Dodgers and, was inducted...
, Carl Furillo
Carl Furillo
Carl Anthony Furillo , nicknamed "The Reading Rifle" and "Skoonj," was a right fielder in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers...
, Duke Snider
Duke Snider
Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider , nicknamed "The Silver Fox" and "The Duke of Flatbush", was a Major League Baseball center fielder and left-handed batter who played for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers , New York Mets , and San Francisco Giants .Snider was elected to the National Baseball Hall of...
, Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella
Roy Campanella , nicknamed "Campy", was an American baseball player, primarily at the position of catcher, in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball...
, Billy Cox
Billy Cox
William "Billy" Cox is an American bassist, best known for performing with Jimi Hendrix.-Early years:Born in Wheeling, West Virginia, Cox was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and attended Schenley High School. He first met Jimi Hendrix in the early 1960s, when they were both in the United States...
, Ralph Branca, Preacher Roe
Preacher Roe
Elwin Charles Roe was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals , Pittsburgh Pirates , and Brooklyn Dodgers .-Early years:...
and Carl Erskine
Carl Erskine
Carl Daniel Erskine is a former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Brooklyn & Los Angeles Dodgers from 1948 through 1959...
, the participants of the great championship team that Connors was part of, the Brooklyn Dodgers of 1949.
Connors's athletic abilities earned him a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
to both the elite Adelphi Academy (where he graduated in 1939) and Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University is a private Roman Catholic university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by Archbishop James Roosevelt Bayley, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan university in the United States. Seton Hall is also the oldest and largest Catholic university in the...
in South Orange, New Jersey
South Orange, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 16,964 people, 5,522 households, and 3,766 families residing in the township. The population density was 5,945.3 people per square mile . There were 5,671 housing units at an average density of 1,987.5 per square mile...
. He left college after two years. During World War II he enlisted in the Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
at Fort Knox. He spent most of the war as a tank-warfare instructor, stationed at Camp Campbell, Kentucky
Fort Campbell
Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astraddle the Kentucky-Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Tennessee...
, and later at West Point, New York
West Point, New York
West Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...
.
Sports career
During his army service, Connors moonlighted as a professional basketball player. Following his military dischargeMilitary discharge
A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve.-United States:Discharge or separation should not be confused with retirement; career U.S...
in 1946, he joined the newly formed Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
of the Basketball Association of America
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
. Connors left the team for spring training with Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
's Brooklyn Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
. He played for numerous minor league teams before joining the Dodgers in , for whom he played in only one game. He joined the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
in , for whom he played in 66 games as a first baseman and occasional pinch hitter. In , he was sent to the minor leagues again to play for the Cubs' top farm team, the Los Angeles Angels
Los Angeles Angels (PCL)
The Los Angeles Angels were a team based in Los Angeles, California that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 through 1957, after which they transferred to Spokane, Washington to become the Spokane Indians. Los Angeles would later become the host city to a Major League Baseball team, the...
. Connors was also drafted by the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, but never suited up for the team. He is one of only 12 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have played for both Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
and in the NBA. He is also credited as the first professional basketball player to break a backboard. During warm-ups in the first-ever Boston Celtics game on November 5, 1946, at Boston Arena, Connors took a shot that caught the front of the rim and shattered an improperly installed glass backboard
Backboard shattering
A backboard shattering is an accident or stunt in basketball. It occurs when a player slam dunks the ball hard enough to break the fiberglass of the backboard. The stunt has caused games to be canceled or delayed, serious injuries to occur and expensive costs of clean up and replacement...
.
In 1966, Connors played an off-field role by helping to end the celebrated holdout by Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
pitchers Don Drysdale
Don Drysdale
Donald Scott "Don" Drysdale was a Major League Baseball player and Hall of Fame right-handed pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was one of the dominant starting pitchers of the 1960s, and became a radio and television broadcaster following his playing career...
and Sandy Koufax
Sandy Koufax
Sanford "Sandy" Koufax is a former left-handed baseball pitcher who played his entire 12-year Major League Baseball career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers...
when he acted as an intermediary during negotiations between the team and the players. Connors can be seen in the Associated Press photo with Drysdale, Koufax, and Dodgers general manager Buzzie Bavasi
Buzzie Bavasi
Emil Joseph "Buzzie" Bavasi was an American executive in Major League Baseball who played a major role in the operation of three franchises from the late 1940s through the mid-1980s....
announcing the pitchers' new contracts.
Television roles
Connors realized that he would not make a career in professional sports, so he decided to pursue an acting career. Playing baseball near Hollywood proved to be fortunate, as he was spotted by an MGMMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
casting director and subsequently signed for the 1952
1952 in film
The year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
-Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Pat and Mike
Pat and Mike
Pat and Mike is a 1952 comedy starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. The movie was directed by George Cukor, who also directed The Philadelphia Story and Adam's Rib.- Plot :...
. In 1953
1953 in film
The year 1953 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*September 16 — The Robe debuts as the first anamorphic, widescreen CinemaScope film.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:A...
, he starred opposite Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
as a rebellious Marine private in the film South Sea Woman
South Sea Woman
South Sea Woman is a 1953 action-comedy-drama film directed by Arthur Lubin and starring Burt Lancaster, Virginia Mayo and Chuck Connors.Jeanine Basinger's and Jeremy Arnold's book The World War II Combat Film – Anatomy of a Genre calls the film a significant mixture of genres:...
. Connors also starred in 1957
1957 in film
The year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue-Awards:...
's Old Yeller
Old Yeller (1957 film)
Old Yeller is a 1957 Walt Disney Productions film starring Tommy Kirk, Dorothy McGuire and Beverly Washburn, and directed by Robert Stevenson. It is about a boy and a stray dog in post-Civil War Texas. The story is based upon the 1956 Newbery Honor-winning book Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. Gipson...
as Burn Sanderson. That same year, he co-starred in The Hired Gun.
Character actor
Connors was in feature films, such as The Big CountryThe Big Country
Meanwhile, Terrill insists on riding into the canyon. Initially, Leech refuses to accompany him, and the other men follow his lead. However, after Terrill rides out alone, Leech catches up with him. The remaining hands again align themselves with Leech by following. The group soon rides into a trap...
, Move Over Darling with Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
and James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
and Soylent Green
Soylent Green
Soylent Green is a 1973 American science fiction film directed by Richard Fleischer. Starring Charlton Heston, the film overlays the police procedural and science fiction genres as it depicts the investigation into the murder of a wealthy businessman in a dystopian future suffering from pollution,...
, with Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
. He also became a lovable character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
, guest-starring in dozens of shows. His first guest-starring debut was on an episode of Dear Phoebe
Dear Phoebe
Dear Phoebe is an American sitcom that aired on NBC from September 1954 to April 1955. The series stars Peter Lawford, and was created and produced by Alex Gottlieb.-Synopsis:...
. He also appeared on television in roles in Hey, Jeannie!
Hey, Jeannie!
Hey, Jeannie! is a 32-episode half-hour situation comedy starring Jeannie Carson as a young Scottish woman living in New York City. Twenty-six segments aired on CBS from September 8, 1956 to May 4, 1957 in the Saturday slot following The Gale Storm Show and preceding the western series Gunsmoke.Six...
, The Loretta Young Show, Schlitz Playhouse, Adventures of Superman
Adventures of Superman (TV series)
Adventures of Superman is an American television series based on comic book characters and concepts created in 1938 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The show is the first television series to feature Superman and began filming in 1951 in California...
, Screen Directors Playhouse, Four Star Playhouse
Four Star Playhouse
Four Star Playhouse is an American television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953...
, Matinee Theatre
Matinee Theatre
Matinee Theatre is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from 1955 to 1958. The series, which ran daily in the afternoon, was frequently live. It was produced by Albert McCleery, Darrell Ross, George Cahan and Frank Price with executive producer George...
, Cavalcade of America
Cavalcade of America
Cavalcade of America is an anthology drama series that was sponsored by the DuPont Company, although it occasionally presented a musical, such as an adaptation of Show Boat, and condensed biographies of popular composers. It was initially broadcast on radio from 1935 to 1953, and later on...
, Gunsmoke, Crossroads
Crossroads (1955 TV series)
Crossroads is the title of a 30-minute American television religion drama series which aired from 1955–1957, the first season on ABC and the second via syndication....
, The Gale Storm Show
The Gale Storm Show
The Gale Storm Show is an American sitcom starring Gale Storm. The series premiered on September 29, 1956, and ran until 1960 for 143 half-hour black-and-white episodes, initially on CBS and in its last year on ABC...
, West Point, The Millionaire, Tales of Wells Fargo
Tales of Wells Fargo
Tales of Wells Fargo is an American Western television series that ran from March 18, 1957 to June 2, 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until its final season when it expanded to an hour.-Synopsis:...
(2 episodes), General Electric True Theater, Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
, The Restless Gun
The Restless Gun
The Restless Gun is a western television series that appeared on NBC between 1957 and 1959, with John Payne in the role of Vint Bonner, a wandering cowboy in the era after the American Civil War. A skilled gunfighter, Bonner is an idealistic person who prefers peaceful resolutions of conflict...
, Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
, Date with the Angels
Date with the Angels
Date with the Angels is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from May 10, 1957 to January 29, 1958. The series, which stars Betty White and Bill Williams, began as a late season replacement for The Ray Anthony Show for the same sponsor, Chrysler's Plymouth division...
, The DuPont Show with June Allyson
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
The DuPont Show with June Allyson is an American anthology drama series which aired on CBS from September 21, 1959 to April 3, 1961 with rebroadcasts continuing until June 12, 1961...
, The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
, and many others.
The Rifleman
Connors beat out 40 actors for the lead on The RiflemanThe Rifleman
The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...
, portraying Lucas McCain, a widowed rancher known for his skill with a customized Winchester rifle. This ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
series was also the first show ever to feature a widowed father raising a young child. Connors said in a 1959 interview with TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
that the producers of Four Star Television
Four Star Television
Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Ida Lupino, and Charles Boyer, the company produced many well-known shows of the early days of...
(Dick Powell
Dick Powell
Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.Despite the same last name he was not related to William Powell, Eleanor Powell or Jane Powell.-Biography:...
, Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found success in movies during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised romantic dramas,...
, Ida Lupino
Ida Lupino
Ida Lupino was an English-born film actress and director, and a pioneer among women filmmakers. In her 48-year career, she appeared in 59 films and directed seven others, mostly in the United States. She appeared in serial television programmes 58 times and directed 50 other episodes...
and David Niven
David Niven
James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
) must have been looking at 40-50 thirty-something males." The reason why he was the producers' first choice for the role of McCain was because he was a good actor who had performed some roles the producers liked. At the time, the producers offered a certain amount of money to do 39 episodes for the 1958-59 season. The offer turned out to be less than Connors was making doing freelance acting, so he appropriately turned it down. A few days later, the producers of The Rifleman took their own children to watch Old Yeller
Old Yeller (1957 film)
Old Yeller is a 1957 Walt Disney Productions film starring Tommy Kirk, Dorothy McGuire and Beverly Washburn, and directed by Robert Stevenson. It is about a boy and a stray dog in post-Civil War Texas. The story is based upon the 1956 Newbery Honor-winning book Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. Gipson...
in which Connors played a strong father-figure role. After the producers watched him in the movie, they decided they should cast Connors in the role of Lucas McCain and make him a better offer, including a 5% ownership of the show.
The Rifleman was an immediate hit, ranking #4 in the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
in 1958-59, behind three other Westerns: Gunsmoke, Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
, and Have Gun - Will Travel.
The producers were looking for an unfamiliar child actor
Child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor...
, to play Mark McCain. Johnny Crawford
Johnny Crawford
John Ernest "Johnny" Crawford is a prolific American character actor, singer and musician. At 12, Crawford rose to fame for playing Mark McCain, the son of the Lucas McCain character , in the popular 1960s ABC western series, The Rifleman, which aired from 1958 to 1963...
, a former Mousketeer, baseball fan, and Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
buff, who loved Connors' movies, beat out 40 young stars to play the role. Crawford remained on the series from 1958 until its cancellation in 1963.
The Rifleman was an audience/family favorite show for 4 seasons, where it landed in the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
until the last year in the 1962-63 season when ratings began to drop. The show was cancelled in 1963 after 5 seasons and 168 episodes, although ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
would have been happy to ask Connors to renew his contract for the sixth season. Connors, however, wanted to move on to other projects, as did Crawford.
Johnny Crawford said of his relationship with Connors: "I was very fond of Chuck, and we were very good friends right from the start. I admired him tremendously." Crawford also said about the same sport that Connors had played: "I was a big baseball fan when we started the show, and when I found out that Chuck had been a professional baseball player, I was especially in awe of him. I would bring my baseball and a bat and a couple of gloves whenever we went on location, and at lunchtime I would get a baseball game going, hoping that Chuck would join us. And he did, but after he came to bat, we would always have trouble finding the ball. It would be out in the brush somewhere or in a ravine, and so that would end the game."
Crawford stayed in touch with Connors until his death in 1992. "We remained friends throughout the rest of his life. He was always interested in what I was doing and ready with advice, and anxious to help in any way that he could . . . He was a great guy, a lot of fun, great sense of humor, bigger than life, and he absolutely loved people. He was very gregarious and friendly, and not at all bashful . . . I learned a great deal from him about acting, and he was a tremendous influence on me. He was just my hero." He and Connors reprised their roles as the McCains on a TV Western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
movie, The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw.
Typecasting/other TV roles
In 1963, Connors appeared in the film FlipperFlipper (1963 film)
Flipper is an American feature film released on August 14, 1963 written by Ricou Browning and Jack Cowden. Produced by Ivan Tors and directed by James B. Clark, it portrays a 12-year old boy living with his parents on the Florida Keys, who befriends an injured wild dolphin...
. He also appeared opposite James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
and Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
in the outrageous comedy, Move Over, Darling
Move Over, Darling
Move Over, Darling is a 1963 remake of the 1940 screwball comedy My Favorite Wife that starred Irene Dunne, Cary Grant and Gail Patrick. The remake stars Doris Day, James Garner, and Polly Bergen.-Plot:...
.
As Connors was strongly typecasted for playing the firearmed rancher turned single father, he then starred in several short-lived series, such as: ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Arrest and Trial
Arrest and Trial
Arrest and Trial is a 90-minute American Police procedural/legal drama that ran during the 1963-64 season on ABC, airing Sundays from 8:30-10 p.m. Eastern.The majority of episodes consisted of two segments...
, featuring two young actors Ben Gazzara
Ben Gazzara
-Early life:Gazzara was born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York City, the son of Italian immigrants Angelina and Antonio Gazzara, who was a laborer and carpenter. Gazzara grew up on New York's tough Lower East Side. He actually lived on E. 29th Street and participated in the drama program at...
and Don Galloway
Don Galloway
Donald "Don" Galloway was an American actor of stage, film and television, a political libertarian and journalist, perhaps best-known for his role as Raymond Burr's protégé, Detective Sergeant Ed Brown, on the long-running crime drama Ironside...
, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's post-Civil War-era series Branded (1965–1966) and the 1967-1968 ABC series Cowboy in Africa
Cowboy in Africa
Cowboy in Africa is an ABC television series produced in 1967-1968 by Ivan Tors and starring Chuck Connors. A 1966 television pilot turned into a movie and released to cinemas starring Hugh O'Brian as Jim Sinclair was called Africa - Texas Style.-Plot:...
, alongside British actor Ronald Howard
Ronald Howard (British actor)
Ronald Howard was an English actor and writer best known in the U.S. for starring in a weekly Sherlock Holmes television series in 1954. He was the son of actor Leslie Howard.- Life and work :...
and Tom Nardini. In 1973 and 1974 he hosted a television series called Thrill Seekers
Thrill Seekers
Thrill Seekers was a syndicated Four Star Television series that was produced in 1973 and 1974. It was hosted by Chuck Connors and featured people who did dangerous stunts....
. He had a key role against type as a slaveowner in the 1977 miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
Roots
Roots (TV miniseries)
Roots is a 1977 American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's fictional novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Roots received 36 Emmy Award nominations, winning nine. It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It received unprecedented Nielsen ratings with the finale still...
.
The actor achieved notoriety for an incident on an NBC prime-time baseball telecast in the 1970s. The network regularly invited a celebrity commentator to join the regular play-by-play crew in the broadcast booth. Connors accidentally said "fuck" during the live national telecast, stunning both the announcers and the audience.
Connors hosted a number of episodes of Family Theater
Family Theater
Family Theater was a dramatic anthology radio show which aired on the Mutual Broadcasting System in the United States from February 13, 1947 to September 11, 1957.-Production background:...
on the Mutual Radio Network. This series was aimed at promoting prayer as a path to world peace and stronger families, with the motto, "The family which prays together stays together."
In 1983, Connors joined Sam Elliott
Sam Elliott
Samuel Pack "Sam" Elliott is an American actor. His rangy physique, thick horseshoe moustache, and deep, resonant voice match the iconic image of a cowboy or rancher, and he has often been cast in such roles.-Early life:Sam Elliott was born in Sacramento, California, to a physical training...
and Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Lynne Shepherd is an American actress, singer and former model. Her best known roles include starring as Jacy in The Last Picture Show, as Betsy in Taxi Driver, as Madeleine Spencer in Psych, as Maddie Hayes on Moonlighting, as Cybill Sheridan on Cybill, and as Phyllis Kroll on The L...
in the short-lived NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series The Yellow Rose
The Yellow Rose
The Yellow Rose is an American television series. It was broadcast on the NBC network during the 1983-1984 season. It was produced by Paul Freeman....
, about a modern Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
ranching family. In 1985, he guest starred as "King Powers" in the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
TV series Spenser: For Hire
Spenser: For Hire
Spenser: For Hire is a mystery television series based on Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels. The series, developed for TV by John Wilder, differs from the novels, mostly in its lesser degree of detail....
, starring Robert Urich
Robert Urich
Robert Urich was an American actor. He played the starring roles in the television series Vega$ and Spenser: For Hire...
. In 1987, he co-starred in the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
series Werewolf
Werewolf (TV series)
Werewolf is an American horror series, and one of the original shows in the Fox network's broadcast line-up during its inaugural season of 1987–1988.The show follows the adventures of Eric Cord Werewolf is an American horror series, and one of the original shows in the Fox network's broadcast...
, as drifter Janos Skorzeny. In 1988, he guest starred as "Gideon" in the TV series Paradise
Paradise
Paradise is a place in which existence is positive, harmonious and timeless. It is conceptually a counter-image of the miseries of human civilization, and in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, but it is not necessarily a land of luxury and...
, starring Lee Horsley
Lee Horsley
Lee Arthur Horsley is an American film, television, and theater actor known for starring roles in the television series, Nero Wolfe , Matt Houston , and Paradise . He starred in the 1982 cult film, The Sword and the Sorcerer, and recorded the audiobook edition of Lonesome Dove...
.
In 1991, Connors was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with more than 28,000 Western and American Indian art works and artifacts. The facility also has the world's most extensive collection of American rodeo, photographs, barbed wire, saddlery, and early rodeo trophies...
in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma city
Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma.Oklahoma City may also refer to:*Oklahoma City metropolitan area*Downtown Oklahoma City*Uptown Oklahoma City*Oklahoma City bombing*Oklahoma City National Memorial...
.
Personal life and death
Connors was married three times during his life. He met his first wife, Elizabeth Riddell Connors, at one of his baseball games, and married her on October 1, 1948. They divorced in 1961 and had four sons, Michael (b. 1950), Jeffrey (b. 1952), Steven (b. 1953) and Kevin (1956–2005).Connors was a supporter of the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and attended several fundraisers for campaigns of U.S. President Richard M. Nixon.
Connors was introduced to Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
of the Soviet Union at a party given by Nixon at the Western White House
Western White House
The Western White House is a term applied to additional residencies of the President of the United States. It was used for the Crawford, Texas ranch of George W. Bush, known as Prairie Chapel Ranch, and has also been used by other chief executives for their homes, including Presidents Lyndon B....
in San Clemente, California
San Clemente, California
San Clemente is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 63,522 at the 2010 census. Located on the California Coast, midway between Los Angeles and San Diego at the southern tip of the county, it is known for its ocean, hill, and mountain views, a pleasant climate and its Spanish...
, in June, 1973. Upon boarding his airplane bound for Moscow, Brezhnev noticed Connors in the crowd and went back to him to shake hands, and jokingly jumped up into Connors' towering hug. The Rifleman was one of the few American shows allowed on Russian television at that time; that was because it was Brezhnev's favorite. Connors and Brezhnev got along so well that Connors traveled to the Soviet Union in December 1973. In 1982, Connors expressed an interest in traveling to the Soviet Union for Brezhnev's funeral, but the U.S. government would not allow him to be part of the official delegation. Coincidentally, Connors and Brezhnev died on the same day, ten years apart.
A heavy smoker, Connors died on November 10, 1992 in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
at the age of 71, of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
stemming from lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
. At the time of his death, he had a companion named Rose Mary Grumley. He was interred in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery
San Fernando Mission Cemetery
The San Fernando Mission Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery located at 11160 Stranwood Avenue in the Mission Hills community of the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California, near the San Fernando Mission....
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Filmography
- Pat and MikePat and MikePat and Mike is a 1952 comedy starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. The movie was directed by George Cukor, who also directed The Philadelphia Story and Adam's Rib.- Plot :...
(1952) ... as Police captain - South Sea WomanSouth Sea WomanSouth Sea Woman is a 1953 action-comedy-drama film directed by Arthur Lubin and starring Burt Lancaster, Virginia Mayo and Chuck Connors.Jeanine Basinger's and Jeremy Arnold's book The World War II Combat Film – Anatomy of a Genre calls the film a significant mixture of genres:...
(1953) ... as David White - Trouble Along the WayTrouble Along the WayTrouble Along the Way was a 1953 film starring John Wayne and Donna Reed, with a supporting cast including Charles Coburn and Marie Windsor. The movie was directed by Michael Curtiz, director of Casablanca. The black-and-white comedy was released by Warner Bros...
(1953) ... as Stan Schwegler - Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955) ... as William 'Bill' Holloway
- Target Zero (1955) ... as Pvt. Moose
- Boy With a Knife (1956) ... Uncredited
- Hot Rod GirlHot Rod GirlHot Rod Girl is a 1956 action film directed by Leslie H. Martinson and released by American International Pictures. It stars Lori Nelson and Chuck Connors.-Cast:*Lori Nelson as Lisa Vernon*Chuck Connors as Det. Ben Merrill*John Smith as Jeff Northrup...
(1956) ... as Det. Ben Merrill - Tomahawk TrailTomahawk Trail- Plot :Chuck Connors as Sgt. Wade McCoy to be followed by Apache territory, and dealing with the Indians.- Starring :* Chuck Connors as Sgt. Wade McCoy* John Smith as Pvt. Reynolds* Susan Cummings as Ellen Carter* Lisa Montell as Tula...
(1957) ... as Sgt. McCoy - Old YellerOld YellerOld Yeller is a 1956 children's novel by Fred Gipson, which received a Newbery Honor in 1957. It was illustrated by Carl Burger. The title is taken from the name of the big yellow dog who is the center of the book's story...
(1957) ... as Burn Sanderson - The Big CountryThe Big CountryMeanwhile, Terrill insists on riding into the canyon. Initially, Leech refuses to accompany him, and the other men follow his lead. However, after Terrill rides out alone, Leech catches up with him. The remaining hands again align themselves with Leech by following. The group soon rides into a trap...
(1958) .... as Buck Hannassey - GeronimoGeronimo (1962 film)Geronimo is a 1962 Technicolor Western film made by Levy-Gardner-Laven and released by United Artists, starring Chuck Connors in the title role. The film was directed by Arnold Laven from a screenplay by Pat Fielder and was mostly fimed in Durango, Mexico...
(1962) ... as Geronimo - Move Over, DarlingMove Over, DarlingMove Over, Darling is a 1963 remake of the 1940 screwball comedy My Favorite Wife that starred Irene Dunne, Cary Grant and Gail Patrick. The remake stars Doris Day, James Garner, and Polly Bergen.-Plot:...
(1963) .... as Adam - FlipperFlipper (1963 film)Flipper is an American feature film released on August 14, 1963 written by Ricou Browning and Jack Cowden. Produced by Ivan Tors and directed by James B. Clark, it portrays a 12-year old boy living with his parents on the Florida Keys, who befriends an injured wild dolphin...
(1963) ... as Sandy's Dad - SynanonSynanonThe Synanon organization, initially a drug rehabilitation program, was founded by Charles E. "Chuck" Dederich, Sr., in 1958, in Santa Monica, California, United States...
(1965) ... as Ben - Branded (1965–1966) ... as Jason McCord
- Ride Beyond VengeanceRide Beyond VengeanceRide Beyond Vengeance is a 1966 western film. It stars Chuck Connors, Michael Rennie, Kathryn Hays and Bill Bixby.The film was directed by Bernard McEveety and produced by Andrew J. Fenady from the story "The Night of the Tiger" by Al Dewlen. Glenn Yarbrough sang the title song vocals. It was...
(1966)...as Jonas - Dark ShadowsDark ShadowsDark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
(1966) - Cowboy in AfricaCowboy in AfricaCowboy in Africa is an ABC television series produced in 1967-1968 by Ivan Tors and starring Chuck Connors. A 1966 television pilot turned into a movie and released to cinemas starring Hugh O'Brian as Jim Sinclair was called Africa - Texas Style.-Plot:...
(1967) ... as Jim Sinclair - Go Kill Everybody and Come Back AloneGo Kill Everybody and Come Back AloneKill Them All and Come Back Alone is a 1968 Italian motion picture directed by Enzo G. Castellari. The movie is a western and was written by Castellari and Tito Carpi. It stars U.S...
(1968) ...as Clyde - Captain Nemo and the Underwater CityCaptain Nemo and the Underwater CityCaptain Nemo and the Underwater City is a 1969 British film, featuring the character Captain Nemo and some of the settings of Jules Verne's novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. It was written by Pip and Jane Baker and stars Robert Ryan as Nemo....
(1969) ...as Senator Robert Fraser - The DeserterThe Deserter (1971 film)The Deserter is a 1971 Italian-American Western film by Dino De Laurentis. It was directed by Burt Kennedy, known for his penchant in directing westerns, including The War Wagon , Support Your Local Sheriff! and The Train Robbers .Scripted in the style of The Dirty Dozen , and designed as a...
(1971) ... as Chaplain Reynolds - Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971) ... as "Swiftie" Morgan (uncredited)
- Pancho VillaPancho Villa (film)Pancho Villa is an American, British and Spanish spaghetti western film directed by Eugenio Martín. The film features Telly Savalas, Clint Walker, Chuck Connors and Anne Francis.-Plot:...
(1972) ... as Colonel Wilcox - Embassy (1972) ... as Kesten
- The Horror at 37,000 FeetThe Horror at 37,000 FeetThe Horror at 37,000 Feet is an American horror television movie made for CBS television by David Lowell Rich. The film first aired in 1973. In the movie, demonic forces terrorize the passengers on a Boeing 747 from London to New York....
(1973) ... as Captain Ernie Slade - Soylent GreenSoylent GreenSoylent Green is a 1973 American science fiction film directed by Richard Fleischer. Starring Charlton Heston, the film overlays the police procedural and science fiction genres as it depicts the investigation into the murder of a wealthy businessman in a dystopian future suffering from pollution,...
(1973) ... as Tab Fielding - The Mad Bomber (1973) ... as William Dorn
- RootsRoots (TV miniseries)Roots is a 1977 American television miniseries based on Alex Haley's fictional novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Roots received 36 Emmy Award nominations, winning nine. It also won a Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It received unprecedented Nielsen ratings with the finale still...
(1977) ... as Tom Moore - Nightmare in Badham CountyNightmare in Badham County----Nightmare in Badham County is a ABC TV movie, starring Chuck Connors - Deborah Raffin and directed by John Llewellyn Moxey-----Plot:Two woman Cathy Phillips and Diane Emery have engine car trouble in a small town...
(1976) ... as Sheriff - They Took Miss Beautiful (1977) ... as Mike O'Toole
- Tourist TrapTourist TrapTourist Trap is a 1979 horror film directed by David Schmoeller, revolving around a group of friends who wind up stranded at Mr. Slausen's "museum," where the mannequins are very lifelike. Schmoeller co-wrote the script with J. Larry Carroll.-Plot:...
(1979) ... as Mr. Slausen - Virus (1980)... as the nuclear sub Nereid captain
- The Capture of Grizzly Adams (1982) ... as Frank Biggs
- Airplane II: The SequelAirplane II: The SequelAirplane II: The Sequel is an American comedy sequel to the 1980 film Airplane!. First released on December 10, 1982, the film was written and directed by Ken Finkleman and stars Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Chad Everett, William Shatner, Rip Torn, and Sonny Bono.-Plot:In the near...
(1982) ... as The Sarge - Sakura Killers (1987) ... as The Colonel
- Summer Camp NightmareSummer Camp NightmareSummer Camp Nightmare is a 1987 horror film starring Chuck Connors and Charlie Stratton. The film is loosely based on the novel The Butterfly Revolution by William Butler.-Plot:...
(1987) ... as Mr. Warren - Werewolf (1987) ... as Janos Skorzeny
- Terror Squad (1987) ... as Chief Rawlings
- Once Upon a Texas TrainOnce Upon a Texas TrainOnce Upon a Texas Train is 1988 made-for-TV movie directed by Burt Kennedy and starring Willie Nelson as John Henry Lee and Richard Widmark as Captain Oren Hayes....
(1988) - Skinheads (1989) ... as Mr Huston
- The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991) ... as Lucas McCain
- SalmonberriesSalmonberriesSalmonberries is a 1991 drama film directed by Percy Adlon and written by Adlon and his son Felix. It stars k.d. lang as Kotzebue, a young woman of androgynous appearance who works as a miner in Alaska, and Rosel Zech as Roswitha, an East German immigrant and librarian...
(1991) ... as Bingo Chuck
External links
- The Riflemans Rifle website
- The Rifleman: Chuck Connors
- Basketball-Reference.com re career basketball statistics and analysis
- TV Party - Meeting with Brezhnev
- Time Magazine - Meeting with Brezhnev
- Chuck Connors at http://www.ourchuckconnors.com