Carroll O'Connor

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Carroll O'Connor
Image:Replace this image male.svg
Birth name	John Carroll O'Connor
Born	August 2 1924(1924-08-02) Bronx, New York, United States
Died	June 21 2001 (aged 76) Culver City, California, United States
Years active	1960-2000
Spouse(s)	Nancy Fields O'Connor
Awards Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor - Comedy Series 1972 All in the Family 1977 All in the Family 1978 All in the Family 1979 All in the Family Outstanding Lead Actor - Drama Series 1989 In the Heat of the Night Golden Globe Awards Best Television Actor - Comedy or Musical 1972 All in the Family

John Carroll O'Connor (August 2, 1924 – June 21, 2001) was an American actor, most famous for his portrayal of the character Archie Bunker in the television sitcoms All in the Family (1971-1979) and Archie Bunker's Place (1979-1983). O'Connor later starred in the television series In the Heat of the Night as Police Chief Bill Gillespie from 1988 to 1994.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Partial credits 2.1 Starring roles 2.2 Films/Made for TV movies 2.3 Writer 2.4 Producer 2.5 Director 2.6 Crew 2.7 Composer 2.8 Series music 2.9 Guest starring 2.10 Misc 2.11 Archive footage featuring Carroll O'Connor 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

O'Connor, of Irish descent, was born in the Bronx, New York and spent much of his youth in Elmhurst and Forest Hills, Queens, in the same borough in which his character Archie Bunker would later live.^[1] He served in the United States Merchant Marine during World War II, was educated in Montana and Ireland, and began his acting career shortly afterward. O'Connor's many film roles include Lonely Are the Brave (1962), Cleopatra (1963), In Harm's Way (1965), Hawaii (1966), The Devil's Brigade (1968), Kelly's Heroes (1970), and Return to Me (2000). O'Connor also appeared on episodes of many popular television series such as Gunsmoke, I Spy, Bonanza, The Fugitive and The Wild Wild West. He was also among the actors considered for the role of Dr. Smith in the TV show Lost In Space, as well as being the visual template in the creation of Batman foe Rupert Thorne, a character who debuted at the height of All in the Family's success in Detective Comics #469 (published May 1976 by DC Comics).

O'Connor was living in Italy in 1970 when producer Norman Lear asked him to star as Archie Bunker in a new sitcom called All in the Family. Wanting a well-known actor to tackle the controversial material, Lear had approached Jackie Gleason and Mickey Rooney to play Archie; both declined. O'Connor accepted, not expecting the show to be a success and believing he would be able to move back to Europe. Instead, the show became the highest-rated television program on American television for five years until 1976.

O'Connor's own politics were liberal, but he understood the Bunker character and played him not only with bombast and humor but with touches of vulnerability. The writing on the show was consistently left of center, but O'Connor often deftly skewered the liberal pieties of the day. The result is widely considered to be an absorbing, entertaining television show. All in the Family was based on the BBC show Til Death Us Do Part, with Bunker based on Alf Garnett, but somewhat less abrasive.

Although Bunker was famous for his malapropisms of the English language, O'Connor was highly educated and cultured and was an English teacher before he turned to acting.

O'Connor married his wife Nancy in Dublin, Ireland (and she later converted to Roman Catholicism for him) in 1951, and their only child, adopted son Hugh O'Connor, committed suicide in 1995 after a long battle with drug addiction. Hugh left a widow and small child behind. O'Connor appeared in public service announcements for Partnership for a Drug Free America and spent the rest of his life working to raise awareness about drug addiction. After Hugh's death, O'Connor successfully lobbied to get the State of California to pass legislation that allows family members of an addicted person or anyone injured by a drug dealer's actions, including employers, to sue for reimbursement for medical treatment and rehabilitation costs. The law, known as the Drug Dealer Civil Liability Act in California, went into effect in 1997.

Eleven other states followed with similar legislation, which has been referred to as The Hugh O'Connor Memorial Law.

In April 1997 the Florida Senate unanimously passed The Hugh O'Connor Memorial Act, which allows people injured by drug dealers to sue for damages.

In the late 1990s, O'Connor taught screenwriting at the University of Montana-Missoula, in Missoula, where he attended college in his earlier years. In March 2000, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was given a St. Patrick's Day tribute by MGM.

O'Connor died on June 21, 2001, at the age of 76 from a heart attack brought on by complications from diabetes. In honor of his death, TV Land moved an entire weekend of programming to the next week and showed a continuous marathon of All in the Family. During the commercial breaks they also showed some interview footage of O'Connor and various All in the Family actors, producers with whom he had worked, and other associates.

[edit] Partial credits

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[edit] Starring roles

• All in the Family (1971-1979) as Archie Bunker
• Archie Bunker's Place (1979-1983) as Archie Bunker
• In the Heat of the Night (1988-1994) as Chief/Sheriff Bill Gillespie
• Mad About You (1996-1999) Gus Stemple #3

[edit] Films/Made for TV movies

• Return to Me (2000) as Marty O'Reilly
• Gideon (TV) (1999) as Leo Barnes
• 36 Hours to Die (TV) (1999) Jack 'Balls' O'Malley
• The Father Clements Story (1987) (TV) .... Cardinal Cody
• Convicted (1986) (TV) .... Lewis May
• The GLO Friends Save Christmas (1986) .... Santa
• Brass aka Police Brass (TV) (1985) as Frank Nolan
• A Different Approach (1978)
• The Last Hurrah (TV) (1977) as Frank Skeffington
• Law and Disorder (1974) as Willie
• Of Thee I Sing (TV) (1972) President Wintergreen
• Doctors' Wives (1971) Dr. Joe Gray
• Kelly's Heroes (1970) as Maj. Gen. Colt
• Marlowe (1969) as Lt. Christy French
• Death of a Gunfighter (1969) as Lester Locke
• Ride a Northbound Horse (TV)(1969)
• Fear No Evil (TV) (1969) as Myles Donovan
• For Love of Ivy (1968) as Frank Austin
• The Devil's Brigade (1968) as Maj. Gen. Hunter
• Waterhole #3 (1967) as Sheriff John H. Copperud
• Point Blank (1967) as Brewster
• Warning Shot (1967) as Paul Jerez
• Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966) as Gen. Maynard C. Parker
• Hawaii (1966) as Charles Bromley
• What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966) as Gen. Bolt
• In Harm's Way (1965) (uncredited) .... *Cmdr./Capt. Burke (USS Swayback)
• Nightmare in Chicago aka Once Upon a Savage Night (TV) (1964)
• The Silver Burro (TV) (1963)
• Cleopatra (1963) as Casca
• Lad: A Dog (1962) as Hamilcar Q. Glure
• Belle Sommers (TV) (1962)
• Lonely Are the Brave (1962) Hinton the Truck Driver
• By Love Possessed (1961) .... Bernie Breck
• Parrish (1961) .... Firechief
• A Fever in the Blood (1961) .... Matt Keenan
• The Sacco-Vanzetti Story (TV mini-series) (1960) as Frederick Katzman
• White Christmas (1954) .... The Sheriff

[edit] Writer

• In the Heat of the Night (1988-1995) Numerous episodes (credited as Matt Harris)
• Brass aka Police Brass (TV) (1985) (credited as Matt Harris)
• Archie Bunker's Place (1979) TV series (writer)
• The Last Hurrah (TV) (1977)
• Bronk (TV) (1975) Series creator

[edit] Producer

• In the Heat of the Night (TV) (1988-1995) (executive producer)
• The Last Hurrah (TV) (1977) (executive producer)
• Bronk (TV) (1975) Series (executive producer)

[edit] Director

• In the Heat of the Night (TV) (1988) Series
• Archie Bunker's Place (TV) (1979) Series

[edit] Crew

• In the Heat of the Night (TV) (1988) Series (executive story editor credited as Matt Harris)

[edit] Composer

• Archie Bunker's Place (TV) (1979) Series "Remembering You" (together with Roger Kellaway)
• All in the Family (TV) (1971) Series "Remembering You" (together with Roger Kellaway)

[edit] Series music

• All in the Family (TV) (1971) singing title song

[edit] Guest starring

• Biography: Carroll O'Connor 22 June 2001 as himself
• The Rosie O'Donnell Show as himself 4 March 1998
• Party of Five (six episodes) as "Jake Gordon"
• The Redd Foxx Show "Old Buddies" 1 March 1986
• Gloria playing "Archie Bunker" in episode: "Gloria, the First Day (un-aired pilot)" 1982
• Bill Moyers' Journal as himself 16 May 1981
• Saturday Night Live as himself (uncredited) 25 September 1976
• The Dick Cavett Show as himself "London - New York" 8 September 1976
• The Dean Martin Show as himself "Celebrity Roast: Carroll O'Connor" 7 December 1973
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as himself (5 episodes, 1972-1975)
• This Is Your Life as himself "Don Rickles" 12 January 1972
• The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour as himself (2 episodes, 1971-1972)
• Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In as "Guest Performer" 13 December 1971
• Insight (1970)
  • "The Day God Died"
• Gunsmoke playing "Major Glenn Vanscoy" 30 October 1967
  • "Major Glory"
• Mission: Impossible playing "Josef Varsh" 28 January 1967
  • "The Trial"
• The Wild Wild West playing "Fabian Lavendor" 25 November 1966
  • "The Night of the Ready-Made Corpse"
• The Time Tunnel playing "General Southall/Colonel Southall" 7 October 1966
  • "The Last Patrol"
• I Spy playing "Dr. Karolyi" 13 April 1966
  • "It's *All Done with Mirrors"
• Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea playing "Old John" 21 December 1964
  • "Long Live the King"
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. playing "Walter Brach" 27 October 1964
  • "The Green Opal Affair"
• The Outer Limits playing "Deimos" 13 January 1964
  • "Controlled Experiment"
• Bonanza playing "Tom Slayden" 19 May 1963
  • "The Boss"
• The Dick Powell Show playing "Dr. Lyman Savage" 12 February 1963
  • "Luxury Liner"
• Death Valley Days playing "Senator Dave Broderick" 8 February 1963
  • "A Gun Is Not a Gentleman"
• Naked City playing "Tony Corran" 19 December 1962
  • "Spectre of the Rose Street Gang"
• The Defenders (2 episodes, 1962-1963)
• Ben Casey (2 episodes, 1962-1965)
• Dr. Kildare (2 episodes, 1962-1965)
• The Untouchables playing "Arnie Kurtz aka Albert Krim" (2 episodes, 1961-1962)
  • "Bird in the Hand"
• Naked City 20 June 1962
  • "Goodbye Mama, Hello Auntie Maud"
• The Dick Powell Show playing "Leonard Barsevick" "Pericles on 31st Street" 12 April 1962
• The Americans playing "Captain Garbor" 8 May 1961
  • "The Coward"
• Shirley Temple's Storybook playing "Appleyard" 27 November 1960
  • "The Black Arrow"

[edit] Misc

• A&E Biography: Carroll O'Connor - All in a Lifetime (2001) Himself
• All in the Family: The E! True Hollywood Story (2000) Himself
• Intimate Portrait: Minnie Driver (2000) Narrator
• All in the Family: 20th Anniversary Special (1991) Himself
• The 30th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1978) Himself Winner
• CBS: On the Air (1978) mini-series part VII co-host
• An All-Star Tribute to Elizabeth Taylor (1977) Himself

[edit] Archive footage featuring Carroll O'Connor

• The 74th Annual Academy Awards (2002) Memorial tribute
• Inside TV Land: African Americans in Television (2002)
• The 53rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2001) Memorial tribute
• Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey (2000) (V)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Carroll O'Connor at the Internet Movie Database
• Carroll O'Connor's Gravesite at Find A Gravede:Carroll O'Connor

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