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Carroll O'connor : Biography, Pictures, Photos, Trivia, Address, Filmography (In the heat of the night)

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Carroll O'connor

Shériff Bill Gillespie in In the heat of the night

Photos Carroll O'connor Birth name: Carroll O'connor
Birth date: 1924/08/02
Date of death : 2001/06/21 (77 years old)
Birth place : Le Bronx New-York
Height: 1.80 m

French Traduire

Biography for Carroll O'connor

Carroll was born in Manhattan and raised in Forest Hills, a community of Queens, New York. After high school in 1942, he joined the Merchant Marines and worked on ships in the Atlantic. In 1946, he enrolled at the University of Montana to study English. While there, he became interested in theater. During one of the amateur productions, he met his future wife, Nancy Fields, whom he married in 1951. He moved to Ireland where he continued his theatrical studies at the National University of Ireland. He was discovered during one of his college productions and was signed to appear at the Dublin Gate Theater. He worked in theater in Europe until 1954 when he returned to New York. His attempts to land on Broadway failed and he taught high school until 1958. Finally in 1958, he landed an Off-Broadway production, "Ulysses In Downtown". He followed that with a production that was directed by Peter Bogdanovich. At the same time, he was getting attention on TV. He worked in a great many character roles throughout the 1960s. A pilot for "Those Were The Days" was first shot in 1968 based on the English hit, "Till Death Do Us Part", but was rejected by the networks. In 1971, it was re-shot and re-cast as "All in the Family" (1971) and the rest is history.

Carroll O'Connor (August 2, 1924 - June 21, 2001) was an American -Irish player, known for his interpretation of Archie Bunker in sitcoms "All in the Family" (1971 - 1979) and "Archie Bunker's Place" (1979 - 1983). Later he played the role of police chief Bill Gillespie in the series "in the heat of the night" from 1988 to 1995

Carroll O'Connor was born in the Bronx in New York and he lived during his youth at Forrest Hills in the suburbs of Queens, where his character from Archie Bunker will live later. He served in the merchant navy during the Second World War and began his career soon after. His films incredited "Lonely Are the Brave" (1962), "Cléôpatra" (1963), "In Ham's Way" (1965), "Hawaii" (1966), "The Dévil's Brigade" (1968) and "Kelly's Heroes" ( 1970). It will appear in many episodes of very popular series like "Gunsmoke", "I SPY", "The Fugitive" and "The Wild Wild West"

In 1970, Carroll O'Connor lived in Italy when producer Norman Lear asked him to play the role of Archie Bunker in a new sitcom entitled "All in the family". He did not expect this series to be a success, and believed that he could return to Europe. Instead, this show has become the most watched program on American television for five years, until 1976

The opinions of Carroll O'Connor, was rather on the left, but he understood that he had to play the role of Archie Bunker with emphasis and humor but also with a touch of vulnerability. "All in the family" was based on a series broadcast by the BBC and which was called "Til Death Us Do Part", with Archie Bunker based on the character of Alf Garnett, but slightly less abrasive

Carroll O'Connor died of a heart attack caused by complications due to diabetes on June 21, 2001, he was 76 years old

Carroll O'Connor was an American actor known for his role in the television series "All in the family" in which he interpreted the character of Archie Bunker. Born August 2, 1924 in New York, O'Connor spent his childhood in Forest Hills, Queens. He was raised by his mother, who was from Ireland, and his father, who was of Italian origin. O'Connor studied at the University of Fordham before serving in the Navy during the Second World War.

After leaving the army, O'Connor began his acting career by playing in plays in Broadway. In 1955, he made his cinema debut in the film "A man is ten feet tall". He then played in many other films, notably "Cleopatra" in 1963 and "In Harm's Way" in 1965.

In 1971, O'Connor obtained the role that would become his greatest success, that of Archie Bunker in "All in the Family". The series was a huge success and O'Connor won four Primetime Emmy Awards for his interpretation of the character of Bunker. The series was broadcast for nine seasons until 1979.

After the end of "All in the Family", O'Connor continued to play in television series and films, notably in "In the Heat of the Night", in which he interpreted the role of the police chief Bill Gillespie . He also played in many TV movies, including "Return to Mayberry" in 1986 and "The Last Debate" in 2000.

O'Connor died on June 21, 2001 at the age of 76 following a heart attack. He leaves behind an impressive heritage as an actor and is considered one of the greatest actors of all time.

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Filmography

Title Role
Return to Me (2000) Marty O'Reilly
Gideon (1999) Leo Barnes
36 Hours to Die (1999) (TV) Jack 'Balls' O'Malley
In the Heat of the Night: Grow Old Along with Me (1995) (TV) Chief Bill Gillespie
In the Heat of the Night: By Duty Bound (1995) (TV) Chief Bill Gillespie
In the Heat of the Night: Who Was Geli Bendl? (1994) (TV) Sheriff William 'Bill' Gillespie
In the Heat of the Night: A Matter of Justice (1994) (TV) Sheriff Bill Gillespie
In the Heat of the Night: Give Me Your Life (1994) (TV) Chief Bill Gillespie
In the Heat of the Night (1988) TV Series Chief/Sheriff William 'Bill O. Gillespie (Sparta PD)
The Father Clements Story (1987) (TV) Cardinal Cody
Convicted (1986) (TV) Lewis May
The GLO Friends Save Christmas (1986) Santa
Brass (1985) (TV) Frank Nolan
Archie Bunker's Place (1979) TV Series Archie Bunker (1979-1983)
A Different Approach (1978)
The Last Hurrah (1977) (TV) Frank Skeffington
Law and Disorder (1974) Willie
Of Thee I Sing (1972) (TV) President Wintergreen
Doctors' Wives (1971) Dr. Joe Gray
All in the Family (1971) TV Series Archie Bunker
Kelly's Heroes (1970) Maj. Gen. Colt
Marlowe (1969) Lt. Christy French
Death of a Gunfighter (1969) Lester Locke
Ride a Northbound Horse (1969) (TV)
Fear No Evil (1969) (TV) Myles Donovan
For Love of Ivy (1968) Frank Austin
The Devil's Brigade (1968) Maj. Gen. Hunter
Waterhole #3 (1967) Sheriff John H. Copperud
Point Blank (1967) Brewster
Warning Shot (1967) Paul Jerez
Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966) Gen. Maynard C. Parker
Hawaii (1966) Charles Bromley
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966) Gen. Bolt
In Harm's Way (1965) Cmdr./Capt. Burke (USS Swayback)
Nightmare in Chicago (1964) (TV)
The Silver Burro (1963) (TV)
Cleopatra (1963) Casca
Lad: A Dog (1962) Hamilcar Q. Glure
Belle Sommers (1962) (TV)
Lonely Are the Brave (1962) Hinton (truck driver)
By Love Possessed (1961) Bernie Breck
Parrish (1961) Firechief
A Fever in the Blood (1961) Matt Keenan
The Sacco-Vanzetti Story (1960) (mini) TV Series Frederick Katzman

Trivia

Had completed part of his undergraduate studies at the University of Montana before returning to earn a master's degree in speech in 1956.

While attending University of Montana, O'Connor was an associate editor for the college newspaper, the Kaimin. In 1949, he resigned his editing position in protest to the pressure from the campus administration that lead to confiscation and destruction of an issue of the paper, which carried a cartoon depicting the Montana Board of Education as rats gnawing at a bag of university funds.

In 1997, he and his wife, also a University of Montana graduate, donated $1 million to the University of Montana's Center for the Rocky Mountain West, a regional studies and public policy institute. The Center was renamed "Carroll and Nancy Fields O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West" in September of 1997.

Spent some time at the Juilliard School of Fine Arts as an acting and dialogue professor.

Earned a reported $250,000 a week for "All in the Family" in 1980.

His favorite expressions on "All in the Family" (1971) were "Dingbat" to his wife, Edith, "Meathead" to his son-in-law, Michael, and "Stifle yourself" to anyone who annoyed him.

Attended college in Ireland and began his career on the stage, playing in Dublin, London and Paris before making his Broadway debut in 1958.

Lost his restaurant in the Northridge earthquake. [17 January 1994]

He was instrumental in the passage of the Drug Dealers Civil Liability Act in California. The Act states that citizens can sue drug dealers whom they feel are responsible for the drug-related deaths of family members. The Act came about as a result of his son's drug-related suicide. He and "All in the Family" (1971) creator Norman Lear are not speaking to one another because O'Connor wants to reprise his "Archie Bunker" character, while Lear does not. He was sued for slander and invasion of privacy by the man he accused of being an accessory to his son's suicide, by supplying his son with drugs. O'Connor won the lawsuit.

Auditioned for the role of The Skipper on "Gilligan's Island" (1964).

Carroll O'Connor says that he came up with the address for the Bunker family residence (704 Hauser Street) when he was driving to work in L.A. He happened to find himself on Hauser Blvd (few blocks from CBS TV City) and thought the name sounded like part of Queens, New York where Archie was supposed to live.

In the early 1950s, while trying to launch his acting career, he worked as a substitute high school English teacher in order to pay the rent.

He met his wife, Nancy, while both were performing in the play "Life with Father" at the University of Montana.

Was fluent in Italian.

He passed away on the same day that blues legend, John Lee Hooker did. The coincidental thing about this is that their stars are right next to one another on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Mickey Rooney was Norman Lear's first choice to play Archie in the pilot of "All in the Family" (1971). Rooney had reservations about the character, so he refused.

Was a brother of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity

Was so displeased with CBS's axing of "Archie Bunker's Place" (1979) in 1983, without a chance to film an actual series finale, that he vowed to never work for the network again. (Nonetheless, his late-1980s NBC series, "In the Heat of the Night" (1988) later moved to CBS in 1992.)

Performed the "Archie Bunker" role for a remarkable 12 years and 307 episodes (_"All In the Family" (1971)_ and "Archie Bunker's Place" (1979)).

Passed away 37 days before what would have been his golden wedding anniversary with Nancy Fields.

Archie Bunker, O'Connor's character on "All in the Family" (1971), was ranked #24 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [20 June 2004 issue].

His only son, Hugh O'Connor, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, despondent over the disintegration of his life resulting from his long term drug addition. He was speaking with his father on the phone at the time. O'Connor did a public service announcement shortly before his death about the perils of drug abuse.

In real life, he was the total opposite of his "Archie Bunker" character. In fact, his "All in the Family" (1971) co-star Rob Reiner once remarked that O'Connor was even more liberal than Reiner himself.

As executive producer of "In the Heat of the Night" (1988), he often asked longtime friends and musicians to guest-star. Two of his favorites were Miss Jean Simmons and Bobby Short. He gave long-time friend, Lois Nettleton, a significant recurring role in the first few seasons.

He was a 33rd Degree Master Free Mason

Family

Spouse : Nancy O'Connor (28 July 1951 - 21 June 2001) (his death) 1 child

Father of Hugh O'Connor.

Author of the card

  • Creation date: 01/07/2003 by abdest

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