Chuck Connors

Biography for Chuck Connors

Born to Newfoundland immigrant parents, Chuck and his two-years-younger sister, Gloria, grew up in a working-class section on the west side of Brooklyn where their longshoreman-father worked the local docks.

Chuck's natural athletic prowess earned him a scholarship to Adelphi Academy, a private high school, and then to Seton Hall, a Catholic college in South Orange, New Jersey. Leaving Seton Hall after two years, on October 20, 1942 he joined the Army, officially listing his occupation as a ski instructor. After enlistment in the infantry at Fort Knox, he later served mostly as a tank-warfare instructor at Camp Campbell, Kentucky, and then finally at West Point. Following his discharge early in 1946, Chuck resumed his athletic pursuits. He played center for the Boston Celtics in the 1946-1947 season but left early for spring training with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Baseball had always been his first love and for the next several years he knocked about the minor leagues in such places as Rochester, Norfolk, Newark, Newport News, Mobile, and Montreal. (While in Montreal he met Elizabeth Riddell whom he married in October of 1948. They had four sons during their 13-year marriage.) He finally reached his goal, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, in May of 1949 but after just five weeks and one at-bat, he returned to Montreal. After a brief stint with the Chicago Cubs in 1951, during which he hit two home runs, Chuck wound up with the Cubs' Triple-A farm team, the L.A. Angels, in 1952. A baseball fan who was also a casting director for MGM spotted Chuck and recommended him for a part in the Tracy-Hepburn comedy, "Pat and Mike." Originally cast to play a prize-fighter in this film, the role went instead to Aldo Ray Chuck was cast to play a state police captain. Chuck now abandoned his athletic hopes and devoted full time to his acting career which often emphasized his muscular, 6-foot-5-inch physique.

During the next several years he made 20 movies, culminating in a key role in William Wyler's 1958 western, "The Big Country." Also appearing in many TV shows, he finally became a "big-name" in 1958 when "The Rifleman" began its highly-successful five-year run on ABC. Other TV series' followed as did a number of movies which, though mostly minor, allowed Chuck to display his range as both a stalwart "good guy" and a menacing "heavy."

He is buried in San Fernando Mission Cemetery with his tombstone carrying a photo of Connors as Lucas McCain in "The Rifleman" as well as logos from the three professional sports teams he played for: the Dodgers, Cubs, and Celtics.

Actor known in several films and series between 1952-1991.

Chuck Connors was an American actor born April 10, 1921 in Brooklyn, New York. He was best known for his role in the television series "The Rifleman", where he interpreted Lucas McCain, a widower and a single father living in the American West with his son Mark. The series was broadcast from 1958 to 1963 and was very popular at the time.

Before starting his acting career, Connors played professional basketball for several years. He was the first player to break an NBA basket during a match between the Brooklyn Nets and the Boston Celtics in 1946. He also played for the Chicago Bears in the NFL before turning to the actor.

Connors has also played in numerous films, notably "Soylent Green" (1973), "Geronimo" (1962) and "The Big Country" (1958). He died on November 10, 1992 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 71.

In addition to his acting career, Connors was also an activist for the rights of American Indians and supported many charities. He was also known for his passionate temperament and his sense of humor. His acting career has left a lasting imprint in the history of American television and he still remains today one of the most popular actors of the time.

Photos

Filmography

Trivia

• Played major league baseball (for the Chicago Cubs) in 1951.
• Connors also played professional basketball with the Boston Celtics.
• Chuck Person, an NBA Player, is named after him.
• According to a article on TV westerns in Time Magazine (March 30, 1959), Connors stood 6'5" tall, weighed 215 pounds, and had chest-waist-hips measurements of 45-34-41
• Almost suffered the same fate in each of his two TV westerns. On a 10-2-61 episode of "The Rifleman" (1958) called "The Vaqueros," he was stripped to the waist, tied to a tree and left to die under a scorching sun by a group of Mexican bandits. On an 11-14-65 episode of +"Branded" (1965)_ called "Fill No Glass for Me," he was stripped to the waist, tied to a tree and left to die under a scorching sun by a group of Indian warriors (in both cases he survived).
• Very likely the only guest commentator on Monday Night Baseball to use the F- word.
• Received a star on Hollywood's "Walk of Fame" in 1985.
• Was elected to the Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1991.
• In a 1997 biography titled "The Man Behind the Rifle," author David Fury says that "Chuck" Connors acquired his nickname while an athlete playing first base. He had a habit of calling to the pitcher: "Chuck it to me, baby, chuck it to me!"
• Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1991.
• Lucas McCain, Connors' character on "The Rifleman" (1958), was ranked #32 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [20 June 2004 issue].
• He was the first NBA player to shatter a backboard, he did it while playing for the Boston Celtics in 1946.
• Accepted the role of Mr. Slausen in Tourist Trap (1979) because he wanted to "become the Boris Karloff of of the 80s".
• On October 10, 1950, he was traded by the Brooklyn Dodgers - with whom he had appeared with in one game in 1949 - with Dee Fondy to the Chicago Cubs for Hank Edwards and cash. He spent part of the 1951 season with the Cubs.
• Before the 1940 baseball season, he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers as an amateur free agent.
• Was an altar boy and parishioner at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
• He was a staunch supporter of the Republican Party as well as a frequent guest at the White House during the administration of his close friend President Richard Nixon.
• Hospitalized with pneumonia three weeks before his death.

Quotes

"I don't want my kids growing up believing that there is nothing destructive in the world. I want them to know that there is good and bad in the world, that you can be hurt physically, that guns can kill you, that drugs are bad for you, that not everyone means well."

Family

• Spouse : Faith Quabius (1977 - 1979) (divorced), Kamala Devi (10 April 1963 - 1972) (divorced), Elizabeth Jane Riddell (1948 - 1961) (divorced)
• Four sons; Mike, Jeff Connors, Steve, Kevin.

Author of the card

• Creation date: 13/12/2007 by franckenstein