Chuck Connors

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Birthday:

10 April 1921, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Birth Name:

Kevin Joseph Aloysius Connors

Height:

197 cm

Chuck Connors was born Kevin Joseph Connors in Brooklyn, New York, to Marcella (Londrigan) and Alban Francis "Allan" Connors. His parents were immigrants from the Dominion of Newfoundland (now part of Canada), and were of Irish descent. Chuck and his two-years-younger sister, Gloria, grew up in a working-class section of the west side of Brooklyn, where their father worked the local docks as a longshoreman.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, 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, he resumed his athletic pursuits. He played center for the Boston Celtics in the 1946-47 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 (NY), Norfolk (VA), Newark (NJ), Newport News (VA), Mobile (AL) and Montreal, Canada (while in Montreal he met Elizabeth Riddell, whom he married in October 1948. They had four sons during their 13-year marriage). He finally reached his goal, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, in May 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 Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn comedy Pat and Mike (1952). Originally cast to play a prizefighter, but that role went instead to Aldo Ray. Chuck was cast as a captain in the state police. He now abandoned his athletic hopes and devoted full time to his acting career, which often emphasized his muscular 6'6" physique.During the next several years he made 20 movies, culminating in a key role in William Wyler's 1958 western The Big Country (1958). Also appearing in many television series, he finally hit the big time in 1958 with The Rifleman (1958), which began its highly successful five-year run on ABC. Other television 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".Chuck Connors died at age 71 of lung cancer and pneumonia on November 10, 1992 in Los Angeles, California. 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. Show less «

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 ...Show more »

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. Show less «

[In 1973] The President gave me about two dozen presidential tie clips and ladies' pins, with instructions to spread them around when I thou...Show more »

[In 1973] The President gave me about two dozen presidential tie clips and ladies' pins, with instructions to spread them around when I thought it appropriate, Brezhnev [Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev] will get more than a tie clip. I've ordered two engraved Colt revolvers for the General Secretary, Brezhnev is quite a western buff. Show less «

[on The Rifleman (1958)'s theme song] I hear the same thing everywhere I go.

Well, it isn't because I'm the fidgety guy, seriously, I have to sit there like a mummy you can't move. Regular makeup you can turn around a...Show more »

Well, it isn't because I'm the fidgety guy, seriously, I have to sit there like a mummy you can't move. Regular makeup you can turn around and I sit there like that, and the worst part of it is, after working 14 hours, I can't just take it off, I have to sit for another hour because of the way they made these appliances, and they have to be taken out very slowly. Show less «

[Of Johnny Crawford] When Johnny came on the set in 1958, he was a little 12-year-old boy. He called everyone in the cast or crew "Sir" or "...Show more »

[Of Johnny Crawford] When Johnny came on the set in 1958, he was a little 12-year-old boy. He called everyone in the cast or crew "Sir" or "Ma'am". During the course of the five years of our run, he had two hit records, and he was nominated for an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor. And yet, when the show was finished after five seasons, Johnny went around and thanked everyone in the cast and crew, and he still called them "Sir" or "Ma'am". Show less «

[on his Lucas McCain character] Lucas was a righteous character, despite all the violence. We had the benefit of the father-son relationship...Show more »

[on his Lucas McCain character] Lucas was a righteous character, despite all the violence. We had the benefit of the father-son relationship, so I could have a little scene at the end of the show where I would explain to Mark, essentially, that sometimes violence is necessary, but it isn't good. And there was a lot of violence on The Rifleman (1958). We once figured out that I killed on the average of two and a half people per show. That's a lot of violence, but it was always covered by the scene with the little boy. And he would say, in essence, "Gee, you won Pa". And I would say, "Wait a minute son. You never win when you kill someone. It demeans you, it takes something away. People have got to learn to do away with violence and guns, and to love each other". And the viewers would forget the fact that I had killed three people during the show, because of the tender epilogue with Mark [Johnny's favorite scenes]. The warm father-son relationship was the heart of the program, and not only did we perform it, but Johnny and I became very close friends. Show less «

Now who goes to the games in LA? Producers, directors, writers, casting directors. So because of the good year, I became a kind of favorite ...Show more »

Now who goes to the games in LA? Producers, directors, writers, casting directors. So because of the good year, I became a kind of favorite of the show business people, unbeknownst to myself. Show less «

[About the character he was best-known for] I can never get rid of The Rifleman (1958), and I don't want to. It's a good image. Basically, [...Show more »

[About the character he was best-known for] I can never get rid of The Rifleman (1958), and I don't want to. It's a good image. Basically, [the show] was the simplicity of the love between the father and the son. That was the foundation. The rifle was for show, but the relationship was for real. There was some violence, but at the end, I would explain to the boy that the violence was not something we wanted to do, but had to do. Show less «

[In 1989] I was a bum of a hitter just not cut out for the majors. But, I will never forget Stan's kindness. When he finished watching me cu...Show more »

[In 1989] I was a bum of a hitter just not cut out for the majors. But, I will never forget Stan's kindness. When he finished watching me cut away at the ball, Stan slapped me on the back and told me to keep swinging. Show less «

[In 1992, about being typecasted because of The Rifleman (1958)] If you're ever being typecasted--as most of us are-- that's a great way to ...Show more »

[In 1992, about being typecasted because of The Rifleman (1958)] If you're ever being typecasted--as most of us are-- that's a great way to be typecasted. So, "The Rifleman" is still popular with a lot of people, and I'm proud to be associated. Show less «

[In 1987 about playing the lead in Werewolf (1987)] It's played very straight and dramatically, but with a tinge of black humor, I play evil...Show more »

[In 1987 about playing the lead in Werewolf (1987)] It's played very straight and dramatically, but with a tinge of black humor, I play evil incarnate, a 1,600-year-old man in full control of his werewolfism. Janos will kill and eat anybody and anything. Eric, on the other hand, kills only bad people in defense of his own life or those of innocent victims. Show less «

[on his first introduction to Johnny Crawford, who was auditioning to play his son Mark in The Rifleman (1958)] I remember the first time I ...Show more »

[on his first introduction to Johnny Crawford, who was auditioning to play his son Mark in The Rifleman (1958)] I remember the first time I saw him, I was sitting there with the producer and we were interviewing kids to play Mark. We must have interviewed 20 or 30, then Johnny came in and before we even talked to him I said, "That's him, that's The Rifleman's son". Show less «

[In 1960] What's cost? This is insurance. At what we pay Connors, what will it cost if he's crippled?

[comparing his baseball and acting careers] So why not be a switch hitter with the rifle, too? Let's learn both ways.

[In 1988] Somebody would like to have that [my agent]. He'll take that instead of commission.

[regarding his baseball career] I was a switch-hitter, remember? At most things, I'm a good with one hand as the other.

I have only five days to win the job. So I can't take time out for injuries.

I'm more than satisfied to stay put in Los Angeles. The Coast League is one of the best leagues in baseball and the living and playing condi...Show more »

I'm more than satisfied to stay put in Los Angeles. The Coast League is one of the best leagues in baseball and the living and playing conditions are superior. Show less «

[on working in Pat and Mike (1952)] They paid me $500 for my week's work in that movie. I figured they'd made some mistake on the adding mac...Show more »

[on working in Pat and Mike (1952)] They paid me $500 for my week's work in that movie. I figured they'd made some mistake on the adding machine, but I stuck the check in my pocket and shut up. Baseball, I told myself, just lost a first baseman. Show less «

[on how he landed the starring role in South Sea Woman (1953)] I had done just a couple of pictures, and I was sitting outside a little dres...Show more »

[on how he landed the starring role in South Sea Woman (1953)] I had done just a couple of pictures, and I was sitting outside a little dressing room at Warner Bros, and they were testing a lot of people [for the role of Pvt. Davie White] and I was sitting in my Marine uniform waiting to be called and I went out to get a breath of fresh air, when down the street comes Burt Lancaster in a Marine uniform. And in those days the stars never tested with the actors. So I said to him, "Mr. Lancaster what are you doing here?" And he was a baseball fan, so he just decided to come down and test with me. So he took me in the dressing room to, as he said, "run the lines", and I didn't even know what that expression meant then. Finally I figured him out and I said, "Oh, you mean you want to practice?" So anyhow we read the scene and man he looked at me and said, "Boy we've got to work on this!" About then my name is called on the loudspeaker to come in on stage and Burt goes to the door and yells out to the people, "Hey, I'm talking here, we'll be another 20 minutes, go ahead and test somebody else". Well he went over that scene, seven pages long, to give me some semblance of approaching it proper. And then I went in and did it and got the part. But Burt took that time on his own and I gotta give him credit. Show less «

[In 1953] I owe baseball all that I have and much of what I hope to have. Baseball made my entrance to the film industry immeasurably easier...Show more »

[In 1953] I owe baseball all that I have and much of what I hope to have. Baseball made my entrance to the film industry immeasurably easier than I could have made it alone. To the greatest game in the world I shall be eternally in debt. Show less «

[In 1961] I've been wanting to do a movie. I've had some offers, but they always wanted me to play the same kind of character as Lucas McCai...Show more »

[In 1961] I've been wanting to do a movie. I've had some offers, but they always wanted me to play the same kind of character as Lucas McCain [The Rifleman (1958)]. So I turned the pictures down, including The Alamo (1960). People see me for free every week as Lucas; why would they pay to see me in the same type of role? Show less «

[on his popularity while playing the 40-something Lucas McCain on The Rifleman (1958)] What did I find out? That the concept of "Rifleman" i...Show more »

[on his popularity while playing the 40-something Lucas McCain on The Rifleman (1958)] What did I find out? That the concept of "Rifleman" is sound. I asked if people wanted any changes. Most of them said to leave it as it is. I asked if they wanted Lucas McCain to marry. They said no. Show less «

[on the cancellation of The Rifleman (1958)] I knew what [The Lucy Show (1962)] would do to our ratings and I didn't want to wait around unt...Show more »

[on the cancellation of The Rifleman (1958)] I knew what [The Lucy Show (1962)] would do to our ratings and I didn't want to wait around until our show was dropped and I might be an actor nobody wanted. The show would have gone five years, and that's long enough. By that time, you have done everything possible with your characters. If you keep on going, you're just cheating the public. Show less «

There were two things wrong with me. I had a crew cut and I've never been on a horse. I did something about it. I let my hair grow and I sho...Show more »

There were two things wrong with me. I had a crew cut and I've never been on a horse. I did something about it. I let my hair grow and I shopped around for a horse. Show less «

[of Barry Goldwater who suggested he try for the Senate in February 1967 during a conversation at the Tucson National Country Club] I was in...Show more »

[of Barry Goldwater who suggested he try for the Senate in February 1967 during a conversation at the Tucson National Country Club] I was in the foursome in front of him and Arnold Palmer. We've met several times before and we were talking about Ronnie's [Ronald Reagan] election and politics in general when the senator said I should run for the Senate. I was flattered. I told him I didn't think it would be possible. He told me I might change my mind later on. Show less «

[In 1958] You're doing fine work. That pitch was right in there.

[About being a rugged sports player before he became a rugged leading man] I'm in about as good shape as when I quit baseball in 1952.