Actors - Carroll O'Connor

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	Actors - Carroll O'Connor

John Carroll O'Connor (August 2, 1924 – June 21, 2001) was an American actor, 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.

Biography

O'Connor, of Irish descent, was born in The Bronx, New York and he lived during much of his youth in Forest Hills in the New York City borough of Queens, the same borough in which his character Archie Bunker would later live. He served in the Merchant Marine during World War II, was educated in Montana and Ireland, and began his acting career shortly afterwards. 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) and Kelly's Heroes
(1970). O'Connor also appeared on episodes of many popular television series such as Gunsmoke, I Spy
, The Fugitive, and The Wild Wild West.

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. O'Connor did not expect the show to be a success, and believed that 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 Archie Bunker 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 Archie Bunker based on Alf Garnett, but somewhat less abrasive.

Although Archie Bunker was famous for murdering the English language by malapropism, O'Connor was highly educated and cultured. In fact, he was an English teacher before turning to acting.

He 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. He 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. He was instrumental in the passage of California’s Drug Dealers Civil Liability Act.

In the late 1990s, Carroll O'Connor taught screenwriting at The University of Montana, where he attended college in his earlier years. He died on June 21, 2001, at the age of 76 from a heart attack brought on by complications from diabetes.

Credits

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 (1988-1995)as Chief/Sheriff Bill Gillespie
Mad About You(1996-1999)Gus Stemple #3

Films/Made for T.V. 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

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Carroll O'Connor ]

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