Carroll O'Connor

Summary

John Carroll O'Connor (August 2, 1924 – June 21, 2001) was an American actor whose television career spanned over four decades. O'Connor found widespread fame as Archie Bunker (for which he won four Emmy Awards), the main character in the CBS television sitcoms All in the Family (1971–1979) and its continuation, Archie Bunker's Place (1979–1983). O'Connor later starred in the NBC/CBS television crime drama In the Heat of the Night (1988–1995), where he played the role of police chief William "Bill" Gillespie. In the late 1990s, he played Gus Stemple, the father of Jamie Buchman (Helen Hunt) on Mad About You. In 1996, O'Connor was ranked number 38 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.[1] He won five Emmys and one Golden Globe Award.

Carroll O'Connor
O'Connor as Archie Bunker in 1975
Born
John Carroll O'Connor

(1924-08-02)August 2, 1924
DiedJune 21, 2001(2001-06-21) (aged 76)
Burial placeWestwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity College Dublin (BA)
University of Montana (MA)
OccupationActor
Years active1951–2000
Spouse
Nancy Fields
(m. 1951)
ChildrenHugh O'Connor

Early life edit

Carroll O'Connor, the eldest of three sons, was born on August 2, 1924, in Manhattan,[2] New York City, to Edward Joseph O'Connor,[3] a lawyer, and his wife, Elise Patricia O'Connor (née O'Connor), a teacher. Both of his brothers became doctors: Hugh, who died in a motorcycle accident in 1961, and Robert, a psychiatrist in New York City.[2] O'Connor spent much of his youth in Elmhurst and Forest Hills, Queens, which is where his character Archie Bunker would later live.[4]

O'Connor graduated from Newtown High School in Elmhurst. In 1941, he enrolled at Wake Forest University in North Carolina but dropped out when the United States entered World War II. During the war, he was rejected by the United States Navy and enrolled in the United States Merchant Marine Academy for a short time. After leaving that institution, he became a merchant seaman and served in the United States Merchant Marine during the war.[5]

After the war, O'Connor attended the University of Montana, where he worked at the Montana Kaimin student newspaper as an editor; in 1949 he resigned his editing position in protest to the pressure from the campus administration that led to the 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. At the University of Montana, he also joined the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.[6] O'Connor did not take any drama courses as an undergraduate at the University of Montana, but he did act in student theater productions. He met Nancy Fields (born 1929), who later became his wife, when she was working as a makeup artist and lighting technician in a student-produced production of Our Town. He later left that university to help his younger brother Hugh get into medical school in Ireland, where Carroll completed his undergraduate studies at University College Dublin. There he studied Irish history and English literature, graduated in 1952, and began his acting career.[2]

After O'Connor's fiancée, Nancy Fields, graduated from the University of Montana in 1951 with degrees in drama and English, she sailed to Ireland to study at Trinity College Dublin and met Carroll, who was visiting his brother, Hugh.[7] The couple married in Dublin on July 28, 1951.[3] In 1956, O'Connor returned to the University of Montana to earn a master's degree in speech.[7]

Prolific character actor edit

After acting in theatrical productions in Dublin and New York during the 1950s, O'Connor's breakthrough came when he was cast by director Burgess Meredith (assisted by John Astin) in a featured role in the Broadway adaptation of James Joyce's novel Ulysses. O'Connor and Meredith remained close, lifelong friends.[8]

O'Connor made his television acting debut as a character actor on two episodes of Sunday Showcase. These two parts led to other roles on such television series as The Americans, The Eleventh Hour, Bonanza, The Fugitive, The Wild Wild West, Armstrong Circle Theatre, The Outer Limits, The Great Adventure, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Dr. Kildare, I Spy, That Girl, Premiere, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Insight, “The Twilight Zone”, among many others. O'Connor guest-starred as Josef Varsh in the first season of Mission Impossible, season one, episode 18 "The Trial". Late in his career, he appeared on several episodes of Mad About You as the father of Helen Hunt's character.

Considered roles edit

He was among the actors considered for the roles of the Skipper on Gilligan's Island and Dr. Smith in the TV show Lost in Space, and he was the visual template in the creation of Batman nemesis Rupert Thorne, a character who debuted at the height of All in the Family's success in Detective Comics No. 469 (published May 1976 by DC Comics).

Early film roles edit

O'Connor appeared in a number of studio films in the 1960s and early 1970s, including Lonely Are the Brave (1962), Cleopatra (1963), In Harm's Way (1965), What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966), Hawaii (1966), Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966), Warning Shot (1967), Point Blank (1967), The Devil's Brigade (1968), For Love of Ivy (1968), Death of a Gunfighter (1969), Marlowe (1969), Kelly's Heroes (1970) and Doctors' Wives (1971). In many of his roles he portrayed a military or police officer, in several a particularly blustery one.

Television roles edit

In the 1960s, O'Connor appeared in episodes of notable television series such as The Americans, The Untouchables, Naked City, Death Valley Days, Bonanza, The Defenders, The Outer Limits, The Fugitive, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare, I Spy, The Wild Wild West, Mission: Impossible, The Time Tunnel, That Girl and Gunsmoke (1966 - "The Wrong Man"; S12E7).

O'Connor also performed in anthology television shows such as NBC Sunday Showcase, The United States Steel Hour, Armstrong Circle Theatre, The Play of the Week, The Dick Powell Show, Alcoa Premiere, The DuPont Show of the Week, Profiles in Courage and Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre.

All in the Family edit

 
Publicity photo of O'Connor and Jean Stapleton in All in the Family, 1973

O'Connor was living in Italy in 1968 when producer Norman Lear asked him to come to New York City and star in a series that he was creating for ABC titled Justice For All. Lear recruited O'Connor to play the role of Archie Justice, a bigot who was able to bring forth some measure of empathy from the audience. After two television pilots of the sitcom were produced (between 1968 and 1970), the hosting network was changed to CBS.[9] For the third pilot, the last name of its main character was changed to Bunker, and its title was changed to All in the Family. The show was based on the BBC's Till Death Us Do Part, and Bunker was based on Alf Garnett, but he was somewhat less abrasive than the original British character. O'Connor's Queens background and his ability to speak with a working-class New York accent both influenced Lear to set the show in Queens.[10]

Desiring a well known actor to play the lead, Lear approached Mickey Rooney, but he declined the role.[11] O'Connor accepted the role because he did not expect the show to succeed, and he believed that he would move back to Europe when it failed. In her book Archie & Edith, Mike & Gloria: the Tumultuous History of All in the Family, Donna McCrohan revealed that O'Connor had requested that Lear provide him with a return airplane ticket to Rome as a condition of his acceptance of the role so that he could return to Italy when the show failed. Instead, All in the Family became the highest-rated show on American television for five consecutive seasons.

While O'Connor's personal politics were liberal, he understood the Bunker character and played him not only with bombast and humor but with touches of vulnerability. The show's writing was consistently left of center, but O'Connor, while his character held right-wing views, could also deftly skewer the liberal pieties of the day. Bunker was famous for his English language malapropisms, but O'Connor was in truth a highly educated and cultured man and taught English before he turned to acting.[12] Archie Bunker's long-suffering wife Edith was played by Jean Stapleton, also from New York City, a Broadway actress whom Lear remembered from the play and film Damn Yankees. The show also starred unknown character actors Rob Reiner as Archie's liberal son-in-law Michael "Meathead" Stivic and Sally Struthers as Gloria, Archie and Edith's only child and Mike's wife.

CBS debated whether the controversial subject matter of All in the Family would mesh with a sitcom. Racial issues, ethnicities, religions, class, education, women's equality, gun control, politics, inflation, the Vietnam War, energy crisis, Watergate and other timely topics of the 1970s were addressed. Like its British predecessor Till Death Us Do Part, the show lent dramatic social substance to the traditional sitcom format. Archie Bunker's popularity made O'Connor a top-billing star of the 1970s. O'Connor was apprehensive of being typecast for playing the role, but at the same time he was protective, not just of his character, but of the entire show.[13]

A contract dispute between O'Connor and Lear marred the beginning of the show's fifth season. Eventually O'Connor received a raise and appeared in the series until it ended. For his work as Archie Bunker, he was nominated for eight Emmy Awards as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series; he won the award four times (1972, 1977, 1978 and 1979). At the end of the eighth season in 1978, Reiner and Struthers left the series to pursue other projects.[14]

Rob Reiner said in a 2014 interview about his on- and off-screen chemistry with O'Connor: "We did over 200 shows in front of a live audience. So I learned a lot about what audiences like, what they don't like, how stories are structured. I would spend a lot of time in the writing room and I actually wrote some scripts. And from Carroll O'Connor I learned a lot about how you perform and how important the script and story are for the actors. So the actor doesn't have to push things. You can let the story and the dialogue support you if it's good. I had great people around me, and I took from all the people who were around." Comparing O'Connor's character to Archie Bunker, Reiner said: "Carroll O'Connor brought his humanity to the character even though he had these abhorrent views. He's still a feeling, human being. He loved his wife even though he acted the way he did, and he loved his daughter. Those things come out. I don't think anybody's all good or all bad."[15]

Archie Bunker's Place edit

When All in the Family ended after nine seasons, Archie Bunker's Place continued in its place and ran for four additional years. Longtime friend and original series star Jean Stapleton kept her role as Edith Bunker, but she was limited to five guest appearances in Season 1. In the second-season premiere, her character died of a stroke, leaving Archie to cope with the loss. The show was canceled in 1983. O'Connor was angered about the show's cancellation, maintaining that the show ended with an inappropriate finale.[citation needed] He would later work for CBS again when he starred in In the Heat of the Night on NBC and they decided not to renew the series. CBS allowed the series to continue for two more years and have a proper ending.[16]

In the Heat of the Night edit

While coping with his son's drug problem, O'Connor starred as Sparta, Mississippi, Police Chief Bill Gillespie, a tough veteran cop on In the Heat of the Night. Based on the novel by John Ball and the 1967 movie of the same name, the series debuted on NBC in March 1988 and performed well. He cast his inexperienced son Hugh O'Connor as Officer Lonnie Jamison. The headquarters of the Sparta Police Department was actually the library in Covington, Georgia.

In 1989, while working on the set, O'Connor was hospitalized and underwent open heart surgery, which caused him to miss four episodes at the end of the second season. (Actor Joe Don Baker took his place in those episodes as an acting police chief.) O'Connor would later serve as one of the executive producers for the series, starting with the third season. The series was transferred from NBC to CBS in 1992 and cancelled two years later after its seventh season. O'Connor reprised his role the following year for four two-hour In the Heat of the Night television films.[17]

While on the series, O'Connor recorded "Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella" for the 1991 In the Heat of the Night Christmas CD Christmas Time's A Comin'. He was joined by Grand Ole Opry star mandolinist Jesse McReynolds, Nashville accordionist Abe Manuel Jr., and Nashville fiddlers Buddy Spicher and Randall Franks. CD Producer and series co-star Randall Franks created the arrangement which was co-produced by series co-star Alan Autry. He joined other members of the cast for a recording of "Jingle Bells" with vocals by Country Music Hall of Fame members Little Jimmy Dickens, Kitty Wells, Pee Wee King, The Marksmen Quartet, Bobby Wright, Johnnie Wright and Ken Holloway.[18] According to MeTV, Carroll wrote several episodes under the pseudonym Matt Harris.

Career honors edit

Other honors edit

He became a lifelong member of the Actors Studio[19] in 1971.

In 1973, his fraternity conferred its highest honor, the Sigma Phi Epsilon Citation, on him.[6]

O'Connor is the only male actor to have won the lead acting Emmy Award in both the comedy and drama series categories.

In July 1991, O'Connor, Jean Stapleton, Reiner, and Sally Struthers reunited to celebrate the 20th anniversary of All in the Family. With reruns airing in syndication on TV Land, Antenna TV and CBS, the show's popularity continued.

In March 2000, O'Connor received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was given a St. Patrick's Day tribute by MGM.

O'Connor's caricature is displayed at Sardi's restaurant in New York City's Theater District.

Personal life edit

In 1962, while he was in Rome filming Cleopatra, O'Connor and his wife Nancy Fields O'Connor[20] adopted a six-day-old boy, naming him Hugh[21] after O'Connor's brother who had died a year earlier. At age 17, Hugh worked as a courier on the set of Archie Bunker's Place. O'Connor eventually created the role of Officer Lonnie Jamison on In the Heat of the Night for his son.

O'Connor was a devout Catholic who regularly attended Mass.[22]

In 1989, O'Connor was admitted to the hospital for heart bypass surgery and quit his 30-year smoking habit.[23]

On March 28, 1995, O'Connor's son Hugh died by suicide after a long battle with drug addiction.[24][25] Following his son's death, O'Connor appeared in public service announcements for the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and spent the rest of his life working to raise awareness about drug addiction. O'Connor also successfully lobbied the state of California to pass legislation allowing family members of an addicted person or anyone injured by a drug dealer's actions, including employers, to sue for reimbursement for medical treatment, rehabilitation costs and other economic and noneconomic damages.[citation needed] The law, known as the Drug Dealer Civil Liability Act, went into effect in 1997. It is also referred to as the Hugh O'Connor Memorial Law. The act is based on the 1992 Model Drug Dealer Liability Act, which has been passed in 17 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Cases have been brought under the act in states such as California, Illinois, and Utah.

His son's suicide inspired him to start a crusade against the man who had sold the drugs to Hugh. He called Harry Perzigian "a partner in murder" and a "sleazeball,"[25] and Perzigian countered with a defamation lawsuit against O'Connor.[25] In 1997, a California jury decided in O'Connor's favor.[26][27] In an interview on CNN's Larry King Live soon after the verdict, O'Connor said that he would never be able to put his son's death behind him, saying: "I can't forget it. There isn't a day that I don't think of him and want him back and miss him, and I'll feel that way until I'm not here anymore."

During the late 1990s, O'Connor established a small automotive restoration shop in Newbury Park, California. Called Carroll O'Connor Classics, the shop contained many of O'Connor's personal vehicles and the cars once owned by his late son.[28] Among the cars O'Connor owned were a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow sold to him by William Harrah, a Maserati 3500 GT, and a Dodge Challenger equipped with a 440-cubic inch V-8, which he drove during production of All in the Family.

In 1997, the O'Connors donated US$1 million (equivalent to $1,822,968 in 2022) to their alma mater to help match a challenge grant to the University of Montana from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The university named a regional studies and public policy institute the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West.[7] Afterward, O'Connor taught screenwriting at the university.

In 1998, O'Connor underwent a second surgery to clear the blockage in a carotid artery in order to reduce his risk of stroke.

Death edit

 
O'Connor's grave

O'Connor died at the age of 76 on June 21, 2001, in Culver City, California, from a heart attack brought on by complications from diabetes. His funeral mass was celebrated at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Westwood, and was attended by All in the Family cast members Rob Reiner, Sally Struthers, and Danielle Brisebois, as well as producer Norman Lear. Jean Stapleton, a close friend of O'Connor's since the early 1960s, did not attend the service because of a commitment for a stage performance.[29]

O'Connor's best friend Larry Hagman and his family attended the funeral, along with the surviving cast of In the Heat of the Night, including Alan Autry and Denise Nicholas. Actor Martin Sheen, then starring on The West Wing, delivered the eulogy. O'Connor's body was buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery with his son Hugh's cenotaph placed on his gravestone.

In honor of O'Connor's career, 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, TV Land also showed interview footage of O'Connor and various All in the Family actors, producers with whom he had worked, and other associates. His wife Nancy Fields O'Connor died on November 10, 2014, at age 84.[30]

Filmography edit

as Actor edit

Film edit

Year Title Role Notes
1950 Convicted Correction Officer uncredited
1958 The Defiant Ones Truck Driver uncredited
1961 A Fever in the Blood Matt Keenan
1961 Parrish Firechief uncredited
1961 By Love Possessed Bernie Breck
1962 Lonely Are the Brave Hinton
1962 Lad: A Dog Hamilcar Q. Glure
1963 Cleopatra Casca
1965 In Harm's Way Lieutenant Commander Burke
1966 What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? General Bolt
1966 Hawaii Charles Bromley
1966 Not with My Wife, You Don't! General Maynard C. Parker
1967 Warning Show Paul Jerez
1967 Point Blank Brewster
1967 Waterhole#3 Sheriff John Copperud
1968 The Devil's Brigade Major General Maxwell Hunter
1968 For Love of Ivy Frank Austin
1969 Death of a Gunfighter Lester Locke
1969 Marlowe Lieutenant Christy French
1970 Kelly's Heroes General Colt
1971 Doctors' Wives Dr. Joe Gray
1974 Law & Disorder Willie
1998 Gideon Leo Barnes
2000 Return to Me Marty O'Reily

Television edit

Year Title Role Notes
1951 The Whiteheaded Boy Donagh Brosnan TV movie
1960 The Citadel unknown role TV movie
1960 Sunday Showcase Frederick Katzman 2 episodes
1960 The United States Steel Hour Tom O'Bryne "Shadow of a Pale Horse"
1960 Adventures in Paradise Henry Greshham "Hangman's Island"
1960 Shirley Temple's Storybook Appleyard "The Black Arrow"
1960–61 Armstrong Circle Theatre Doc Turner/Rudolf Höß/Rudolf Höess/Stanley Morgan 4 episodes
1961 Play of the Week unknown role "He Who Gets Slapped"
1961 The Aquanauts The Lieutenant "The Double Adventure"
1961 The Americans Captain Garbor "The Coward"
1962–62 The Untouchables Arnie Kurtz/Barney Lubin 2 episodes
1962 Belle Sommers Mr. Griffith TV movie
1962 Naked City Tony Corran/Owen Oliver 2 episodes
1962–63 The Dick Powell Theatre Dr. Lyman Savage/Leonard Barsevick 2 episodes
1962–63 The Defenders Dr. Hugh Morgan/Joshua Ryder 2 episodes
1962–65 Ben Casey Dr. Wendel Clarke/Father Joseph McGavin 2 episodes
1962–65 Dr. Kildare David Burnside/Roy Drummond 2 episodes
1963 Death Valley Days Senator Dave Broderick "A Gun Is Not a Gentleman"
1963 Stoney Burke Harry Clark "Web of Fear"
1963 Alcoa Premiere Charles Compion "The Dark Labyrinth"
1963 The Eleventh Hour Dr. Ben Conway "Pressure Breakdown"
1963 Bonanza Tom Slayen "The Boss"
1963 East Side/West Side George Audette "Age of Consent"
1963 The Silver Burro unknown role TV movie
1963 The DuPont Show of the Week N.S. Kellogg "The Silver Burro"
1963–64 The Great Adventure Johann Sutter/O'Rourke 2 episodes
1964 The Outer Limits Deimos "Controlled Experiment"
1964 The Fugitive Sheriff Bray "Flight from the Final Demon"
1964 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Walter B. Brach "The Green Opal Affair"
1964 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Old John "Long Live the King"
1964 The Yellowbird unknown role TV movie
1964–66 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Captain Ted Eyck/Lawson 2 episodes
1965 Profiles in Courage Grover Cleveland "Grover Cleveland"
1965 Slattery's People Lieutenant Wayne Altman/Victor Newleaf 2 episodes
1966 I Spy Karolyi "It's All Done with Mirrors"
1966 The Time Tunnel General Southall/Colonel Phil Southall "The Last Patrol"
1966 The Wild Wild West Fabian Lavendor "The Night of the Ready-Made Corpse"
1966–67 Gunsmoke Major Vanscoy/Hootie Kyle 2 episodes
1967 Mission: Impossible Josef Varsh "The Trial"
1967 That Girl Giuseppe Casanetti "A Tenor's Loving Care"
1967 Dundee and the Culhane McJames "The Duelist Brief"
1968 Premiere James Van Ducci "Walk in the Sky"
1971-79 All in the Family Archie Bunker/Archie Justice series regular (208 episodes)
1968 Justice for All Archie Justice TV movie
1969 Fear No Evil Myles Donovan TV movie
1969 The Magical World of Disney Mr. Davis 2 episodes
1967–70 Insight Kelly/Clerk 2 episodes
1969–70 The Governor & J.J. Orrin Hacker 2 episodes
1971 Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In Himself (Guest Performer) "Carroll O'Connor"
1971 The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour The CBS Censor "Glenn Ford, Carroll O'Connor, Robert Merrill, Harvey Korman, Steve Martin"
1971 Dinah's Place Himself (Guest) 12.28.1971
1971–73 The Dean Martin Show Himself (Guest) 2 episodes
1972 Of Thee I Sing John P. Wintergreen TV movie
1972 The ABC Comedy Hour Himself (Guest) "The Friars Roast Sammy Davis Jr."
1972 The Electric Company Himself (Guest) "166"
1972–89 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Himself (Guest) 10 episodes
1973 The TV Comedy Years unknown role TV movie
1974 Dinah! Himself (Guest) 3 episodes
1974–76 Tony Orlando and Dawn Himself (Guest) 3 episodes
1975 Sammy and Company Himself (Guest) "Carroll O'Connor/Vicki Lawrence/Waylon Jennings/Willie Tyler & Lester"
1976 American Bandstand Himself (Guest) "#19.37"
1976 Saturday Night Live Himself (uncredited) "Norman Lear/Boz Scaggs"
1977 The Last Hurrah Frank Skeffington TV movie
1977 The Jacksons Himself (Guest) "Carroll O'Connor"
1977 An All-Star Tribute to Elizabeth Taylor Himself Documentary
1979–83 Archie Bunker's Place Archie Bunker series regular (97 episodes)
1982 Gloria Archie Bunker "Gloria, the First Day"
1985 Brass Frank Nolan TV movie
1985 The GLO Friends Save Christmas Santa Claus (voice role) TV movie
1986 The Redd Foxx Show Pat Cleary "Old Buddies"
1986 Convicted Lewis May TV movie
1987 The Father Clements Story Cardinal Cody TV movie
1988–95 In the Heat of the Night Chief/Sheriff William O. "Bill" Gillespie series regular (146 episodes)
1989–91 The Arsenio Hall Show Himself (Guest) 2 episodes
1996 Party of Five Jacob Gordon/Jake Gordon recurring role (6 episodes)
1996–99 Mad About You Gus Stemple recurring role (4 episodes)
1997 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Himself (Guest) #5.134"
1998 The Rosie O'Donnell Show Himself (Guest) "03.04.1998"
1999 36 Hours to Die Jack "Balls" O'Malley TV movie
2000 Donny & Marie Himself (Guest) "04.24.2000"
2000 E! True Hollywood Story Himself "All in the Family"
2001 Biography Himself "Carroll O'Connor: All in the Family"

Theater edit

Year Title Role Notes
1959 God and Kate Murphy Patrick Molloy understudy/Assistant Stage Manager 12 performances
1983 Brothers Jim/Director 7 previews; 1 performance
1985 Home Front Bob 11 previews; 13 performances

as Other edit

Year Title Contribution Role Notes
1971–79 All in the Family Composer/Lyricist/Performer Composer/Lyricist: Closing theme "Remembering You" (194 episodes)
Performer: "Those Were the Days" (207 episodes)
1973 Carroll O'Connor Special Writer Himself TV special
1979–83 Archie Bunker's Place Composer Closing theme (97 episodes)
1975–76 Bronk Creator/Executive Producer/Executive Consultant Creator (25 episodes)
Executive Producer: "Pilot"
Executive Consultant (24 episodes)
1977 The Banana Company Executive Producer TV movie
1977 The Last Hurrah Executive Producer/Writer TV movie
1979 Bender Executive Producer TV movie
1980–82 Archie Bunker's Place Director/Story Editor/Writer Director (9 episodes)
Story Editor: 27 episodes
Writer: 1 episode
Story by: 2 episodes
1981 Man, Myth and Titans Writer TV movie documentary (teleplay)
1985 Brass Executive Producer/Writer TV movie
1986 The Merv Griffin Show Music 7.11.1986 Music: "Remembering You"
1986 The Redd Foxx Show Director/Writer "Old Buddies"
1988–95 In the Heat of the Night Director/Story Editor/Writer/Supervising Producer/Executive Producer/Lyricist Director (4 episodes)
Story Editor (46 episodes)
Writer (20 episodes)
Story by (4 episodes)
Teleplay (3 episodes)
Supervising Producer (Episode: "Fairest of Them All")
Executive Producer (115 episodes)
Lyricist: (2 episodes)
— "When the Music Stopped" (1992); Original Song "About a Mile"
— "Ches and the Grand Lady" (1994); Original Song "Gray Sundays In"

Author edit

  • I Think I'm Outta Here (ISBN 0-671-01760-8) (1999) Autobiography

Accolades edit

Emmy Awards edit

Year/Ceremony Category Title Results Ref
1971 – 23rd Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series All in the Family Nominated
1972 – 24th Primetime Emmy Awards Won
1973 – 25th Primetime Emmy Awards Nominated
1974 – 26th Primetime Emmy Awards Nominated
1975 – 27th Primetime Emmy Awards Nominated
1977 – 29th Primetime Emmy Awards Won
1978 – 30th Primetime Emmy Awards Won
1979 – 31st Primetime Emmy Awards Won
1989 – 41st Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series In the Heat of the Night Won
Hall of Fame Television Honoree

Golden Globes edit

Year/Ceremony Category Title Results Ref
1972 — 29th Golden Globes Best Performance by an Actor in a Television — Comedy or Musical All in the Family Won [31]
1973 – 30th Golden Globes Nominated
1974 — 31st Golden Globes Nominated
1975 – 32nd Golden Globes Nominated
1976 — 33rd Golden Globes Nominated
1978 – 34th Golden Globes Nominated
1989 – 45th Golden Globes Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Drama In the Heat of the Night Nominated
1990 – 46th Golden Globes Nominated
1991 – 47th Golden Globes Nominated
1992 – 49th Golden Globes Nominated
1994 – 51st Golden Globes Nominated

Walk of Fame edit

Year/Ceremony Category Result Ref
2000 – March 17, 2000 Television — 7080 Hollywood, Blvd. Honoree

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Special Collectors' Issue: 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time". TV Guide. No. December 14–20. 1996.
  2. ^ a b c Carroll O'Connor interview with the Archive of American Television on YouTube
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Carroll O'Connor Biography (1924–2001)". Film Reference. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  4. ^ Severo, Richard. "Carroll O'Connor, Embodiment of Social Tumult as Archie Bunker, Dies at 76", The New York Times, June 22, 2001. Accessed November 18, 2007. "The O'Connors lived well, at first in the Bronx, later in a larger apartment in Elmhurst, Queens, and finally in a nice single-family home in Forest Hills, Queens, then an enclave for people of means."
  5. ^ Shattuck, Kathryn (2013). "Carroll O'Connor". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 16, 2013. Retrieved March 19, 2009.
  6. ^ a b "Sigma Phi Epsilon – Prominent Alumni". Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. Archived from the original on February 28, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
  7. ^ a b c "All in the UM Family – O'Connors Donate $1 Million to Center". University of Montana. Archived from the original on July 2, 2011. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
  8. ^ O'Connor, Carroll (April 1, 1999). I Think I'm Outta Here. Simon & Schuster. pp. 140–143. ISBN 978-0671017606.
  9. ^ "'All in the Family': ABC Passed on Two Separate Pilots Before Show Went to CBS". February 23, 2021.
  10. ^ Eder, Bruce (2007). "Carroll O'Connor". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 19, 2007. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  11. ^ "ALL IN THE FAMILY – 10 Facts About Archie, Edith, and the 1970s Classic".
  12. ^ Slewinski, Christy (March 25, 1994). "It's No Big Deal". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
  13. ^ "'All in the Family': Carroll O'Connor Was 'Difficult and Often Abusive,' the Show's Exec Producer Said". March 6, 2021.
  14. ^ "'All in the Family': Gloria Actress Sally Struthers Explained Why She and Rob Reiner Left Show". March 14, 2021.
  15. ^ Minow, Neil (July 20, 2014). "Rob Reiner on the Middle-Age Love Story 'And So It Goes'". HuffPost.
  16. ^ "CBS Grabs 'Heat of the Night,' but NBC May Want It Back". February 25, 1992.
  17. ^ "In the Heat of the Night (TV Series 1988–1995)". IMDb.
  18. ^ "Christmas Times' A Comin'".
  19. ^ Garfield, David (1980). "Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980". A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan Publishing. p. 279. ISBN 978-0025426504.
  20. ^ The Missoulian. November 13, 2014. Briggeman, Kim. "Missoula's Mrs. Archie Bunker - Nancy O'Connor - dies at 84 in Malibu"
  21. ^ "Trial Ends, But Not Tragedy, For Actor Carroll O'Connor". AP NEWS. February 17, 1996. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  22. ^ Hurley, Joseph; O'Hanlon, Ray (February 16, 2011). "Archive: Actor Carroll O'Connor dead at 76". The Irish Echo. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  23. ^ "Carroll O'Connor has gall bladder removed". UPI. March 20, 1989. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  24. ^ "Carroll O'Connor's Son Kills Himself at 33". The New York Times. March 30, 1995. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  25. ^ a b c Waxman, Sharon (July 23, 1997). "SLANDER SUIT LETS ACTOR HAVE HIS SAY". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  26. ^ "Convicted Drug Supplier to Actor's Son Is Attacked". Los Angeles Times. August 6, 1997. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  27. ^ O'Neill, Ann W.; Mozingo, Joe (July 26, 1997). "O'Connor Cleared of Defamation". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  28. ^ Huffman, John Pearlly (August 2, 1997). "10 Questions With...Carroll O'Connor". Motor Trend. Archived from the original on September 6, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  29. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 27, 2001). "H'wood Family Turns Out To Remember O'connor". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 19, 2008. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  30. ^ Briggeman, Kim (November 13, 2014). "Missoula's Mrs. Archie Bunker - Nancy O'Connor - dies at 84 in Malibu". Missoulian.
  31. ^ "Carroll O'Connor". www.goldenglobes.com. Retrieved June 18, 2022.

External links edit