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Chuck Connors

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For persons of a similar name, see Charles Connors (disambiguation).

Chuck Connors
Publicity still of Connors for The Rifleman, 1963
Born
Kevin Joseph Connors

(1921-04-10)April 10, 1921
Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
DiedNovember 10, 1992(1992-11-10) (aged 71)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actor, athlete
Years active1952–1992
Height6 ft 5 in (196 cm)
Political partyRepublican
Spouses
  • Elizabeth Riddell
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1948; div. 1961)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1963; div. 1972)​
  • Faith Quabius
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1977; div. 1980)​
Children4
Baseball career
Chuck Connors as a Brooklyn Dodger.
First baseman
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
MLB debut
May 1, 1949, for the Brooklyn Dodgers
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 1951, for the Chicago Cubs
MLB statistics
Batting average.238
Home runs2
Runs batted in18
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Kevin Joseph Aloysius Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have played in both Major League Baseball (Brooklyn Dodgers 1949, Chicago Cubs, 1951) and the National Basketball Association (Boston Celtics 1946–48). With a 40-year film and television career, he is best known for his five-year role as Lucas McCain in the highly rated ABC series The Rifleman (1958–63).[1]

Early life and education

[edit]

Connors was born on April 10, 1921, in Brooklyn, New York City, the elder of two children born to Marcella (née Lundrigan) and Alban Francis "Allan" Connors, immigrants of Irish descent from Newfoundland and Labrador.[2]

His father became a citizen of the United States in 1914 and was working in Brooklyn in 1930 as a longshoreman and his mother had also attained her U.S. citizenship in 1917.[2]

Connors was a devoted fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers despite their losing record during the 1930s, and he hoped to join the team one day. A talented athlete, he earned a scholarship to the Adelphi Academy, a preparatory school in Brooklyn, where he graduated in 1939. He received offers for athletic scholarships from more than two dozen colleges and universities.[3] He attended Seton Hall University and played both basketball and baseball for the school.

Since childhood, Connors had disliked his first name, Kevin, and he had sought another name. He tried using "Lefty" and "Stretch" before finally settling on "Chuck".[4] The name derived from his time as a player on Seton Hall's baseball team. He would repeatedly yell to the pitcher from his position on first base, "Chuck it to me, baby! Chuck it to me!" The rest of his teammates and spectators at the university's games soon caught on, and the nickname stuck.[3]

Connors left Seton Hall after two years to accept a contract to play professional baseball.[3] He played on two minor league teams (see below) in 1940 and 1942, then joined the United States Army following America's entrance into World War II.[5][6] During most of the war, he served as a tank-warfare instructor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and later at West Point in New York.[4]

Sports career

[edit]

Minor League Baseball (1940–1952)

[edit]

In 1940, following his departure from college, Connors played four baseball games with the Brooklyn Dodgers' minor league team, the Newport Dodgers (Northeast Arkansas League). Released, he sat out the 1941 season, then signed with the New York Yankees farm team, the Norfolk Tars (Piedmont League), where he played 72 games before enlisting in the Army at Fort Knox, Kentucky, at the end of the season, on October 10, 1942.[7][6]

Following his time in the Army, Connors played for the Newport News Dodgers (Piedmont League) in 1946, the Mobile Bears (Southern Association) in 1947, the Montreal Royals (International League) from 1948 through 1950, and the Los Angeles Angels (PCL) (Pacific Coast League) in 1951 and 1952.[8]

Professional basketball (1946–1948)

[edit]

Following his military discharge in 1946, the 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Connors joined the Rochester Royals (now the Sacramento Kings) of the National Basketball League for their 1945–1946 championship season. For the 1946–1947 season he joined the newly formed Boston Celtics of the Basketball Association of America.[9][10] During his tenure with the Celtics in 1946, Connors became the first professional basketball player to break a backboard. He did so during pre-game practice before the Celtics' first home game of their inaugural season with a shot and not a slam dunk, which is what typically breaks a backboard in modern basketball.[11][12] He played 53 games for Boston before leaving the team early in the 1947–48 season.[13][14]

Connors is one of 13 athletes to have played in both the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. The 12 others: Danny Ainge, Frank Baumholtz, Hank Biasatti, Gene Conley, Dave DeBusschere, Dick Groat, Steve Hamilton, Mark Hendrickson, Cotton Nash, Ron Reed, Dick Ricketts, and Howie Schultz.[15]

Connors attended spring training in 1948 with Major League Baseball's Brooklyn Dodgers but did not make the squad[7] He played two seasons for the Dodgers' AAA team, the Montreal Royals before playing one game with the Dodgers in 1949.[7] After two more seasons with Montreal, Connors joined the Chicago Cubs in 1951, playing in 66 games as a first baseman and occasional pinch hitter.[16] In 1952, he was sent to the minor leagues again to play for the Cubs' top farm team, the Los Angeles Angels.[7]

Sports career notes

[edit]

In 1966, Connors played an off-field role by helping to end the celebrated holdout (see reserve clause) by Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax when he acted as an intermediary during negotiations between management and the players.[17] Connors can be seen in the Associated Press photo with Drysdale, Koufax and Dodgers general manager Buzzie Bavasi announcing the pitchers' new contracts.[18]

Contrary to erroneous reports, Connors was not drafted by the Chicago Bears of the NFL.[19][20][21]

Career statistics

[edit]
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

BAA

[edit]

Source[22]

Regular season
[edit]
Year Team GP FG% FT% APG PPG
1946–47 Boston 49 .247 .464 .8 4.6
1947–48 Boston 4 .385 .667 .3 3.0
Career 53 .252 .471 .8 4.5

Acting career

[edit]

Connors realized that he would not make a career in professional sports, so he decided to pursue an acting career. Playing baseball near Hollywood proved fortunate, as he was spotted by an MGM casting director and subsequently signed for the 1952 Tracy–Hepburn film Pat and Mike, performing the role of a police captain. In 1953, he starred opposite Burt Lancaster as a rebellious Marine private in South Sea Woman and then as an American football coach opposite John Wayne in Trouble Along the Way.

Television roles

[edit]

Connors had a rare comedic role in a 1955 episode ("Flight to the North") of Adventures of Superman. He portrayed Sylvester J. Superman, a lanky rustic yokel who shared the same name as the title character of the series.

Connors was cast as Lou Brissie, a former professional baseball player wounded during World War II, in the 1956 episode "The Comeback" of the religion anthology series Crossroads. Don DeFore portrayed the Reverend C. E. "Stoney" Jackson, who offered the spiritual insight to assist Brissie's recovery so that he could return to the game. Grant Withers was cast as Coach Whitey Martin; Crossroads regular Robert Carson also played a coach in this episode. Edd Byrnes, Rhys Williams, and Robert Fuller played former soldiers. X Brands is cast as a baseball player.

In 1957, Connors was cast in the Walt Disney film Old Yeller in the role of Burn Sanderson. That same year, he co-starred in The Hired Gun.[23]

Character actor

[edit]
With Pippa Scott in 1960

Connors acted in feature films including The Big Country with Gregory Peck and Charlton Heston, Move Over Darling with Doris Day and James Garner, Soylent Green with Heston and Edward G. Robinson, and Airplane II: The Sequel.

He also became a beloved television character actor, guest-starring in dozens of shows. His guest-starring debut was on an episode of NBC's Dear Phoebe. He played in two episodes, one as the bandit Sam Bass, on Dale Robertson's NBC western Tales of Wells Fargo.

Other television appearances were on Hey, Jeannie!, The Loretta Young Show, Schlitz Playhouse, Screen Directors Playhouse, Four Star Playhouse, Matinee Theatre, Cavalcade of America, Gunsmoke, The Gale Storm Show, The West Point Story, The Millionaire, General Electric Theater hosted by Ronald Reagan, Wagon Train, The Restless Gun with John Payne, Murder, She Wrote, Date with the Angels with Betty White, The DuPont Show with June Allyson, The Virginian, Night Gallery hosted by Rod Serling, and Here's Lucy with Lucille Ball.

The Rifleman

[edit]
Main article: The Rifleman
Connors during filming of a 1961 episode of The Rifleman

Connors beat 40 other actors for the lead in The Rifleman, portraying Lucas McCain, a widowed rancher known for his skill with a customized Winchester rifle. This ABC Western series, which aired from 1958 to 1963, was also the first show to feature a widowed father raising a young child.[23] Connors said in a 1959 interview with TV Guide that the producers of Four Star Television (Dick Powell, Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, and David Niven) must have been looking at 40 to 50 thirty-something men. At the time, the producers offered a certain amount of money to do 39 episodes for the 1958–59 season. The offer turned out to be less than Connors was making doing freelance acting, so he turned it down. A few days later, the producers of The Rifleman took their own children to watch Old Yeller, in which Connors played a strong father figure. After the producers watched him in the movie, they decided they should cast Connors in the role of Lucas McCain and made him a better offer, including a five-percent ownership of the show.

The Rifleman was an immediate hit, ranking No. 4 in the Nielsen ratings in 1958–59, behind three other Westerns – Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, and Have Gun – Will Travel. Johnny Crawford, an unfamiliar actor at the time, former Mousketeer, baseball fan and Western buff, beat 40 other young stars to play the role of Lucas's son, Mark. Crawford remained on the series from 1958 until its cancellation in 1963. The Rifleman landed high in the Nielsen ratings until the last season in 1962–63, when it was opposite the highly rated return to television of Lucille Ball on The Lucy Show and ratings began to drop. The show was cancelled in 1963 after five seasons and 168 episodes.

Connors with Johnny Crawford, 1960

The rifle

[edit]
Connors in The Rifleman, 1959

Three rifles were made for the show: two identical .44–40 Winchester model 1892 rifles, one that was used on the show and one for backup, and a Spanish version called an El Tigre used in the saddle holster.[24] The rifle levers were modified from the round type to more D-shaped in later episodes.[25]

Two rifles were specifically made for Chuck Connors by Maurice "Moe" Hunt and were never used on the show. He was a fan of the show and gave them to Connors. Arnold Palmer, a friend and honorary chairman of the annual Chuck Connors charity golf event, was given one of the personal rifles[26] by Connors and it was on display at The World Golf Hall of Fame.[27]

Typecasting and other TV roles

[edit]
Connors opposite Broderick Crawford in Arrest and Trial, 1963

In 1963, Connors appeared in the film Flipper. He also appeared opposite James Garner and Doris Day in the comedy Move Over, Darling in the role earlier played by Randolph Scott in the original 1940 Irene Dunne/Cary Grant version entitled My Favorite Wife.

As Connors was strongly typecast for playing the single-father rancher, he then starred in several short-lived series, including: ABC's Arrest and Trial (1963–1964), an early forerunner of Law and Order featuring two young actors Ben Gazzara and Don Galloway; and NBC's post-Civil War-era series Branded (1965–1966).

Connors in Branded, 1965

In 1967–1968, Connors starred in the ABC series Cowboy in Africa alongside Tom Nardini and British actor Ronald Howard.

Connors guest-starred in a last-season episode of Night Gallery titled "The Ring With the Red Velvet Ropes". In 1973 and 1974, he hosted a television series called Thrill Seekers.

Connors was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance in a key role against type: a slave owner in the 1977 miniseries Roots.[1]

Connors hosted a number of episodes of Family Theater on the Mutual Radio Network. This series was aimed at promoting prayer as a path to world peace and stronger families, with the motto, "The family which prays together stays together."

In 1980, he hosted Chuck Connors' Great Western Theatre, a combination of off-network episodes of Branded and The Guns of Will Sonnett, managed by Leo A. Gutman, Inc.[28]

In 1983, Connors joined Sam Elliott, Cybill Shepherd, Ken Curtis, and Noah Beery Jr. in the short-lived NBC series The Yellow Rose, about a modern Texas ranching family.

In 1985, he first guest-starred in the pilot episode which would become a recurring role of "King Powers" in the ABC TV series Spenser: For Hire, starring Robert Urich as “Spenser” — “with an S, like the poet” — and Avery Brooks as “Hawk.”

In 1987, he co-starred in the Fox series Werewolf, as drifter Janos Skorzeny.

In 1988, he guest-starred as "Gideon" in the TV series Paradise, starring Lee Horsley. He also starred as Nash Crawford in the film Once Upon a Texas Train in which he played an aged, retired Texas Ranger.

In 1991, Connors was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

Personal life

[edit]
Connors and son, Jeffrey, on The Rifleman set in 1959. Jeffrey had a role as Toby Halperin in the episode "Tension".

Connors was married three times. He met his first wife, Elizabeth Jane Riddell Connors, at one of his baseball games and they were married on October 1, 1948. They had four sons.

Connors married Kamala Devi (1963) the year after co-starring with her in Geronimo. She also acted with Connors in Branded, Broken Sabre, and Cowboy in Africa. They were divorced in 1973.

Connors met his third wife, Faith Quabius, when they both appeared in the film Soylent Green (1973). They were married in 1977 and divorced in 1979.[29]

Connors was a supporter of the Republican Party and attended several fundraisers for campaigns for U.S. President Richard M. Nixon. Connors also backed Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election, and Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election.[30] He campaigned for Ronald Reagan, a personal friend, and marched in support of the Vietnam War in 1967.[31]

General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Leonid Brezhnev (left) and interpreter Viktor Sukhodrev meet Chuck Connors, 1973

Leonid Brezhnev, the leader of the Soviet Union, met Connors when Brezhnev arrived on Air Force One at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station with President Richard Nixon in June 1973. Brezhnev noticed Connors in the group on the tarmac waiting to receive him and the President. Brezhnev shook Connors' hand and then wrapped his arms around him, and leapt into Connors' arms to be lifted up by the hulking American actor. The crowd laughed and clapped at the spectacle. Later, at a party given by Nixon at the Western White House in San Clemente, California, Connors presented Brezhnev with a pair of Colt Single Action Army "Six-Shooters" (revolvers) which Brezhnev liked greatly.[32]

Few American television programs were permitted to be broadcast in the Soviet Union at that time: The Rifleman was an exception, because it happened to be Brezhnev's favorite show. Connors and Brezhnev got along so well that Connors accepted an invitation to visit the Soviet leader in Moscow in December 1973. After Brezhnev's death in 1982, Connors expressed an interest in returning to the Soviet Union for the General Secretary's funeral, but the U.S. government would not allow Connors to be part of the official delegation.[33]

Connors was left handed.

On July 18, 1984, Connors was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (star location at 6838 Hollywood Blvd). Over 200 close friends attended, including his family, and actor Johnny Crawford.[34]

Charity

[edit]

Connors hosted the annual Chuck Connors Charitable Invitational Golf Tournament, through the Chuck Connors Charitable Foundation, at the Canyon Country Club in Palm Springs, California. Proceeds went directly to the Angel View Crippled Children's Foundation and over $400,000 was raised.[35]

Death

[edit]

Connors died on November 10, 1992, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 71 of lung cancer.[1] He is buried in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery.[36]

Filmography

[edit]

Film

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1952 Pat and Mike Police Captain
1953 Trouble Along the Way Stan Schwegler
1953 Code Two Deputy Sheriff Uncredited
1953 South Sea Woman Pvt. Davey White
1954 Dragonfly Squadron Captain Warnowski
1954 The Human Jungle Earl Swados
1954 Naked Alibi Capt. Owen Kincaide
1955 Target Zero Pvt. Moose
1955 Good Morning, Miss Dove Bill Holloway
1955 Three Stripes in the Sun Idaho Johnson
1956 Walk the Dark Street Frank Garrick
1956 Hot Rod Girl Det. Ben Merrill
1956 Hold Back the Night Sgt. Ekland
1957 Tomahawk Trail Sgt. Wade McCoy
1957 Designing Woman Johnnie O
1957 Death in Small Doses Mink Reynolds
1957 The Hired Gun Judd Farrow
1957 Old Yeller Burn Sanderson
1958 The Lady Takes a Flyer Phil Donahoe
1958 The Big Country Buck Hannassey
1962 Geronimo Geronimo
1963 Flipper Porter Ricks
1963 Move Over, Darling Stephen 'Adam' Burkett
1965 Synanon Ben
1966 Ride Beyond Vengeance Jonas Trapp
1968 Kill Them All and Come Back Alone Clyde McKay
1969 Captain Nemo and the Underwater City Senator Robert Fraser
1971 The Deserter Chaplain Reynolds
1971 The Birdmen Colonel Morgan Crawford
1971 Support Your Local Gunfighter Swifty Morgan Uncredited
1972 Embassy Kesten
1972 The Proud and Damned Will Hansen
1972 Pancho Villa Col. Wilcox
1973 The Mad Bomber William Dorn
1973 Soylent Green Tab Fielding
1974 99 and 44/100% Dead Marvin "Claw" Zuckerman
1975 Legend of the Sea Wolf Wolf Larsen
1979 Tourist Trap Mr. Slausen
1979 Day of the Assassin Fleming
1980 Virus Captain McCloud
1981 Bordello Jonathan
1982 Hit Man Sam Fisher
1982 Airplane II: The Sequel The Sarge
1982 There Was a Little Girl
1983 The Vals Trish's Father
1983 Balboa Alabama Dern
1983 Lone Star Jake Ferrell
1983 Afghanistan pourquoi? Soviet Colonel
1987 Hell's Heroes Senator Morris
1987 Sakura Killers The Colonel
1987 Summer Camp Nightmare Mr. Warren
1987 Maniac Killer Professor Roger Osborne
1988 Once Upon a Texas Train Nash Crawford
1988 Terror Squad Chief Rawlings
1988 Taxi Killer Jenny's Father
1989 Trained to Kill Ed Cooper
1989 Skinheads Mr. Huston
1990 Last Flight to Hell Red Farley
1990 Face the Edge Buddy
1991 Salmonberries Bingo Chuck
1992 Three Days to a Kill Capt. Damian Wright
2001 A Man Who Fell from the Sky Narrator and host

Television

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1953 Your Jeweler's Showcase Episode: "Three and One Half Musketeers"
1954 Dear Phoebe Rocky Episode: "Billy Gets a Job"
1954 Big Town Episode: "Semper Fi"
1954 Four Star Playhouse Mervyn / Stan 2 episodes
1954–1957 General Electric Theater Soldier / Long Jack 2 episodes
1955 Letter to Loretta Jess Hayes Episode: "The Girl Who Knew"
1955 City Detective Sam Episode: "Trouble in Toyland"
1955 TV Reader's Digest Charlie Masters Episode: "The Manufactured Clue"
1955 Private Secretary Mr. Neanderthal Episode: "Mr. Neanderthal"
1955 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars Stanley O'Connor Episode: "O'Connor and the Blue-Eyed Felon"
1955 Adventures of Superman Sylvester J. Superman Episode: "Flight to the North"
1955 Screen Directors Playhouse Art Shirley Episode: "The Brush Roper"
1955–1956 The Star and the Story 3 episodes
1955 Matinee Theatre Episode: "O'Toole from Moscow"
1955 Cavalcade of America Harry Episode: "Barbed Wire Christmas"
1956 Fireside Theatre Officer Handley Episode: "The Thread"
1956 Frontier Thorpe Henderson Episode: "The Assassin"
1956 Gunsmoke Sam Keeler Episode: "The Preacher"
1956 Climax! Episode: "Fear is the Hunter"
1956 The Joseph Cotten Show Andy Episode: "The Nevada Nightingale"
1956 Crossroads Lou Brissie Episode: "The Comeback"
1956 The West Point Story Maj. Nielson Two episodes
1956 The Gale Storm Show Ooma Episode: "The Witch Doctor"
1957 The Millionaire Hub Grimes Episode: "The Hub Grimes Story"
1957 Tales of Wells Fargo Sam Bass / Button Smith 2 episodes
1957 The Silent Service Lt. Jim Liddell Episode: "The Story of the U.S.S. Flier"
1957 Wagon Train Private John Sumter Episode: "The Charles Avery Story"
1957 The Restless Gun Toby Yeager Episode: "Silver Threads"
1958 Hey, Jeannie! Buck Matthews Episode: "The Bet"
1958 Date with the Angels Stacey L. Stacey Episode: "Double Trouble"
1958 Love That Jill Cliff Episode: "They Went Thataway"
1958 Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre Lucas McCain Episode: "The Sharpshooter"
1958 The Adventures of Jim Bowie Cephas K. Ham 2 episodes
1958–1963 The Rifleman Lucas McCain Lead role
168 episodes
1960 The DuPont Show with June Allyson George Ainsworth Episode: "Trial by Fear"
1963–1964 Arrest and Trial John Egan Lead role
30 episodes
1965–1966 Branded Jason McCord Lead role
48 episodes
1967–1968 Cowboy in Africa Jim Sinclair Lead role
26 episodes
1971 The Virginian Gustaveson Episode: "The Animal"
1971 The Name of the Game Governor Brill Episode: "The Broken Puzzle"
1971 The Birdmen Colonel Morgan Crawford TV movie
1972 Night of Terror Brian DiPaulo TV movie
1972 Night Gallery Roderick Blanco Episode: "The Ring with the Red Velvet Ropes"
1973 Set This Town on Fire Buddy Bates TV movie
1973 The Horror at 37,000 Feet Captain Ernie Slade TV movie
1973 Here's Lucy Himself Episode: "Lucy and Chuck Connors Have a Surprise Slumber Party"
1973 The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour Himself Episode: "Chuck Conners, Howard Cosell, Miss U.S.A. and Miss Universe: 9/12/73"
1973–1976 Police Story Various 4 episodes
1975 The Six Million Dollar Man Niles Lingstrom Episode: "The Price of Liberty"
1976 Banjo Hackett: Roamin' Free Sam Ivory TV movie
1976 Nightmare in Badham County Sherriff Slim Danen TV movie
1977 Roots Tom Moore Miniseries
1977 The Night They Took Miss Beautiful Mike O'Toole TV movie
1978 Standing Tall Major Roland Hartline TV movie
1980 Stone Tom Lettleman Episode: "Case Number HM-89428, Homicide"
1981 Walking Tall Theo Brewster Episode: "Kidnapped"
1982 Best of the West Episode: "Frog's First Gunfight"
1982 The Capture of Grizzly Adams Frank Briggs TV movie
1982 Fantasy Island Frank Barton Episode: "Sitting Duck/Sweet Suzi Swann"
1983 Lone Star Jake Farrell TV movie
1983 Kelsey's Son Boone Kelsey TV movie
1983 The Love Boat Roy Episode: "Bricker's Boy/Lotions of Love/The Hustlers"
1983 Matt Houston Castanos Episode: "Get Houston"
1983–1984 The Yellow Rose Jeb Hollister Main cast
21 episodes
1985 Spenser: For Hire King Powers 2 episodes
1985–1989 Murder, She Wrote Fred Keller / Tyler Morgan 2 episodes
1985 The All-American Cowboy TV movie
1987 Werewolf Captain Janos Skorzeny Recurring role
5 episodes
1988 Once Upon a Texas Train Nash Crawford TV movie
1988 Wolf Episode: "Pilot"
1989 High Desert Kill Stan Brown TV movie
1989–1990 Paradise Gideon McKay 3 episodes
1991 The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw Lucas McCain TV movie

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Chuck Connors, Actor, 71, Dies; Starred as Television's 'Rifleman'". The New York Times. November 11, 1992. Retrieved November 4, 2013. Chuck Connors, a former professional basketball and baseball player who gained stardom as an actor on the television series 'The Rifleman', died yesterday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 71 years old and lived on a ranch in Tehachapi, California, north of Los Angeles. He died of lung cancer, the hospital said.
  2. ^ a b "Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930", Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, April 12, 1930; Enumeration District 24-1031. Bureau of the Census, United States Department of Commerce. Digital copy of original enumeration page of cited census available at FamilySearch, an online genealogical database provided as a public service by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah; retrieved July 24, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c Chuck Connors biography, "Welcome to the McCain Ranch" website dedicated to the history and content of the television series The Rifleman; retrieved July 24, 2017.
  4. ^ a b Profile, ourchuckconnors.com; accessed March 7, 2015.
  5. ^ "Chuck Connors Minor Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  6. ^ a b U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records 1938–1946, National Archives and Records Administration. Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938–1946 [Archival Database]; ARC: 1263923. World War II Army Enlistment Records; Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 64; National Archives at College Park. College Park, Maryland, U.S.A.
  7. ^ a b c d "Chuck Connors Minor Leagues Statistics & History - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  8. ^ "Chuck Connors Minor League Stats". Stats Crew. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  9. ^ "Chuck Connors Stats - Basketball-Reference.com". Basketball-Reference.com.
  10. ^ "Chuck Connors 1946-47 Game Log - Basketball-Reference.com". Basketball-Reference.com.
  11. ^ Football, Billy. "Backboard Shattering Dunks: Changing The Game". www.barstoolsports.com. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  12. ^ "75 Moments in Boston Celtics History". NBC Sports Boston. March 10, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  13. ^ "1946-47 Boston Celtics Roster and Stats - Basketball-Reference.com". Basketball-Reference.com.
  14. ^ "Chuck Connors 1947–48 Game Log - Basketball-Reference.com". Basketball-Reference.com.
  15. ^ "Baseball (MLB) and Basketball (NBA) Players | Baseball Almanac".
  16. ^ "Chuck Connors's career page at". Retrosheet.org. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  17. ^ Katz, Jeff. "Everybody's a Star: The Dodgers Go Hollywood". SABR.org. Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  18. ^ Thorp, Ellen. "Chuck Connors: American Actor/Athlete, Rifleman Star". When Westerns Ruled. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  19. ^ "NFL.com Draft 2018 - NFL Draft History: Full Draft Year". NFL.com.
  20. ^ "Chicago Bears All-Time Draft History - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  21. ^ "Chicago Bears". drafthistory.com. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  22. ^ "Chuck Connors". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  23. ^ a b The Rifleman The Original Series The Riflemen website Archived October 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, therifleman.net; accessed March 10, 2015.
  24. ^ "The Rifleman's Rifle". Archived from the original on November 23, 2007. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  25. ^ "Chuck Connors Last Modified Winchester "Rifleman" Style Rifle (w/Connors' family letter and original case)". Archived from the original on December 26, 2013. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  26. ^ "Chuck Connors' Last Modified Winchester "Rifleman" Style Rifle". Archived from the original on December 26, 2013. Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  27. ^ "The Rifleman's Rifle on display at the World Golf Hall of Fame". Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  28. ^ "Gutman (print ad)" (PDF). Broadcasting. March 8, 1982. p. 145. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  29. ^ "Chuck Connors profile at". Riflemanconnors.com. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  30. ^ Critchlow, Donald T. (October 21, 2013). When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107650282.
  31. ^ Lambert, Bruce (November 11, 1992). "Chuck Connors, Actor, 71, Dies - Starred as Television's 'Rifleman'". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  32. ^ Schattenberg, Susanne (2022). "Emotions and Pills in the Cold War". Brezhnev: The Making of a Statesman. Translated by Heath, John. Dublin: I. B. Tauris. p. 309. ISBN 978-1-8386-0638-1.
  33. ^ "Actor asks to attend Brezhnev's funeral". UPI. November 12, 1982. Archived from the original on October 23, 2022. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  34. ^ "Hollywood Star Walk: Chuck Connors". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 10, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  35. ^ "Chuck Connors Charitable Invitational Golf Tournament". Retrieved November 4, 2013.
  36. ^ "Kevin "Chuck" Connors, grave and tombstone, San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Los Angeles, California, photo". www.mygenealogyhound.com. Retrieved September 24, 2022.
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