Home> Facts and Trivia > Stars > Carroll O'Connor
Carroll O'Connor Facts
| Sign | Leo |
| Born |
Aug 2, 1924 Manhattan, NY |
| Died |
Jun 21, 2001 Culver City, CA |
| Age | Died at 76 |
| Total Facts | 50 |
Mickey Rooney was Norman Lear's first choice to play Archie in the pilot of "All in the Family" (1968). Rooney had reservations about the character, so he refused.
Archie Bunker, O'Connor's character on "All in the Family" (1968), was ranked #24 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [20 June 2004 issue].
As executive producer of "In the Heat of the Night" (1988), he often asked longtime friends and musicians to guest-star. Two of his favorites were Miss Jean Simmons and Bobby Short. He gave long-time friend, Lois Nettleton, a significant recurring role in the first few seasons.
Attended college in Ireland and began his career on the stage, playing in Dublin, London and Paris before making his Broadway debut in 1958.
Attended the same school as: Don Rickles.
Attended Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC for at least one semester prior to enrolling at University of Montana.
Auditioned for the role of The Skipper on "Gilligan's Island" (1964).
Best remembered by the public for his starring role as Archie Bunker in All in the Family (1971).
Despite high ratings, his series "All in the Family" (1968) was canceled, in order for producer Norman Lear to propose another project just to keep O'Connor's character going, yet, he did. He starred in the final spinoff series, "Archie Bunker's Place" (1979).
Earned a reported $250,000 a week for "All in the Family" in 1980.
Father of Hugh O'Connor.
Graduated from Newtown High School in the New York City, New York, in 1942.
Had appeared in almost all the episodes of "All in the Family" (1968) series, from 1971 to 1979, but missed 7 episodes, 3 of these, because of a contract dispute with Norman Lear.
Had completed part of his undergraduate studies at the University of Montana before returning to earn a master's degree in speech in 1956.
Has one grandson, Sean Carroll O'Connor.
He adopted his only child, Hugh, while in Rome filming Cleopatra (1963). He named him after his own brother, who was killed years before in a motorcycle accident.
He enjoyed politics, golfing, dining, spending time with his family, traveling and reading.
He had a contract dispute with Norman Lear in 1974, hence, he missed 3 episodes of "All in the Family" (1968).
He met his wife, Nancy, while both were performing in the play "Life with Father" at the University of Montana.
He passed away on the same day that blues legend, John Lee Hooker did. Coincidentally, their stars are right next to one another on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
He was instrumental in the passage of the Drug Dealers Civil Liability Act in California. The Act states that citizens can sue drug dealers whom they feel are responsible for the drug-related deaths of family members. The Act came about as a result of his son's drug-related suicide.
His favorite expressions on "All in the Family" (1968) were "Dingbat" and "Stifle" to his wife, Edith, and "Meathead" to his son-in-law, Michael.
His only son, Hugh O'Connor, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, despondent over the disintegration of his life resulting from his long term drug addiction. He was speaking with his father on the phone at the time. O'Connor did a public service announcement shortly before his death about the perils of drug abuse.
His parents, Edward O'Connor was a New York City lawyer, and Elise O'Connor who educated young Carroll about his language and life.
His son, Hugh O'Connor, co-starred in "In the Heat of the Night" (1988) with him.
His son, Hugh, died on what would have been his third wedding anniversary. He was in the process of reconciling with his wife at the time of his death.
In 1997, he and his wife, also a University of Montana graduate, donated $1 million to the University of Montana's Center for the Rocky Mountain West, a regional studies and public policy institute. The Center was renamed "Carroll and Nancy Fields O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West" in September of 1997.
In real life, he was the total opposite of his "Archie Bunker" character. In fact, his "All in the Family" (1968) co-star Rob Reiner once remarked that O'Connor was even more liberal than Reiner himself.
In the early 1950s, while trying to launch his acting career, he worked as a substitute high school English teacher in order to pay the rent.
Listed as #20 on TV Land's Top 50 TV Icons Countdown. He beat out Alan Alda, George Clooney, Michael J. Fox, and Kermit the Frog.
Lost his restaurant in the Northridge earthquake. [17 January 1994]
Met actress Jean Stapleton on an episode of "The Defenders" (1961), years before co-starring with him on "All in the Family" (1968).
Of Irish descent.
On "All in the Family" (1968), his character lived in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, in real-life, O'Connor grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, New York.
Passed away 37 days before what would have been his golden wedding anniversary with Nancy Fields.
Performed the "Archie Bunker" role for a remarkable 12 years and 307 episodes ("All in the Family" (1968) and "Archie Bunker's Place" (1979)).
Remained friends with Rob Reiner during and after "All in the Family" (1968).
Said that he came up with the address for the Bunker family residence (704 Hauser Street) when he was driving to work in L.A. He happened to find himself on Hauser Blvd (few blocks from CBS TV City) and thought the name sounded like part of Queens, New York where Archie was supposed to live.
Second-only to O'Connor, who was a heavy smoker, his son Hugh, was also smoking marijuana. His son was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease, where he used the drug to relieve the nausea from radiation therapy.
Spent some time at the Juilliard School of Fine Arts as an acting and dialogue professor.
Underwent heart bypass surgery in 1989 and angioplasty to prevent a stroke in 1998.
Was a brother of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity
Was a libertarian.
Was a spokesperson for Partnership for Drug Free of America from 1993 to 1997.
Was best friends with: Kirk Douglas, Dana Andrews, Jean Stapleton, Bobby Short, Larry Hagman and Jean Simmons.
Was considered for the role of Dr. Zachary Smith on "Lost in Space" (1965).
Was fluent in Italian.
Was so displeased with CBS's axing of "Archie Bunker's Place" (1979) in 1983, without a chance to film an actual series finale, that he vowed to never work for the network again. (Nonetheless, his late-1980s NBC series, "In the Heat of the Night" (1988) later moved to CBS in 1992.)
While attending University of Montana, O'Connor was an associate editor for the college newspaper, the Kaimin. In 1949, he resigned his editing position in protest to the pressure from the campus administration that lead to 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.
While playing Archie Bunker he always wore his wedding ring on his middle finger and not the traditional ring finger.