Chuck Connors facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Chuck Connors
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| Born | April 10, 1921 |
| Died | November 10, 1992 (aged 71) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | actor / sports |
Chuck Connors (born Kevin Joseph Aloysius Connors; April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was a famous American actor and a professional athlete. He was one of the very few people in history to play both Major League Baseball (baseball) and in the National Basketball Association (basketball).
Chuck Connors had a long career in movies and TV, lasting 40 years! He is most famous for playing Lucas McCain in the popular TV show The Rifleman from 1958 to 1963.
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Early Life
Chuck Connors was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on April 10, 1921. His parents, Marcella and Alban Francis "Allan" Connors, were immigrants from Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. He had a younger sister named Gloria.
His father became a U.S. citizen in 1914 and worked as a longshoreman (someone who loads and unloads ships). His mother also became a U.S. citizen in 1917. Chuck grew up Catholic and was an altar boy at a church in Brooklyn.
Sports and Education
Chuck loved the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team and dreamed of playing for them one day. He was a very good athlete and earned a scholarship to Adelphi Academy, a special school in Brooklyn. He finished school there in 1939. More than 24 colleges offered him scholarships to play sports!
He chose to go to Seton Hall University in New Jersey. There, he played both basketball and baseball. This is also where he got his famous nickname, "Chuck." He never liked his first name, Kevin. He tried names like "Lefty" and "Stretch." But "Chuck" stuck because when he played first base in baseball, he would always yell to the pitcher, "Chuck it to me, baby! Chuck it to me!" His teammates and fans started calling him Chuck, and the name stayed with him.
After two years at Seton Hall, Chuck left to play professional baseball. He played for minor league teams in 1940 and 1942. Then, he joined the United States Army during World War II. He spent most of the war teaching tank warfare at military bases.
After the war in 1946, Chuck, who was 6 feet 5 inches tall, joined the Rochester Royals basketball team. They won the championship that season! In 1946, he joined the new Boston Celtics team. During his time with the Celtics, Chuck Connors became the first professional basketball player to ever break a backboard. He did it during practice before a game with a shot, not a slam dunk! He played 53 games for Boston before leaving the team in 1947.
Chuck Connors is one of only 13 athletes who have played in both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB).
In 1948, Chuck tried out for his favorite team, the Brooklyn Dodgers, but he didn't make the main team. He played for their minor league team, the Montreal Royals, for two seasons. He played one game with the Dodgers in 1949. In 1951, he joined the Chicago Cubs and played 66 games as a first baseman. In 1952, he went back to the minor leagues to play for the Los Angeles Angels.
Acting Career
Chuck Connors acted in both small and big Hollywood movies. Some of his early films include South Sea Woman (1953) with Burt Lancaster. He also appeared in the western movie The Big Country (1958) with Gregory Peck.
One of his most famous movie roles was playing the Indian warrior Geronimo in the movie Geronimo (1962). He was also in classic movies like Flipper (1963), Captain Nemo and the Underwater City (1969), and Soylent Green (1973) with Charlton Heston.
Television
Chuck Connors had a very successful TV career. He is best known for playing Lucas McCain in the ABC TV series The Rifleman (1958-1962). The show was about a father, Lucas McCain, and his son who lived on a ranch in the Wild West. Connors played Lucas McCain in 168 episodes!
Three special rifles were made for the show. Two were Winchester Model 1892 rifles, one for filming and one as a backup. A Spanish rifle called an El Tigre was used in the saddle holster. The rifle's lever was changed to a "D" shape in later episodes, which made it easy for Chuck to spin the rifle around.
Because The Rifleman was so popular, many toys and games were made, like toy rifles with the special spinning lever. There was even a Milton Bradley board game called The Rifleman Game.
Another successful TV show for Chuck was the western series Branded (1965-1966). In this show, he played Jason McCord, an army officer who was wrongly accused of being a coward.
He also starred in a crime series called Arrest and Trial (1962-1964) as a lawyer named John Egan. He was also in the adventure series Cowboy in Africa (1967-1968).
In 1991, Chuck Connors was honored and added to the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma.
Charity Work
Chuck Connors hosted a yearly golf tournament called the Chuck Connors Charitable Invitational Golf Tournament. The money raised from this event went to the Angel View Crippled Children's Foundation. Over $400,000 was raised to help children.
Death
Chuck Connors started smoking in 1940. He smoked a lot for many years but quit in the mid-1970s. He passed away on November 10, 1992, in Los Angeles, at 71 years old. He died from pneumonia caused by lung cancer. He is buried in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Images for kids
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With Pippa Scott in 1960
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Connors during filming of a 1961 episode of The Rifleman
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Connors with Johnny Crawford, 1960
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Connors opposite Broderick Crawford in Arrest and Trial, 1963
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Connors and son, Jeffrey, on The Rifleman set in 1959. Jeffrey had a role as Toby Halperin in the episode "Tension".
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General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Leonid Brezhnev (left) and interpreter Viktor Sukhodrev meet Chuck Connors, 1973
See also
In Spanish: Chuck Connors para niños
