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Carroll O'Connor

Carroll O'Connor

Carroll O'Connor returns to the big screen after nearly 25 years in Return To Me. After 20 years as a character actor on stage, screen and television, O'Connor became a star with his portrayal of the cantankerous and self-righteous working-class bigot Archie Bunker in the legendary television comedy series All in the Family. He played the role in 13 prime time seasons; the name of the series beginning with the 10th season was Archie Bunker's Place.

Born in New York City, O'Connor studied at the University of Montana, the National University of Ireland and University College Dublin. He first began to act while overseas, joining the famed Dublin Gate Theatre. Returning to New York, he won his first professional roles such off Broadway plays as Ulysses in Nighttown and The Big Knife.

In 1960, Hollywood producer Roy Huggins saw him in the NBC-TV special The Sacco- Vanzetti Story and signed him to play a key role in the film A Fever in the Blood. During the next 11 years, O'Connor appeared in 25 films for all major studios, and became established as one of Hollywood's most versatile character actors in such films as Lonely Are the Brave, Cleopatra, Point Blank, Waterhole #3, By Love Possessed, Lad: A Dog, In Harm 's Way, The Devil 's Brigade, Hawaii, Not With My Wife You Don 't, Warning Shot, Marlowe, Death of a Gunfighter, Kelly 's Heroes, Doctors' Wives, Law and Disorder and his own adaptation for television of The Last Hurrah for Hallmark Hall of Fame.

Between films he made guest appearances on television programs such as the U.S. Steel Hour, Kraft Theatre, Armstrong Circle Theatre and most of the filmed series hits of the 1960s, as well as writing, acting and directing plays in Los Angeles.

Following a flirtation with ABC under the title Those Were the Days, CBS finally aired All in the Family for the first time on January 12, 1971 with O'Connor as Archie Bunker. Tremendous controversy and acclaim followed in its wake. In June 1971 the program won the Emmy Award, and a year later, O'Connor received an Emmy for "outstanding continued performance by an actor in a comedy series." O'Connor received three additional Emmys — four in all for the role — and the Peabody Award.

Since the conclusion of his famous series in 1983, O'Connor starred in two Broadway plays, TV specials and three movies for television, writing articles for several newspapers and magazines, and narrating documentaries for television. He then starred in, and was executive producer and head writer of the prime time television series, In the Heat of the Night for eight seasons. O'Connor received his fifth Emmy Award and two Golden Globe nominations for his performance as Chief Bill Gillespie of Sparta, Mississippi. He wrote nearly two dozen episodes of the series under the pseudonym Matt Harris and his other responsibilities included directing several episodes, three of which he also wrote.

In 1990, O'Connor was elected to the Television Hall of Fame for his contributions to the television industry, and was the recipient of two NAACP Image Awards (with an additional nomination) as producer of In the Heat of the Night, which concluded its eighth and last season in May 1995 with the airing of the last of four two-hour movies.

Most recently, O'Connor guest-starred on the popular series Party of Five and Mad About You, starred in the TNT movie 36 Hours to Die and Starz! cable movie Gideon and wrote his memoirs, I Think I'm Outta Here: A Memoir of All My Families, which chronicles his life in and out of show business.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2002.

Carroll O'Connor Facts

OccupationActor
BirthdayAugust 2, 1924
SignLeo
BirthplaceBronx, New York, USA
Date of deathJune 21, 2001 (age 76)
Height5' 11" (1m80)  How tall is Carroll O'Connor compared to you?
Awards1972 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy (for All in the Family)

Selected Filmography

In Harm's Way
Kelly's Heroes
Return to Me
All In The Family: The Complete Series
Till The Clouds Roll By
Hawaii
In The Heat of the Night: The Series Collector?s Edition ? The Best of all 8 Seasons ? 34 DVDs ? 119 Episodes
All in the Family: Complete First Season
If a Man Answers / That Funny Feeling / Tammy Tell Me True / Tammy and the Doctor 4-Movie Laugh Pack
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