CHUCK CONNORS BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Chuck Connors, born Kevin Joseph Connors, was born Sunday, April 10, 1921 in Brooklyn, NY USA, the son of Allan and Marcella. His parents were immigrants and he had two younger sisters. Chuck was very athletic, therefore earning a scholarship to Adelphi Academy, a private high school and even furthering his education with earning another scholarship to Seton Hall, a Catholic College in South Orange, New Jersey. Only 2 years after attending college, he enlisted in the army on October 20th, 1942. Baseball had always been Chuck's first love so upon his discharge early in 1946, Chuck resumed his athletic pursuits. He played center for the Boston Celtics in the 1946-1947 season but left early for spring training with the Brooklyn Dodgers. While playing baseball in Montreal he met Elizabeth Riddell whom he married in October of 1948. They had four sons during their 13-year marriage.
 
A baseball fan who was also a casting director for MGM spotted Chuck and recommended him for a part in the Spencer Tracy Katharine Hepburn comedy, "Pat and Mike" 1952. Chuck now abandoned his athletic hopes and devoted full time to his acting career, which often emphasized his muscular, 6-foot-5-inch physique. Over the next couple years, he made twenty movies and also appeared in many television shows. He appeared in a 1954 episode of "The Adventures of Superman" titled "Flight to the North", in which he played a good-natured backwoods fellow named Sylvester J. Superman. He finally began is way to stardom with his role in "The Rifleman" 1958 which ran for five years on ABC. In 1973 and 1974 he hosted a television series called Thrill Seekers. Connors also 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.
 
He appeared in the ABC miniseries, "Roots" 1977 which he  received an Emmy Nomination for. His final major role was in, "Tourist Trap" 1979 a horror film set in a wax museum. Also in 1991 he reprised the role of Lucas McCain in "The Rifleman" for the TV movie, "Luck of The Draw: The Gambler Returns" which starred Kenny Rogers. In 1991, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
 
Connors considered at one point in his life entering politics, but found politicians even more ornery than his old acting enemies, so he chose to stick with his acting career.

He died on Tuesday, November 10, 1992, in Los Angeles, CA from lung cancer at the age of 71. He is buried in San Fernando Mission Cemetery. Due to his life experiences as a sports competitor, but also his drive as a performer and activist for charity for social causes, helped play a major role in his overall success.

 
Filmography
 
1994 Trained to Kill
 
1992 Spina Dorsale del Diavola, La
 
1991 Salmonberries
 
1991 Last Flight to Hell
 
1991 Three Days to a Kill
 
1989 High Desert Kill
 
1988 Bordello
 
1988 Mania
 
1988 Skinheads
 
1988 Once Upon a Texas Train 
 
1987 Summer Camp Nightmare
 
1987 Sakura Killers
 
1987 Terror Squad
 
1986 Balboa (1986) as Alabama Dern
 
1982 Airplane II: The Sequel
 
1982 The Capture of Grizzly Adams
 
1982 The Vals 
 
1982 Target Eagle

1981 Day of the Assasins
 
1980 Virus
 
1979 Tourist Trap
 
1978 Standing Tall
 
1977 Night They Took Miss Beautiful
 
1976 Nightmare in Badham County
 
1976 Banjo Hackett: Roamin' Free
 
1975 Wolf Larsen
 
1974 99 And 44/100% Dead
 
1973 Soylent Green
 
1973 The Police Story 
 
1973 The Mad Bomber 
 
1973 Set This Town on Fire
 
1972 Night of Terror
 
1972 Embassy
 
1972 The Horror at 37,000 Feet 
 
1972 The Proud and the Damned
 
1971 The Birdmen 
 
1971 Support Your Local Gunfighter
 
1971 The Deserter
 
1970 Kill Them All and Come Back Alone
 
1970 Captain Nemo and the Underwater City
 
1966 Ride Beyond Vengeance 

1965 Synanon
 
1963 Flipper
 
1963 Move Over, Darling
 
1962 Geronimo

1958-1963 The Rifleman
 
1958 The Big Country
 
1958 The Lady Takes a Flyer
 
1958 Old Yeller
 
1957 The Hired Gun
 
1957 Death in Small Doses
 
1957 Designing Woman
 
1957 Tomahawk Trail
 
1956 Hold Back the Night
 
1956 Hot Rod Girl
 
1956 Walk the Dark Street
 
1955 Target Zero
 
1955 Three Stripes in the Sun
 
1955 Good Morning, Miss Dove
 
1954 Naked Alibi
 
1954 The Human Jungle
 
1954 Dragonfly Squadron
 
1953 South Sea Woman
 
1953 Trouble Along the Way
 
1953 Code Two
 
1953 The Silver Whip
 
1952 Pat and Mike