#Fact1He was the surrogate grandfather of Tracy Reiner, Rob Reiner's adopted daughter.2In his later years, he still received mail from fans. He answered every single piece of mail personally. When asked by friends why he didn't hire an assistant to answer the mail for him, he simply said that it was the least he could do.3Met Jonathan Harris at the University of Montana's Student Theater Company, where they were both drama students. Coincidentally, O'Connor lost the role of Dr. Zachary Smith on Lost in Space (1965) to Harris, at the auditions.4Began his television show All in the Family (1971) at age 46.5Former college classmate of Jonathan Harris.6Had inherited a knack for learning languages from his mother.7Had encouraged his All in the Family (1971) co-star, Rob Reiner, to write several episodes in his early career.8O'Connor underwent heart bypass surgery that required him to miss the last four episodes of the second season of In the Heat of the Night (1988).9Director Peter Bogdanovich cautioned him not to talk with the fake cigarette in his mouth.10After his role Return to Me (2000), he withdrew from acting at age 76 due to health problems. He died the following year.11Longtime friend of Larry Hagman.12He played the same character (Archie Bunker) on three different series: All in the Family (1971), Archie Bunker's Place (1979) and Gloria (1982).13Among those attending O'Connor's 2001 funeral were "All in the Family" creator Norman Lear, AITF co-stars Sally Struthers and Rob Reiner, and Danielle Brisebois from "Archie Bunker's Place", as well as Larry Hagman, Martin Sheen, Don Rickles, Dom DeLuise, Carl Reiner, comic couple Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller, and Governor Jerry Brown. The Catholic ceremony was presided over by Cardinal Roger Mahoney.14Acting mentor and friend of Rob Reiner.15Former Norman Lear contract player, Marla Gibbs, along with her daughter, Angela Elayne Gibbs had both worked with him on a separate episode of In the Heat of the Night (1988). At that time, Marla's daughter was married to the series' cinematographer.16Former neighbor of Robert Conrad.17During World War II he was rejected by the United States Navy and enrolled in the United States Merchant Marine Academy for a short time. After leaving that institution, he became a merchant seaman.18While attending the University of Montana, he joined the student theater company.19His uncle, Hugh O'Connor, was a reporter for the New York Times.20Moved to Los Angeles, California in 1961.21Graduated from the University of Montana in 1951 with degrees in both Drama and English.22He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.23Actors Larry Hagman, Carl Reiner (Rob Reiner's real-life father), Martin Sheen, Richard Crenna, Norman Lear, Danielle Brisbois' and ex-classmate Don Rickles all attended his funeral.24Began smoking while working on the stage production of 'The Big Knife,' a habit he would perform up until 1989, when the doctors ordered him to quit.25The eldest of three children.26O'Connor traveled to Ireland, midway through college, and decided to finish school in the land of his ancestors. His future wife, Nancy, followed him there.27Became best friends with Jean Stapleton from 1962 until his death on June 21, 2001.28Before he was a successful actor, he met and used to work with a young unfamiliar actor Larry Hagman. Carroll was working as an assistant stage manager for the Broadway play God and Kate Murphy, in which Hagman starred.29Was enrolled at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, but dropped out when the United States entered World War II.30Before he was a successful actor, he used to write an editorial for the Advocate, as a little boy.31His wife Nancy O'Connor was an art major at the University of Montana.32Childhood friend of Anne Meara.33Didn't start acting on television until he was age 36.34Received the starring role of Archie Bunker in All in the Family (1971) after 'Norman Lear (I)' saw him in the movie, What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966), after Mickey Rooney refused to play that character.35He had a contract dispute with Norman Lear in 1974, hence, he missed 3 episodes of All in the Family (1971).36On All in the Family (1971), his character lived in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, in real-life, O'Connor grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, New York.37Second-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.38Despite high ratings, his series All in the Family (1971) 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).39His son, Hugh O'Connor, co-starred in In the Heat of the Night (1988) with him.40He enjoyed politics, golfing, dining, spending time with his family, traveling and reading.41Attended the same school as: Don Rickles.42Had appeared in almost all the episodes of All in the Family (1971) series, from 1971 to 1979, but missed 7 episodes, 3 of these, because of a contract dispute with Norman Lear.43Met actress Jean Stapleton on an episode of The Defenders (1961), years before co-starring with him on All in the Family (1971).44While playing Archie Bunker he always wore his wedding ring on his middle finger and not the traditional ring finger.45Was a spokesperson for Partnership for Drug Free of America from 1993 to 1997.46Was considered for the role of Dr. Zachary Smith on Lost in Space (1965).47Graduated from Newtown High School in the New York City, New York, in 1942.48His parents, Edward O'Connor was a New York City lawyer, and Elise O'Connor who educated young Carroll about his language and life.49Of Irish descent.50Friends with: Bea Arthur, Jean Stapleton, Isabel Sanford, Sherman Hemsley, Redd Foxx, Angela Lansbury, Robert Conrad, Larry Hagman, Brian Keith, Michael Landon, Wink Martindale, Jason Wingreen, Norman Lear, James Arness, Ken Curtis, Carol Burnett, Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Angie Dickinson, Martin Sheen, Ernest Borgnine, Kirk Douglas, Lois Nettleton, Fred Silverman, Juanita Bartlett, Carl Reiner, Gene Hackman, Dan Rather, Anne Meara, Jerry Stiller, Dom DeLuise, Vince Edwards, Richard Crenna, Dana Andrews, Bobby Short and Jean Simmons.51Remained friends with Rob Reiner during and after All in the Family (1971).52Underwent heart bypass surgery in 1989 and angioplasty to prevent a stroke in 1998.53Listed 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.54Best remembered by the public for his starring roles as Archie Bunker in All in the Family (1971) and as Chief Off. Bill Gillespie on In the Heat of the Night (1988).55Attended Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC for at least one semester prior to enrolling at University of Montana.56His 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.57He 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.58Has one grandson, Sean Carroll O'Connor.59As 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.60In real life, he was the total opposite of his "Archie Bunker" character. While Bunker was loud, had limited education and was staunchly conservative, O'Connor was a quiet, cultured and well-educated man whose political leanings were very liberal. In fact, his All in the Family (1971) co-star Rob Reiner once remarked that O'Connor was even more liberal than Reiner himself.61His 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.62Archie Bunker, O'Connor's character on All in the Family (1971), was ranked #24 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [20 June 2004 issue].63Carroll O'Connor died on June 21, 2001. Passed away 37 days before what would have been his golden wedding anniversary with Nancy Fields.64Performed the "Archie Bunker" role for a remarkable 12 years and 307 episodes (All in the Family (1971) and Archie Bunker's Place (1979)).65Was 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.)66Was a brother of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity67Mickey Rooney was Norman Lear's first choice to play Archie in the pilot of All in the Family (1971). Rooney had reservations about the character, so he refused.68He 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.69Was fluent in Italian.70He met his wife, Nancy, while both were performing in the play "Life with Father" at the University of Montana.71In 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.72Said 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.73Auditioned for the role of The Skipper on Gilligan's Island (1964).74He 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.75Lost his restaurant in the Northridge earthquake. [January 1994]76Attended college in Ireland and began his career on the stage, playing in Dublin, London and Paris before making his Broadway debut in 1958.77His favorite expressions on All in the Family (1971) were "Dingbat" and "Stifle" to his wife, Edith, and "Meathead" to his son-in-law, Michael.78Father of Hugh O'Connor.79Earned a reported $250,000 a week for "All in the Family" in 1980.80Spent some time at the Juilliard School of Fine Arts as an acting and dialogue professor.81In 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 1997.82While 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.83Had completed part of his undergraduate studies at the University of Montana before returning to earn a master's degree in speech in 1956.

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