Actor Carroll O'Connor Dies
Man Who Gained Fame As Archie Bunker Passes Away
CULVER CITY, Calif. -- The actor who played and made Archie Bunker an icon of twentieth century television, Carroll O'Connor, died Thursday afternoon in a hospital emergency room.
O'Connor, 76, was visiting his doctor when he went into cardiac arrest, according to reports. He was rushed to the emergency room of Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, where a trauma team tried in vain to save his life. With his wife of 50 years, Nancy, at his side, O'Connor was pronounced dead shortly before 3:30 p.m. Thursday. The actor suffered diabetes in his late years, which precipitated some of his health problems. It's not known exactly what triggered his fatal heart attack Thursday. The last on-screen work O'Connor did was "Return To Me," released in 2000 and starring Minnie Driver and David Duchovney. He had a hodgepodge of film and television credits to his name, but there was one role that made him a legend: Archie Bunker. Normal Lear picked O'Connor for the part after seeing him in the 1966 film "What Did You Do In The War, Daddy?" The role of Bunker gave O'Connor full-blown celebrity in the 1970s as millions of viewers tuned in to watch "All In The Family," a sitcom adapted from the British series "Till Death Do Us Part." On Jan. 12, 1971, Archie began spouting off against minorities, liberals and his longhaired son-in-law (whom he called "Meathead") and kept at it for 13 years."All In The Family" dominated the number one spot on prime time television throughout the 70s. The cantankerous but lovable Archie kept audiences entertained with his tirades against a changing society, his possessiveness of a living room chair that he treated like a throne, and his occasional blowups over his wife, Edith's, innocent mistakes. "I have a great deal of sympathy for him," O'Connor said of Archie in a 1986 Playboy magazine interview. "As James Baldwin 
wrote, the white man here is trapped by his own history, a history that he himself cannot comprehend, and therefore what can I do but love him?" The popular sitcom earned O'Connor, by then in his 50s, four Emmy Awards. It was followed by a spin-off series, "Archie Bunker's Place," which first aired in 1979.The show lasted four years.From 1988 to 1994, O'Connor played the sheriff of a small county in the series "In the Heat of the Night." Personal tragedy darkened O'Connor's later years. His only child, Hugh, a co-star on "In the Heat of the Night," shot himself in a drug-related suicide in 1995. 
The O'Connors adopted their son as an infant in 1962 in Italy, where O'Connor was filming "Cleopatra." In adulthood, Hugh O'Connor battled a longtime alcohol and drug addiction problem. On March 28, 1995, in several phone conversations, Hugh told his father "this is a very black day," and said he had a gun and was going to "cap" himself. O'Connor recalled telling him "you're just saying crazy things," advising him to seek a doctor's care. "So long, I love you," his son replied. O'Connor called police, who arrived just as Hugh O'Connor shot himself. "When his son died, I think that took a terrible, terrible toll on him, and I don't think any parent is ever totally able to get past those things," Rob Reiner, who played Archie's son-in-law Michael, told reporters Thursday. 
After Hugh's suicide, O'Connor publicly denounced the man who had allegedly provided his son with cocaine. Harry Perzigian sued O'Connor for slander and lost. O'Connor later devoted a significant amount of time to the anti-drug abuse cause. He was instrumental in getting the California Drug Dealers Civil Liability Act passed into law. It states that citizens can sue drug dealers whom they feel are responsible for the drug-related deaths of family members. O'Connor was born into a reasonably wealthy Brooklyn family on August 2, 1924. He served as a merchant seaman in World War II, enrolling at the University of Montana on his return.
Although both his siblings became physicians, O'Connor studied literature and discovered acting.He met his future wife, Nancy Fields, while appearing in a play.Captivated by Ireland during a visit in 1950, O'Connor finished his undergraduate studies at the National University of Ireland. Fields joined him and they were married in Dublin in 1951. O'Connor appeared on stage throughout Ireland and in London, Paris and Edinburgh. Making it in New York proved to be a struggle. He worked as a substitute teacher, earned his master's degree at Montana and, in the late 1950s, finally began getting roles in theater and film. "Lonely Are the Brave" and "Cleopatra" (both 1963), "Hawaii" (1966) and "Point Blank" (1967) were among the movies in which he appeared. Then "All in the Family" made him a star. 
"He didn't ever go for the easy laugh," Reiner recalled of O'Connor Thursday. "It was always important for him to maintain the integrity, reality of the characters he played."In some ways, he was very much like Archie Bunker, and in some ways, he was very different."His politics were 180 degrees away from Archie's. His intelligence was far away from Archie's."But he was stubborn like Archie -- but stubborn for the right things."He pushed for quality in the shows every week and made sure that certain ideas were expressed in a meaningful way."But Carroll was much more soft-spoken, a much gentler person, and an intellect."
O'Connor, 76, was visiting his doctor when he went into cardiac arrest, according to reports. He was rushed to the emergency room of Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, where a trauma team tried in vain to save his life. With his wife of 50 years, Nancy, at his side, O'Connor was pronounced dead shortly before 3:30 p.m. Thursday. The actor suffered diabetes in his late years, which precipitated some of his health problems. It's not known exactly what triggered his fatal heart attack Thursday. The last on-screen work O'Connor did was "Return To Me," released in 2000 and starring Minnie Driver and David Duchovney. He had a hodgepodge of film and television credits to his name, but there was one role that made him a legend: Archie Bunker. Normal Lear picked O'Connor for the part after seeing him in the 1966 film "What Did You Do In The War, Daddy?" The role of Bunker gave O'Connor full-blown celebrity in the 1970s as millions of viewers tuned in to watch "All In The Family," a sitcom adapted from the British series "Till Death Do Us Part." On Jan. 12, 1971, Archie began spouting off against minorities, liberals and his longhaired son-in-law (whom he called "Meathead") and kept at it for 13 years."All In The Family" dominated the number one spot on prime time television throughout the 70s. The cantankerous but lovable Archie kept audiences entertained with his tirades against a changing society, his possessiveness of a living room chair that he treated like a throne, and his occasional blowups over his wife, Edith's, innocent mistakes. "I have a great deal of sympathy for him," O'Connor said of Archie in a 1986 Playboy magazine interview. "As James Baldwin wrote, the white man here is trapped by his own history, a history that he himself cannot comprehend, and therefore what can I do but love him?" The popular sitcom earned O'Connor, by then in his 50s, four Emmy Awards. It was followed by a spin-off series, "Archie Bunker's Place," which first aired in 1979.The show lasted four years.From 1988 to 1994, O'Connor played the sheriff of a small county in the series "In the Heat of the Night." Personal tragedy darkened O'Connor's later years. His only child, Hugh, a co-star on "In the Heat of the Night," shot himself in a drug-related suicide in 1995. The O'Connors adopted their son as an infant in 1962 in Italy, where O'Connor was filming "Cleopatra." In adulthood, Hugh O'Connor battled a longtime alcohol and drug addiction problem. On March 28, 1995, in several phone conversations, Hugh told his father "this is a very black day," and said he had a gun and was going to "cap" himself. O'Connor recalled telling him "you're just saying crazy things," advising him to seek a doctor's care. "So long, I love you," his son replied. O'Connor called police, who arrived just as Hugh O'Connor shot himself. "When his son died, I think that took a terrible, terrible toll on him, and I don't think any parent is ever totally able to get past those things," Rob Reiner, who played Archie's son-in-law Michael, told reporters Thursday. After Hugh's suicide, O'Connor publicly denounced the man who had allegedly provided his son with cocaine. Harry Perzigian sued O'Connor for slander and lost. O'Connor later devoted a significant amount of time to the anti-drug abuse cause. He was instrumental in getting the California Drug Dealers Civil Liability Act passed into law. It states that citizens can sue drug dealers whom they feel are responsible for the drug-related deaths of family members. O'Connor was born into a reasonably wealthy Brooklyn family on August 2, 1924. He served as a merchant seaman in World War II, enrolling at the University of Montana on his return.Although both his siblings became physicians, O'Connor studied literature and discovered acting.He met his future wife, Nancy Fields, while appearing in a play.Captivated by Ireland during a visit in 1950, O'Connor finished his undergraduate studies at the National University of Ireland. Fields joined him and they were married in Dublin in 1951. O'Connor appeared on stage throughout Ireland and in London, Paris and Edinburgh. Making it in New York proved to be a struggle. He worked as a substitute teacher, earned his master's degree at Montana and, in the late 1950s, finally began getting roles in theater and film. "Lonely Are the Brave" and "Cleopatra" (both 1963), "Hawaii" (1966) and "Point Blank" (1967) were among the movies in which he appeared. Then "All in the Family" made him a star. "He didn't ever go for the easy laugh," Reiner recalled of O'Connor Thursday. "It was always important for him to maintain the integrity, reality of the characters he played."In some ways, he was very much like Archie Bunker, and in some ways, he was very different."His politics were 180 degrees away from Archie's. His intelligence was far away from Archie's."But he was stubborn like Archie -- but stubborn for the right things."He pushed for quality in the shows every week and made sure that certain ideas were expressed in a meaningful way."But Carroll was much more soft-spoken, a much gentler person, and an intellect."Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
