Biography
Connors' six-foot-five frame helped him gain a position as a pro basketball player on the Boston Celtics after a stint in the military during WWII. He soon switched to baseball, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs, but he was more distinguished for his comical sideline antics than his baseball prowess. Demoted to the Cubs' minor league farm, the old Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League, Connors took advantage of his …
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Career Milestones
| Began acting career | ||
| Sent down to the Angels, the Cubs' farm team in Los Angeles | ||
| Served in the Army for four years during World War II, mainly as a tank instructor at West Point | ||
1946 | Signed as a professional basketball player with the Boston Celtics | |
1949 | Switched to pro baseball, playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers | |
1951 | Played for the Chicago Cubs | |
1952 | Early credit in a major film, George Cukor's "Pat and Mike", starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn | |
1958 | Cast as Lucas McCain in the popular TV series, "The Rifleman" | |
1973 | Met longtime fan, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, at a poolside party given by President Nixon in San Clemente | |
1977 | Appeared in an Emmy-nominated role as a lustful slave owner in the ABC-TV miniseries, "Roots" | |
1979 | Final major starring role in a feature, "Tourist Trap", a horror film set in a wax museum | |
1991 | Reprised the role of Lucas McCain, "The Rifleman" for the TV movie, "Luck of the Draw: The Gambler Returns", starring Kenny Rogers | |