Chuck Connors is regarded as one of the most notable names in Hollywood. Aside from that, he is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American Professional Sports to have played both National Basketball Association with Boston Celtics (1947-1948) and Major League Baseball with Brooklyn Dodgers in 1949 and Chicago Cubs in 1951.
You would think that is all about him when you see his sports profile, but that is just scratching the surface. Here in the article, we will dissect everything Chuck Connors children who turned out to follow their father’s footsteps.
After realising that he might not make it in the sports world, Connors decides that switching to acting would be a better choice, and boy, was he right? However, there was a play of fate that kicked off his acting career.
So, it happened that where Connors played baseball was close to Hollywood. He was quite lucky when an MGM casting director spotted him, and the rest they say is history.
His sojourn in the movie industry is sterling. Connors is best known for his role as Lucas McCain in the widely acclaimed ABC series The Rifleman. He was on the show for five years.
This is just one of the many movies he is known for. Another TV series that announced Connors’ talent was the NBC series Dear Phoebe, where he played the role of a college professor.
Chuck’s Early Years
Chuck Connors whose full name is Kevin Joseph Aloysius “Chuck” Connors was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 10, 1921. His parents, Alban Connors and Marcella (nee Londrigan) were of Irish descent.
They migrated to the United States of America from Ireland. He is the first of two children his parents brought to the world. His younger sibling, Gloria was born just two years after he was born.
His early years don’t suggest a lot of adventures. The reason for this is, he was a Roman Catholic. As a practicing Catholic, he served as an altar boy in Brooklyn.
As a young chap, his interest in sports was vibrant. His athleticism also won him scholarships, one of such scholarships was to Adelphi Academy, where he graduated in 1939. His sports prowess got him athletic scholarships from 25 colleges and universities.
Anyways, he settled for Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. It was here he honed his baseball and basketball skills. He left Seton University after two years to play professional baseball in 1940.
How Did Chuck Connors Get His Nick?
Interestingly, the name “Chuck” we have come to love wasn’t given to him at birth. He disclosed that he didn’t like his first name “Kevin” and decided to try out another.
The name “Chuck” stuck while he was on Seton’s baseball team. He said he would yell to the pitcher from his position, “Chuck it to me, baby, chuck it to me!” the nickname stuck ever from then.
Chuck Connors’ Sports Career
The first team he joined to be a professional baseball player was Brooklyn Dodgers’ minor team, the Newport Dodgers in 1940. He barely played for a year with them before he left in 1941.
He later signed with the New York Yankees’ farm team, the Norfolk Tars (Piedmont League). Chuck played 72 games with them.
With a height of 6’6”, it was quite easy for Connors to play basketball. Let us not forget he is a talented athlete. Anyways, after serving with the US Army, he joined Boston Celtics in 1946 and played 53 games for Boston before leaving.
His Personal Life
Chuck Connors’ children were from just one woman despite marrying three times. Connors first wife was Elizabeth Jane Riddell Connors who he met at one of his baseball games. He married her on October 1, 1948.
Together they had four kids who would grow to become a signature; the Chuck Connors’ children. After thirteen years of marriage, the two divorced in 1961.
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Connors in 1963 married another woman in Kamala Devi after they both co-starred in Geronimo. They appeared together in other movies like Cowboy in Africa, Broken Sabre, Broken. Unfortunately, ten years later, they got a divorce. This is the second divorce of Connors.
Oh, you thought Connors was done? Haha. Connors later married Faith Quabius, another woman who appeared with him on Soylent Green in 1973. Four years later, they married. But, again, Mr Connors just couldn’t make it work. They settled for a divorce in 1979.
Chuck Connors was a supporter of the Republican Party and was an ardent campaigner for U.S. president, Richard M. Nixon. He also campaigned for his friend Ronald Reagan.
The Movie All Chuck Connors’ Children Appeared On
One of the movies that brought Connors to the limelight was the Rifleman. Many argue that his role as Lucas McCain, a widowed rancher with uncanny skills with the rifle in the series was his best till his death.
Getting the role was no mean feat either, as he beat 40 other actors to the role. In one of the episodes, all four Chuck Connors children appeared.
His four sons; Michael (born in 1950, died in 2017), Jeffrey (born in 1952, died in 2014), Stephen (born 1953), and Kevin (born in 1956, died in 2005) appeared as classmates of his character’s son. Connors has just a son who is still living. We do not know the cause of the deaths of his other sons.
Conclusion
Most of Chuck Connors children took after their father’s steps in the movie industry, however, just one of the children is still living. There aren’t sufficient information about the whereabouts of his children, as they would prefer to remain private.
