Profile Text
Birth Name: Kevin Joseph Aloysius Connors
Date of Birth: April 10, 1921
Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Death: November 10, 1992
Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Ethnicity: Irish (around 87.5%), as well as English/Channel Islander
Chuck Connors was an American actor, and professional basketball and baseball player. He starred as Lucas McCain on the western series The Rifleman . His roles also include the films Trouble Along the Way , South Sea Woman , Dragonfly Squadron , The Human Jungle , Naked Alibi , Target Zero , Good Morning, Miss Dove ; Three Stripes in the Sun , Walk the Dark Street , Hot Rod Girl , Hold Back the Night , Tomahawk Trail , The Hired Gun , Old Yeller , The Big Country , Geronimo (1962), as the title character; Flipper (1963), Kill Them All and Come Back Alone , Captain Nemo and the Underwater City , The Deserter , The Birdmen , Pancho Villa (1972), Soylent Green , Legend of the Sea Wolf , Tourist Trap , Airplane II: The Sequel , Summer Camp Nightmare , Terror Squad , and Skinheads ; and the shows Arrest and Trial , Branded , Cowboy in Africa , and The Yellow Rose . He played with the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Boston Celtics of the Basketball Association of America (later NBA). A first baseman, he was then with the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was one of thirteen people to have played for both the NBA and MLB, and the first professional basketball player to break a backboard, during pregame practice in 1946. He was 6′5″.
Chuck was the son of Marcella (Lundrigan/Londrigan) and Alban Francis “Allan” Connors, a longshoreman. His parents were Canadian, from Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador. He was raised Catholic. Chuck had four children, including actor Jeffrey Connors, with his former wife Elizabeth Jane Riddell Connors.
Chuck’s paternal grandfather was Patrick Connors (the son of Thomas Connors and Anne Casey). Patrick was born in Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, to Irish parents. Anne was born in Carrigbeg, County Wexford, the daughter of William Casey and Catherine Crow, who was from Carrick, County Tipperary.
Chuck’s paternal grandmother was Esther Mary Dunphy/Dumphey (the daughter of John Dunphy and Margaret Power). Esther was born in Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Chuck’s maternal grandfather was Michael Lundrigan (the son of Charles Londrigan and Susanna Whelan). Michael was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Chuck’s maternal grandmother was Anastasia M. Barrett (the daughter of George Barrett and Mary Clancy). Anastasia was born in Holyrood, St. Mary’s Bay, Newfoundland. George was born in Holyrood, the son of Roger Barrett, whose paternal grandfather was from the Channel Islands; and of Jane Veitch. Chuck’s great-grandmother Mary was born in Placentia.
Sources: Genealogies of Chuck Connors – https://www.wikitree.com https://www.findagrave.com