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Chuck Connors
Kevin Joseph "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have played in both the National Basketball Association (Boston Celtics 1946–48) and Major League Baseball (Brooklyn Dodgers 1949, Chicago Cubs, 1951). With a 40-year film and television career, he is best known for his role as Lucas McCain on the ABC series The Rifleman (1958–63).
Connors was born on April 10, 1921 in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, to Marcella (née Lundrigan; 1894–1971) and Alban Francis "Allan" Connors (1891–1966), immigrants of Irish descent from Newfoundland and Labrador. He had one sibling, a younger sister named Gloria Marie Connors Cole (1923–2020). Raised as a Catholic, Connors served as an altar boy at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn.
His father became a citizen of the United States in 1914 and was working in Brooklyn in 1930 as a longshoreman, and his mother had also attained her U.S. citizenship in 1917.
Connors was a devoted fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers despite their losing record during the 1930s, and hoped to join the team one day. A talented athlete, he earned a scholarship to the Adelphi Academy, a preparatory school in Brooklyn, where he graduated in 1939. He received offers for athletic scholarships from more than two dozen colleges and universities. He attended Seton Hall University and played both basketball and baseball at the school.
Since childhood, Connors had disliked his first name, Kevin, and sought another name. He tried using "Lefty" and "Stretch" before finally settling on "Chuck". The name derived from his time as a player on Seton Hall's baseball team. He would repeatedly yell to the pitcher from his position on first base, "Chuck it to me, baby! Chuck it to me!" The rest of his teammates and spectators at the university's games soon caught on, and the nickname stuck.
Connors left Seton Hall after two years to accept a contract to play professional baseball. He played on two minor league teams (see below) in 1940 and 1942, then joined the United States Army following America's entrance into World War II. During most of the war, he served as a tank-warfare instructor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and later at West Point in New York.
In 1940, following his departure from college, Connors played four baseball games with the Brooklyn Dodgers' minor league team, the Newport Dodgers (Northeast Arkansas League). Released, he sat out the 1941 season, then signed with the New York Yankees farm team, the Norfolk Tars (Piedmont League), where he played 72 games before enlisting in the Army at Fort Knox, Kentucky, at the end of the season, on October 10, 1942.
Following his time in the Army, Connors played for the Newport News Dodgers (Piedmont League) in 1946, the Mobile Bears (Southern Association) in 1947, the Montreal Royals (International League) from 1948 through 1950, and the Los Angeles Angels (Pacific Coast League) in 1951 and 1952.
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Chuck Connors
Kevin Joseph "Chuck" Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor and professional basketball and baseball player. He is one of only 13 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have played in both the National Basketball Association (Boston Celtics 1946–48) and Major League Baseball (Brooklyn Dodgers 1949, Chicago Cubs, 1951). With a 40-year film and television career, he is best known for his role as Lucas McCain on the ABC series The Rifleman (1958–63).
Connors was born on April 10, 1921 in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, to Marcella (née Lundrigan; 1894–1971) and Alban Francis "Allan" Connors (1891–1966), immigrants of Irish descent from Newfoundland and Labrador. He had one sibling, a younger sister named Gloria Marie Connors Cole (1923–2020). Raised as a Catholic, Connors served as an altar boy at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn.
His father became a citizen of the United States in 1914 and was working in Brooklyn in 1930 as a longshoreman, and his mother had also attained her U.S. citizenship in 1917.
Connors was a devoted fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers despite their losing record during the 1930s, and hoped to join the team one day. A talented athlete, he earned a scholarship to the Adelphi Academy, a preparatory school in Brooklyn, where he graduated in 1939. He received offers for athletic scholarships from more than two dozen colleges and universities. He attended Seton Hall University and played both basketball and baseball at the school.
Since childhood, Connors had disliked his first name, Kevin, and sought another name. He tried using "Lefty" and "Stretch" before finally settling on "Chuck". The name derived from his time as a player on Seton Hall's baseball team. He would repeatedly yell to the pitcher from his position on first base, "Chuck it to me, baby! Chuck it to me!" The rest of his teammates and spectators at the university's games soon caught on, and the nickname stuck.
Connors left Seton Hall after two years to accept a contract to play professional baseball. He played on two minor league teams (see below) in 1940 and 1942, then joined the United States Army following America's entrance into World War II. During most of the war, he served as a tank-warfare instructor at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and later at West Point in New York.
In 1940, following his departure from college, Connors played four baseball games with the Brooklyn Dodgers' minor league team, the Newport Dodgers (Northeast Arkansas League). Released, he sat out the 1941 season, then signed with the New York Yankees farm team, the Norfolk Tars (Piedmont League), where he played 72 games before enlisting in the Army at Fort Knox, Kentucky, at the end of the season, on October 10, 1942.
Following his time in the Army, Connors played for the Newport News Dodgers (Piedmont League) in 1946, the Mobile Bears (Southern Association) in 1947, the Montreal Royals (International League) from 1948 through 1950, and the Los Angeles Angels (Pacific Coast League) in 1951 and 1952.