TOMBSTONE TRIBUTES

Carroll O'Connor
by: Graham Hill

    Carroll O'Connor may be forever remembered as having played Archie Bunker back east, but he also found time to go west, with Death of a Gunfighter and Lonely Are the Brave.  More at home riding the TV Range, O'Connor usually played villainous roles on such shows as Gunsmoke, The Rifleman and Bonanza.  In fact, in Bonanza in 1963, he was a crooked boss of Virginia City who had Michael Landon shot.

    Born in the Bronx in 1922, he made his stage debut while attending college in Ireland during the 1950s.  A multiple Emmy Award® winner, O'Connor also worked on Broadway.  In later years came other success on television, but also tragedy.  With the death of his son due to drug use, O'Connor personally and publicly took on the pusher that supplied him.  He became an outspoken crusader against the illegal drug business to the very end.