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Carroll
O'Connor, best known as TV's Archie Bunker, has died of a heart attack.
He was 76.
Born in New York in 1924, O'Connor initially had success on the stage,
performing at the famed Dublin Gate Theatre in Ireland. He worked
throughout the UK, but on his return to the US, found the going more
difficult. A lengthy dry patch, in which he became a substitute teacher,
ended in 1958 with an off-Broadway role that led to other stage and
film opportunities. Still, he was very much a character actor, one
of those faces you see but never know.
All that changed in 1968 when he was cast in All In the Family,
a new sit-com based on the acerbic British show, Till Death Do
Us Part. The network initially balked and the series didn't see
the light of day until 1971, but from that moment O'Connor became
an American icon. The blue-collar Archie Bunker was an intolerant
bigot in a satire of American life that took some time for auds to
get used to, but once they did they took him to their hearts. All
In the Family was the number one show for five years straight.
Following All In the Family, O'Connor continued to play Archie
in the spin-off, Archie Bunker's Place, which ran from 1979
to 1983. This was followed with another hit, and another bigoted character,
in the drama In the Heat of the Night, which was based on the
1967 movie.
Recent years had not been so happy for the actor. His adopted son,
Hugh committed suicide following a lengthy struggle with drugs, and
his own health worsened.
Carroll O'Connor is survived by Nancy, his wife of 50 years. |
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Today
in history... |
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1862 - It
was on this day that the Rev. Charles Dodgson told Alice Liddell
and her sisters the story of Alice, who followed a white rabbit
down a hole and entered a magical land. Alice Liddell insisted
that he write it all down.
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