Michael Connors
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
"Why be difficult? It's to my advantage, as much as anyone's, for the venture to be a success. You must function as a team."--Mike Connors
"There wasn't a week that went by that I didn't fight in school. People looked upon us as outsiders. They welded our family into a stronger unit and we all hung in there together with nothing to depend upon but each other."--Connors
Biography
Tall and masculine, Mike Connors was discovered on a UCLA basketball court by director William Wellman and went on to appear in supporting parts and occasional leads in feature films until he found TV stardom as private detective Joe Mannix in "Mannix" (CBS, 1967-75). Originally named Krekor Ohanian, Connors grew up facing the discrimination heaped upon the Armenian community of Fresno, CA. He served in the Air Force during World War II and then matriculated at UCLA. By 1952, he made his feature film debut in the RKO release "Sudden Fear," billed as Touch Connors. ('Touch' had been his nickname at UCLA and agent Henry Wilson thought it fit the era.) He continued playing small and supporting roles for several years. He was a member of John Wayne's downed transport crew in "Island In the Sky" (1953), and even played an Amalekite herder trying to keep water from the future wife of Moses in "The Ten Commandments" (1956). By 1958, he had changed his name to Michael Connors, and co-starred in "Live Fast, Die Young," as a member of a gang of thieves. Connors was a prisoner of Alec Guinness several years after the end of World War II in "Situation Hopeless--But Not Serious" (1965) and had one of his best movie roles as Hatfield the card shark in the Bing Crosby/Ann-Margret remake of "Stagecoach" (1966). In 1979, after years of TV series work, Connors became Mike Connors in the movies, with "Avalanche Express" and even produced as well as starred in "Too Scared to Scream" (1985), in which he was tracking down a psycho killer. Connors played Jack Warner, (for whom he made "Islands in the Sky") in the feature film "James Dean: Race With Destiny" (1996). Connors first worked in TV starting in 1954 with an episode of "Ford Theatre" and was active as a guest star, particularly as a heavy in Westerns, throughout the decade. CBS gave him his first chance to star in a series with "Tightrope!" (1959-60), in which he played an undercover agent. "Mannix," often considered one of the most violent detective shows in TV history, brought true stardom as well as three Emmy nominations as Best Actor in a Drama Series and a 1970 Golden Globe Award. Later, he was the father figure for young agents in "Today's FBI" (ABC, 1981-82) and hosted the syndicated series "Crimes of the Century" (1989). His TV longform work began with his playing a Captain in "High Midnight" (CBS, 1970) and he sought to have "Revenge for a Rape" (ABC, 1976). In 1988-89, Connors played Colonel Hack Peters, a comrade of Robert Mitchum's Pug Henry in the miniseries "War and Remembrance" (ABC). Mike Connors died of leukemia on January 26, 2017. He was 91.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Film Production - Lighting/Electrical (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Misc. Crew (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1952
Made feature film debut (as Touch Connors) in "Sudden Fear"
1954
Made early TV appearance in episode of "Ford Theatre"
1958
Made first feature appearance as Michael Connors in "Live Fast"
1959
Starred in CBS series "Tightrope!"
1966
Co-starred with Bing Crosby in remake of "Stagecoach"
1967
Starred as "Mannix" (CBS)
1970
Made TV-movie debut in "High Midnight" (CBS)
1979
Made first feature film as Mike Connors, "Avalanche Express"
1981
Returned to series on "Today's FBI"
1985
Produced feature "Too Scared to Scream"
1988
Co-starred in miniseries "War and Remembrance"
1989
Hosted syndicated series "Crimes of the Century"
1996
Played Jack Warner in feature "James Dean: Race With Destiny"
1998
Provided the voice of Chipacles on Disney's "Hercules" animated series
2007
Played final screen role on an episode of "Two and a Half Men"
Videos
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
"Why be difficult? It's to my advantage, as much as anyone's, for the venture to be a success. You must function as a team."--Mike Connors
"There wasn't a week that went by that I didn't fight in school. People looked upon us as outsiders. They welded our family into a stronger unit and we all hung in there together with nothing to depend upon but each other."--Connors
"I don't criticize actors if they like to go to parties. Why not? If they like them, then go. But I have to consider my family as well as my career and that means I have to discipline myself." --Mike Connors.
