Carroll O'Connor (August 2, 1924 - June 21, 2001)

Carroll O'Connor was the first human being to utter words that had never before been said on American television. "All in the Family" debuted on January 12, 1971 and by January 13th it already had its place in television's history books. O'Connor began his major acting career in the 1950's. He made guest appearances on such programs as "Sunday Showcase", "The Untouchables", "Death Valley Days", "The Dick Powell Show", "Bonanza", "The Defenders", "The Outer Limits", "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.", "Ben Casey", "Dr. Kildare", "I Spy", "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre", "The Wild Wild West", "Mission: Impossible", "That Girl", "Gunsmoke", "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour", "The Dean Martin Show", "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", "The Dick Cavett Show", "Saturday Night Live", "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In", "The Redd Foxx Show", "Party of Five" and "Mad About You." He will always been remembered though as the original "King of Queens" on the CBS smash hit "All in the Family." He appeared as Archie Bunker in a remarkable 307 episodes between 1971 and 1983 spanning "All in the Family" and "Archie Bunker's Place." As the blue collar lovable bigot he fought constantly with his liberal son-in-law Michael Stivic (Rob Reiner) whom he often referred to as "Meathead." His flighty, loyal and adorable wife Edith (Jean Stapleton) soon became known as "Dingbat" and his liberated daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers) became labeled "Little Goil." In addition to battling his family he also debated with African-American neighbors George (Sherman Hemsley), Henry (Mel Stewart) and Louise (Isabel Sanford) Jefferson. Once and a while Edith's good friend Irene Lorenzo (Betty Garrett) would drop in to exchange a few words. "All in the Family" dealt with the toughest issues (homosexuality, cancer, rape, racism, menopause and draft dodging to name a few) but it did it with great humor. O'Connor truly was the captain of this ship and he saw it through every step of the way. His delivery was perfect, his voice was perfect, his appearance was perfect and his humor was perfect. "All in the Family" ended its run in April 1979 and in September of that year Archie and company found a new home on "Archie Bunker's Place." It was on "Archie Bunker's Place" that Archie faced the thing he feared the most...the loss of his wife. When the second season opened in November 1980 audiences were shocked to learn that the beloved Edith had suffered a massive stroke in her sleep. Despite the loss of Edith the program still continued on until May 1983. Five year later O'Connor returned to weekly television as the lead character on "In the Heat of the Night" based on the 1960's film of the same name. His performance as Sheriff Bill Gillespie was complete change from Archie Bunker. The series remained on the air until 1994. O'Connor spent the remainder of the 1990's making the occasional television guest appearance when he wasn't crusading against drug usage. It was a cause he became involved in after the cocaine induced suicide of his 28-year-old son Hugh in 1995. "All in the Family" and Carroll O'Connor rambling on as Archie Bunker....he and Edith weren't kidding when they said "Those Were the Days!"