June 21, 2001 - June 21, 2011: Ten Years Later
It has been 10 years since a marvelous actor was taken from us. During the earliest days of television he appeared on such shows as "The United States Steel Hour", "The Dick Powell Theatre", "The Fugitive", "The Defenders", "Ben Casey", "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.", "I Spy", "That Girl", "The Wild Wild West" and "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre."
In 1968 he was handed the role that make him a household name...the groundbreaking series "All in the Family", created by producer Norman Lear began on January 12, 1971 and would help to define television for the next decade. As Archie Bunker, he brought words to television that had never been there before. Along side veteran character actress Jean Stapleton as his ditzy wife Edith, he helped television move in a new direction. Because of the acceptance their performances received, television changed completely and became a valuable tool in educating the public on serious issues. Topics went from racism to rape from homelessness to homosexuality...
"All in the Family" ended its incredible run in April 1979 after 9 seasons and more than 200 episodes. The actor would then go onto appear in "Archie Bunker's Place" which ran until 1983. When all was said and done he had played Archie Bunker in more than 300 television shows. In 1988, he returned to television as an entirely different character - playing Police Chief Bill Gillespie on "In the Heat of the Night." The show ran until 1995.
That same year tragedy struck when his 28 year old son Hugh, a long time drug addict, ended his own life. After that the grief stricken father went on an anti-drug crusade. In the late 1990's he could be seen on shows like "Party of Five" and "Mad About You." On the latter he played Helen Hunt's father, his on screen wife was a fellow Carol, longtime funny gal Carol Burnett.
Speaking of on screen wives, during his appearance on "The Defenders" in 1962 he played a character who ended up being the killer, the actress who played the eyewitness who identified him - yes indeed the one and only Jean Stapleton....who knew that nearly ten years later they would be one of the most remembered married couples in prime time television history.
The actor was also no stranger to the silver screen or the Broadway stage...his final film appearance was in Return to Me in 2000. He passed away on June 21, 2001 - leaving behind an incredible body of work...he will never be forgotten. A decade later...
In Memoriam Remembers:
Carroll O'Connor
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