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Mike Connors, who played hard-hitting private eye "Mannix," dies at 91
CBS News ^ | 1/26/17

Posted on 01/26/2017 10:00:54 PM PST by Impala64ssa

Mike Connors, who starred as a hard-hitting private eye on the long-running television series “Mannix,” has died. He was 91.

The actor died surrounded by family Thursday afternoon at a Los Angeles hospital from complications of leukemia that had been diagnosed a week earlier, said his son-in-law, Mike Condon.

“Mannix” ran for eight years on CBS beginning in 1967. Viewers were intrigued by the tall, smartly dressed, well-spoken detective who could mix it up with the burliest of thugs and leap on the hood of a racing car to prevent an escape. Episodes normally climaxed with a brawl that left the culprits bruised and beaten. 029-acadd-connors.jpg

Actor Mike Connors attends the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' Primetime Television Crimefighters panel discussion at the Leonard H Goldenson Theatre on Nov. 1, 2010, in North Hollywood, Calif. Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

“Up until Mannix, most private investigators were hard-nosed, cynical guys who lived in a seedy area and had no emotions,” Connors theorized in 1997. “Mannix got emotionally involved. He was not above being taken advantage of.”

In the first season, Joe Mannix was a self-employed Los Angeles private investigator hired by a firm that used computers and high-tech equipment to uncover crime. The ratings were lukewarm. Connors feared the series would be canceled but it was produced by Lucille Ball’s Desilu studio, and CBS was reluctant to antagonize its biggest star.

In the second season, Mannix opened his own office and combatted low-lifes by himself. The ratings zoomed.

When “Mannix” was revised the office acquired a secretary, played by African-American actress Gail Fisher.

The network was concerned that affiliates in the South might object to her character but “there wasn’t any kind of backlash,” Connors recalled.

Another highlight was the theme music by legendary screen composer Lalo Schifrin.

Connors also starred in the TV series “Tightrope!” and “Today’s FBI.” Each lasted one season.

His movie and TV career stretched from the 1950s to 2007, when he had a guest role on “Two and a Half Men.”

Connors made his film debut in 1952’s “Sudden Fear,” which starred Joan Crawford. Other films included “Island in the Sky,” ‘’The Ten Commandments,” and a remake of “Stagecoach.”

Connors, born Krekor Ohanian in 1925, was from an Armenian community in Fresno. He served in the Air Force during World War II and played basketball at the University of California, Los Angeles.

After graduation he studied law for two years but his good looks and imposing presence attracted him to acting. In an era when film actors were given names like Tab and Rock, he appeared as Touch Connors - “Touch” being his basketball nickname. He later changed it to Michael and finally, Mike.

Connors and his wife, Mary Lou, were married in 1949 and had two children: a son, Matthew, and a daughter, Dana. Their son, beset by hallucinations starting in his teens, was diagnosed with schizophrenia and before his death lived in a small residential care facility. Connors and his wife championed efforts to erase the stigma of mental illness.

In addition to his wife, daughter and son-in-law, Connors is survived by a granddaughter, Cooper Wills.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: California
KEYWORDS: hollywood; mikeconnors; obituary; oldtvshows
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RIP. I remember the badass cars he drove in the Mannix episodes, like that Barris Kustomized Olds toronado convertible

GM should've built this one.
1 posted on 01/26/2017 10:00:54 PM PST by Impala64ssa
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To: Impala64ssa

Which show had the fat detective?


2 posted on 01/26/2017 10:04:22 PM PST by dp0622 (The only thing an upper crust conservative hates more than a liberal is a middle class conservative)
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To: dp0622

Cannon, William Conrad


3 posted on 01/26/2017 10:06:27 PM PST by Impala64ssa
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To: dp0622
Which show had the fat detective?

That would be "Cannon" with William Conrad. I enjoyed both shows back in the day....

4 posted on 01/26/2017 10:08:19 PM PST by awelliott (What one generation tolerates, the next embraces....)
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Hell... I mean heck.


5 posted on 01/26/2017 10:17:17 PM PST by Gene Eric (Don't be a statist!)
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To: Impala64ssa

RIP, Mr Connors. Just by coincidence I watched an episode of “Mannix” just a week or so ago on WE TV.


6 posted on 01/26/2017 10:18:33 PM PST by Robwin
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To: awelliott

I liked him too. Boy that’s going back. I’m pretty sure I saw original episodes. I was born in ‘68


7 posted on 01/26/2017 10:22:15 PM PST by dp0622 (The only thing an upper crust conservative hates more than a liberal is a middle class conservative)
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To: Impala64ssa

I always wanted a Toronado Trofeo. RIP Mr. Connors. Another 1925 born veteran goes to his reward.


8 posted on 01/26/2017 10:25:41 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (You cannot invade the mainland US. There'd be a rifle behind every blade of grass.)
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To: Impala64ssa; dp0622
You young bucks might not know it but the fat William Conrad was the radio voice of Matt Dillon in that first incarnation of Gunsmoke.


9 posted on 01/26/2017 10:26:49 PM PST by nathanbedford (attack, repeat, attack! Bull Halsey)
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To: nathanbedford
You young bucks might not know it but the fat William Conrad was the radio voice of Matt Dillon in that first incarnation of Gunsmoke.

A fact that I, myself was well aware of, but, then again, I haven't been a "young buck" for quite a few years now...

the infowarrior

10 posted on 01/26/2017 11:06:23 PM PST by infowarrior
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To: infowarrior

Age and guile...


11 posted on 01/26/2017 11:26:44 PM PST by nathanbedford (attack, repeat, attack! Bull Halsey)
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To: Impala64ssa
I was just on facebook--unfortunately--and I did get to see a report from his hairdresser, who said he came in to their salon to get their hair cut on the 17th. He told them of his diagnosis, then stated that, at 91, "he had a great run".

Here's a cool scene from the show, featuring Buffalo Springfield...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF9bhAfl0rI

12 posted on 01/26/2017 11:57:14 PM PST by Captainpaintball (It appears that we no longer wish to keep our Republic, Mr. Franklin...)
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To: nathanbedford
Age and guile...

Beats youth and enthusiasm every time...

the infowarrior

13 posted on 01/26/2017 11:58:57 PM PST by infowarrior
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To: nathanbedford

Matt Dillon from The Outsiders? He’s only about my age, I thought. 40ish?


14 posted on 01/27/2017 12:32:17 AM PST by dp0622 (The only thing an upper crust conservative hates more than a liberal is a middle class conservative)
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To: Impala64ssa

I remember my great uncle on his farm in N Dakota watching Mannix, and marveling how he could move so fast ... ie as opposed to my great uncle! :-) (Or more accurately, the stunt doubles moved pretty fast).

15 posted on 01/27/2017 1:12:41 AM PST by CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC (Folks ask about my politics. I say: I dont belong to any organized political party. I'm a Republican)
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To: Impala64ssa

Married ONCE, from 1949 to his death.

To a WOMAN!


16 posted on 01/27/2017 1:55:16 AM PST by Arthur McGowan (https://youtu.be/IYUYya6bPGw)
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To: nathanbedford

Almost always featured on The Big Broadcast from WAMU-FM, Sunday evenings at 7 Easter Time.


17 posted on 01/27/2017 1:56:45 AM PST by Arthur McGowan (https://youtu.be/IYUYya6bPGw)
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To: Impala64ssa

I was impressed with the car phone; also had a minor crush on Peggy Fair.


18 posted on 01/27/2017 1:58:15 AM PST by stormhill
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To: Impala64ssa
I remember him more for Tightrope. Every kid in my neighborhood wanted a toy snubnose revolver because of that show.

As an undercover cop, Connors always carried two guns. One was in a shoulder holster and the snubnose in another waistband holster in the small of his back. Whenever he got patted down they would find the main gun but always miss the snubnose.

19 posted on 01/27/2017 2:44:44 AM PST by Jed Eckert ( " President Trump"....I love it when a plan comes together :)
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To: infowarrior

“Age and guile...”

Pretty sure there was something about “bad haircuts” associated with that ... but I’m gettin old and I’ve forgotten more stuff than I ever learned.


20 posted on 01/27/2017 2:46:22 AM PST by Artie (We are surrounded by MORONS)
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