Mike Connors obit

Mike Connors, ‘Mannix’ Star, Dies at 91

He was not on the list.

Mike Connors, best known for playing detective Joe Mannix on 1960s and ’70s show “Mannix,” died Thursday in Tarzana, Calif. He was 91.

He had been diagnosed a week ago with leukemia, according to his son-in-law Mike Condon.

“Mannix” ran for eight seasons from 1968 to 1975 and was the last series from Desilu Productions. Connors won a Golden Globe for his performance as a tough, athletic investigator, who in quintessential detective show style, insisted on doing things his own way and often got beat up in the process. He drove an impressive series of muscle cars including a Dodge Dart and Chevrolet Camaro.

Desilu president Lucille Ball convinced CBS not to cancel the show despite initial poor ratings, and it caught on after being retooled into a somewhat more conventional detective series. Mannix’s secretary, played by Gail Fisher, was one of few African-American actresses on TV at the time. “Here’s Lucy” produced a crossover episode in 1971 with Connors and Ball, called “Lucy and Mannix Are Held Hostage.”

As recently as 2007, he made a guest appearance on “Two and a Half Men.” His other TV appearances included “Murder, She Wrote,” “Love Boat,” and “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

The handsome square-jawed actor also appeared in early ’60s TV series “Tightrope!” and “Today’s F.B.I.” in the early ’80s. He later played Colonel Hack Peters in Herman Wouk miniseries “War and Remembrance.”

Born Kreker J. Ohanian in Fresno, Calif., Connors was of Armenian descent. He played basketball at UCLA where he was nicknamed “Touch,” and was credited in his first few films as Touch Connors. In the 1950s, Connors appeared in the John Wayne film “Island in the Sky” and in Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments.”

Connors is survived by his wife Mary Lou, daughter Dena, and granddaughter Cooper.

Filmography

Film

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1952      Sudden Fear       Junior Kearney

1953      The 49th Man    Lt. Magrew        

1953      Sky Commando Lt. Hobson Lee

1953      Island in the Sky                Gainer  

1954      Day of Triumph Andrew               

1955      Five Guns West Hale Clinton       

1955      The Twinkle in God's Eye               Lou        

1955      Day the World Ended     Tony Lamont     

1956      Jaguar   Marty Lang        

1956      Swamp Women                Bob Matthews

1956      The Oklahoma Woman Tom Blake          

1956      Flesh and the Spur           Stacy Doggett    Also executive producer

1956      The Ten Commandments             Amalekite Herder            

1956      Shake, Rattle & Rock!     Garry Nelson     

1957      Voodoo Woman               Ted Bronson      

1958      Suicide Battalion               Major Matt McCormack               

1958      Live Fast, Die Young        Rick       

1960      The Dalton That Got Away            Russ Dalton       

1964      Panic Button      Frank Pagano    

1964      Good Neighbor Sam        Howard Ebbets

1964      Where Love Has Gone    Major Luke Miller            

1965      Harlow Jack Harrison     

1965      Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious       Sgt. Lucky Finder             

1966      Stagecoach         Hatfield               

1966      Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die              Kelly     

1979      Avalanche Express           Haller   

1980      Nightkill               Wendell Atwell

1985      Too Scared to Scream     Lt. Alex Dinardo                Also producer

1989      Fist Fighter          Billy Vance         

1993      Public Enemy #2               Himself                

1994      William Saroyan: The Man, the Writer     Narrator               Voice

1994      Downtown Heat               Steve    

1997      James Dean: Race with Destiny Jack Warner      

1998      Gideon Harland Greer   

2000      The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave Grandpa Osborne            Uncredited

2003      Nobody Knows Anything!             Joe Mannix        

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1954      The Ford Television Theatre         Christopher Ames            Episode: "Yours for a Dream"

1954      Mr. & Mrs. North             Mark Willard      Episode: "Murder for Sale"

1955      City Detective    Massey                 Episode: "Baby in the Basket"

1955      The Lineup                          Episode: "The Messenger Case"

1955      Frontier                Tomas   Episode: "Tomas and the Widow"

1955      Schlitz Playhouse of Stars              Mel Dunlap / Lou Renaldi              2 episodes

1955      The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp            Pat Smith             Episode: "The Big Baby Contest"

1956      Have Camera Will Travel               Larry      Television film

1956      Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal                         Episode: "The Diana Story"

1956      The Millionaire Victor Volante   Episode: "The Victor Volante Story"

1956      The Loretta Young Show               Al Kiner                Episode: "Now a Brief Word"

1956      The Adventures of Jim Bowie      Rafe Bradford    Episode: "Broomstick Wedding"

1956      Gunsmoke          Bostick Episode: "The Mistake"

1956      The People's Choice        Bob Staples         Episode: "Sock and the Law"

1956–1959          State Trooper    Jim Madison / Jim Herndon          2 episodes

1957      Hey, Jeannie!     Lash Connor       Episode: "Jeannie, the Westerner"

1957      Sheriff of Cochise             Jess Stiles            Episode: "Husband and Wife"

1957      Code 3 Bill Dalhart          Episode: "The Water Skier"

1957      Lux Video Theatre            Glen Kramer       Episode: "The Latch Key"

1957      The Silent Service             Don Melhop       Episode: "The Ordeal of S-38"

1957      Those Whiting Girls         Hotel Guest        Episode: "The Trio"

1957      M Squad              Pete Wikowlski Episode: "Pete Loves Mary"

1957      Have Gun – Will Travel   Johnny Dart        Episode: "The Bride"

1957      The Gale Storm Show     Jerry Moss           Episode: "Mardi Gras"

1957      Maverick              Sheriff Barney Fillmore / Ralph Jordan     2 episodes

1957      The Walter Winchell File               Dave Hopper      Episode: "The Steep Hill"

1957–1959          Whirlybirds         Tom Grimaldi / Wally Otis             2 episodes

1958      Wagon Train      Lt. Miles Borden               Episode: "The Dora Gray Story"

1958      Telephone Time                Cy Yedor              Episode: "The Checkered Flag"

1958      Official Detective              Martin Whiting[35]         Episode: "The Cover-Up"

1958      Studio 57             Patrolman Jeff Saunders / Hap Gordon   2 episodes

1958      Cheyenne           Roy Simmons     Episode: "Dead to Rights"

1958      Target                   Episode: "Death Makes a Phone Call"

1958      The Texan           Larry Enright      Episode: "The Edge of the Cliff"

1958      Cimarron City     Bill Thatcher       Episode: "Hired Hand"

1958      Rescue 8              Joe Starky            Episode: "Find That Bomb!"

1958      Jefferson Drum Simon Pitt           Episode: "Simon Pitt"

1958      Lawman               Hal Daniels          Episode: "Lady in Question"

1959      The Rough Riders             Randall Garrett Episode: "Wilderness Trace"

1959      Bronco Hurd Elliott         Episode: "School for Cowards"

1959      Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond             Mario Patruzzio                Episode: "The Aerialist"

1959      The Californians                Charles Cora       Episode: "The Bell Tolls"

1959      Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer                Marty / Lou Torrey          2 episodes

1959–1960          Tightrope!           Nick Stone (undercover agent)[36]           37 episodes

1962      The Untouchables           Eddie O'Gara      Episode: "The Eddie O'Gara Story"

1962      The Expendables              Mike      Television film

1963      Redigo Jack Marston      Episode: "Shadow of the Cougar"

1964      Perry Mason       Joe Kelly               Episode: "The Case of the Bullied Bowler"

1967–1975          Mannix                 Joe Mannix         194 episodes

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama (1970)

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama (1971–1975)

Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (1970–1973)

1968–1970          The Red Skelton Show    Plastic Surgeon / Airline Pilot / Henry Pringle / Himself / Federal Witness                 3 episodes

1971      Here's Lucy         Joe Mannix         Episode: "Lucy and Mannix Are Held Hostage"

1973      Beg, Borrow, or Steal      Vic Cummings    Television film

1973      Bob Hope Special             Joe Mannix         Private Eyes spoof skit with Hope as "Cannon"

1976      The Killer Who Wouldn't Die       Karl Ohanian      Television film

1976      Charo    Gen. George Washington             Television film

1976      Revenge For A Rape        Travis Green       Television film

1977      Police Story        Curtis 'Manny' Mandell Episode: "Stigma"

1978      Long Journey Back           Vic Casella           Television film

1979      The Death of Ocean View Park    Sam Jackson       Television film

1979      High Midnight    Capt. Lou Mikalich           Television film

1980      Casino   Nick       Television film

1981–1982          The Love Boat    Mark Hayward / Sidney Sloan     4 episodes

1981–1982          Today's FBI          Ben Slater            18 episodes

1984      Earthlings            Captain Jim Adams          Television film

1984      Glitter                   Episode: "Pilot"

1984      The Fall Guy        Himself                 Episode: "Private Eyes"

1988–1989          War and Remembrance                Col. Harrison 'Hack' Peters           4 episodes

1989      Alfred Hitchcock Presents             Robert Logan     Episode: "Driving Under the Influence"

1989–1995          Murder, She Wrote         Boyce Brown / Walter Murray    3 episodes

1993      Armen and Bullik              Joe 'Uncle Do Do' Armen               Television film

1993      The Commish     James Hayden   Episode: "Scali, P.I."

1993      Hart to Hart Returns       Bill McDowell     Television film

1994      Burke's Law        Jack Duncan       Episode: "Who Killed the Anchorman?"

1997      Diagnosis: Murder           Joe Mannix         Episode: "Hard-Boiled Murder"

1998      Walker, Texas Ranger     Judge Arthur McSpadden             Episode: "Code of the West"

1998–1999          Hercules               Chipacles             Voice, 10 episodes

2007      Two and a Half Men        Hugo     Episode: "Prostitutes and Gelato", (final appearance)