Carroll was born in Manhattan and raised in Forest Hills, a community of Queens, New York. After high school in 1942, he joined the Merchant Marines and worked on ships in the Atlantic. In 1946, he enrolled at the University of Montana to study English. While there, he became interested in theater. During one of the amateur productions, he met his future wife, Nancy Fields, whom he married in 1951. He moved to Ireland where he continued his theatrical studies at the National University of Ireland. He was discovered during one of his college productions and was signed to appear at the Dublin Gate Theater. He worked in theater in Europe until 1954 when he returned to New York. His attempts to land on Broadway failed and he taught high school until 1958. Finally in 1958, he landed an Off-Broadway production, "Ulysses In Downtown". He followed that with a production that was directed by Peter Bogdanovich. At the same time, he was getting attention on TV. He worked in a great many character roles throughout the 1960s. A pilot for "Those Were The Days" was first shot in 1968 based on the English hit, "Till Death Do Us Part", but was rejected by the networks. In 1971, it was re-shot and re-cast as All in the Family and the rest is history.


"All in the Family" (1971): $200,000 per episode

Had completed part of his undergraduate studies at the University of Montana before returning to earn a master's degree in speech in 1956. In 1997, he and his wife, also a University of Montana graduate, donated $1 million to the University of Montana's Center for the Rocky Mountain West, a regional studies and public policy institute. The Center was renamed "Carroll and Nancy Fields O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West" in September of 1997. Earned a reported $250,000 a week for "All in the Family" in 1980. His favorite expressions on "All in the Family" (1971) were "Dingbat" and "Stifle" to his wife, Edith, and "Meathead" to his son-in-law, Michael. Lost his restaurant in the Northridge earthquake. [17 January 1994] Auditioned for the role of The Skipper on "Gilligan's Island" (1964). In the early 1950s, while trying to launch his acting career, he worked as a substitute high school English teacher in order to pay the rent. Was fluent in Italian. Mickey Rooney was Norman Lear's first choice to play Archie in the pilot of "All in the Family" (1971). Rooney had reservations about the character, so he refused. Was so displeased with CBS's axing of "Archie Bunker's Place" (1979) in 1983, without a chance to film an actual series finale, that he vowed to never work for the network again. (Nonetheless, his late-1980s NBC series, "In the Heat of the Night" (1988) later moved to CBS in 1992.) Passed away 37 days before what would have been his golden wedding anniversary with Nancy Fields. His only son, Hugh O'Connor, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, despondent over the disintegration of his life resulting from his long term drug addiction. He was speaking with his father on the phone at the time. O'Connor did a public service announcement shortly before his death about the perils of drug abuse. As executive producer of "In the Heat of the Night" (1988), he often asked longtime friends and musicians to guest-star. Two of his favorites were Miss Jean Simmons and Bobby Short. He gave long-time friend, Lois Nettleton, a significant recurring role in the first few seasons. Has one grandson, Sean Carroll O'Connor. His son, Hugh, died on what would have been his third wedding anniversary. He was in the process of reconciling with his wife at the time of his death. Best remembered by the public for his starring role as Archie Bunker in All in the Family (1971). Underwent heart bypass surgery in 1989 and angioplasty to prevent a stroke in 1998.