Mike Connors

**Mike Connors** (born **Krekor J. Ohanian**; August 15, 1925 – January 26, 2017) was an American actor.

## Career

Born in Fresno, California, U.S., he began his career with the stage name Touch Connors, playing small roles in movies such as _Sudden Fear_ (1951) with Joan Crawford and _Island in the Sky_ (1953) with John Wayne. He then starred in four movies of filmmaker Roger Corman: _Five Guns West_ (1955), _Day the World Ended_ (1955), _The Oklahoma Woman_ (1956), _Swamp Women_ (1956). Connors also played the role of "Amalekite herder", in _The Ten Commandments_ (1956). He also starred in some low-budget movies like _Voodoo Woman_ (1957) and _Suicide Battalion_ (1958), both directed by Edward L. Cahn. In 1966, Mike Connors starred in the western _Stagecoach_ directed by Gordon Douglas. In the 1970s and 1980s, Connors was working exclusively for television, with the exceptions of movies _Avalanche Express_ (1979) _Nightkill_ (1980), and _Too Scared to Scream_ (1985) directed by Toby Lo Bianco, Connors plays the role of Lt. Alex Dinardo, who must investigate a series of crimes that occurred in luxurious buildings in New York City. His last films were _Downtown Heat_ (1994) and _Gideon_ (1999)

## Television

In 1959 Mike Connors starring in a new TV series called _Tightrope_, playing police agent Nick Stone, who must infiltrate organized crime. 37 episodes were filmed in black and white between 1959 and 1960. Mike Connors was the star of _Mannix_, one of the most famous TV detective series of all time. Connors played the role of detective Joe Mannix, who in the first episodes was accompanied by Joseph Campanella as Lew Wickersham. The second season featured Gail Fisher as Mannix's secretary Peggy, Ward Wood as Lt. Art Malcolm and Robert Reed as Lt. Adam Tobias. He played Mannix between 1967 and 1975. Connors was nominated four times for an Emmy Award, and was also nominated for six Golden Globes awards, winning one of them in 1970.

He also starred in films for television such as _Revenge for a Rape_ (1976), he plays Travis Green a man seeking revenge for the rape of his wife, and _High Midnight_ (1979), he is Capt. Lou Mikalich, a corrupt cop who makes a mistake in a raid and killed the family, decides to plant drugs on an innocent. He has been involved in episodes of television series like _Cheyenne_ (1958), _Lawman_ (1958), _Mike Hammer_ (1959), _The Untouchables_ (1962), _Perry Mason_ (1964), _Police Story_ (1977), _Walker, Texas Ranger_ (1998) and _Two and a Half Men_ (2007).

## Personal life and death

Connors married Mary Lou Willey in 1949. Together they had a son, Matthew Gunner Ohanian, and a daughter, Dana Lou Connors.

Connors died from leukemia on January 26, 2017 in Tarzana, California. He was 91.

## References

- _Eye on Science Fiction: 20 Interviews with Classic SF and Horror Filmmakers_ by Tom Weaver
- _Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials: 1974-1984_, by Vincent Terrace

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Mike Connors
- **image**: Mike Connors Mannix 1968.JPG
- **birth name**: Krekor Ohanian
- **birth place**: Fresno, California, U.S
- **death place**: Tarzana, Los Angeles, Tarzana, California, U.S.
- **death cause**: Leukemia
- **nationality**: American
- **other names**: Touch Connors
- **occupation**: Actor