Michael Connors (actor)

Mike Connors
Connors as Joe Mannix, 1968
Born	Krekor Ohanian (1925-08-15)August 15, 1925 Fresno, California, U.S.
Died	January 26, 2017(2017-01-26) (aged 91) Tarzana, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Leukemia
Other names	Touch Connors
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1952–2007
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Mary Lou Willey (m. 1949; his death 2017)
Children	Matthew Gunner Ohanian Dana Lou Connors
Parent(s)	Krekor and Alice Ohanian

Mike Connors (born Krekor Ohanian; August 15, 1925 – January 26, 2017) was an Armenian-American actor best known for playing private detective Joe Mannix in the CBS television series Mannix from 1967 to 1975, a role which earned him a Golden Globe Award in 1970, the first of six straight nominations, as well as four consecutive Emmy nominations from 1970 through 1973. He also starred in the short-lived series Tightrope! (1959-1960) and Today's FBI (1981-1982). Connors' acting career spanned six decades; in addition to his work on television, he appeared in numerous films, most notably the 1965 World War II black comedy Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious, in which he and Robert Redford played American soldiers taken prisoner by a German villager played by Alec Guinness.

Of Armenian descent, Connors was born Krekor Ohanian in Fresno, California in 1925. His father was Krekor Ohanian (1881–1944) and his mother was Alice (1898–1978). They married in 1920 and had three children, Dorthy M., Arpesri A. and Krekor. At school, he often got into fights due to the discrimination faced against Armenians, who were looked upon as outsiders. He stated this made his family more close.

He was an avid basketball player in high school, who was nicknamed "Touch" by his teammates. During World War II, he served in the United States Army Air Forces. After the war, he attended the University of California at Los Angeles on a basketball scholarship, where he briefly played under coach John Wooden. He was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. Director William A. Wellman got him into acting after noticing his expressive face while Connors was playing basketball. He appeared on the Los Angeles CBS station as Touch Connors in an episode of Jukebox Jury before the program went national via ABC in 1953. Connors is credited in his early films, such as Sudden Fear (1952), Island in the Sky (1953), Swamp Women (Swamp Diamonds), Five Guns West (1955), The Day the World Ended (1955), Shake, Rattle and Rock (1956), and Flesh and the Spur (1957) as "Touch Connors".