In Memory of TV's 'Mannix' Actor Mike Connors: 7 Years After His Tragic Death

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[Note: Unless otherwise indicated, all commentary and quotes in this article from Robert R. Ray are from his direct interview with the author.]

Overview

Actor Mike Connors was best known for his role on Mannix, the long-running TV detective series, died seven years ago of leukemia on January 27, 2017.

Born Krekor Ohanian, of Armenian descent, on August 15, 1925, in Fresno, California, Connors played private detective Joe Mannix, who subsequently became the first main Armenian male lead character in TV history.

A Closer Look

Along with NBC’s Star Trek (with Nichelle Nichols as communications officer Lt. Uhura) and that same network’s Julia sitcom (starring Diahann Carrol as a nurse), Mannix was also one of the first shows to feature an African-American actress every week; as Gail Fisher played Joe’s trusted and loyal secretary and friend Peggy Fair (a role for which Nichols had auditioned).

Additionally, Mannix and Trek happened to be owned and operated by Lucille Ball’s Desilu Productions, which also supervised her Here’s Lucy CBS comedy, on which Connors made a guest appearance as Joe Mannix.

Connors would reprise his most famous role twice more: in 1997 for an episode of CBS’ Diagnosis: Murder (starring his good friend Dick Van Dyke) and in the 2004 feature film comedy Nobody Knows Anything.

Tall, athletic, and handsome, Connors played basketball in college, during which time he was nicknamed “Touch” for his agility at the game.

The actor utilized “Touch Connors” as a stage name for early film performances such as Sudden Fear (1952), The 49th Man and Sky Commando (both in 1953), Day the World Ended (1955), and The Ten Commandments (1956), among others.

He also used that pre-Mannix moniker for his first few TV appearances on shows like The Ford Television Theatre (for an episode titled, “Yours for A Dream,” his small-screen debut), City Detective, The Lineup, and The Loretta Young Show, during which he was intermittently known as “Touch,” “Mike,” “Michael,” and one time as “Jay” (for a 1956 episode of State Trooper).

After that, the actor was billed as Mike Connors for TV shows like The Untouchables, Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Wagon Train, and more.

Then came Mannix, followed by TV-movies such as The Killer Wouldn’t Die (1976), Long Journey Back (1978), and Casino (1980), followed by one season of ABC’s 1981-1982 series, Today’s F.B.I., on which he played agent Ben Slater.

Other small-screen gems included an episode of Steven Spielberg’s reboot of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1989), the hit mini-series War and Remembrance (1988-1989), the reboot of Burke’s Law (1994), The Commish (1993), Walker, Texas Ranger (1998), and a recurring role as Chipacles in the syndicated Hercules series starring Kevin Sorbo (1998-1999).

Connors's last on-screen performance was for an episode of the CBS sitcom, Two and a Half Men, called “Prostitutes and Gelato” (2007), in which he portrayed a character called Hugo.

Behind the Scenes

A private and dedicated family man, Mike Connors had been married to the same woman, Mary Lou Willey, since September 10, 1949; a union that produced two children: Matthew Gunner Ohanian (born in 1958) and Dana Lee Connors (born 1960).

According to television and film archivist Robert S. Ray, “Mike Connors brought his own sense of style, bravado, and intelligence to his portrayal of Mannix.”

Ray added, “But I think the word that best describes his persona is ‘integrity.’ Joe Mannix was a ham-fisted guy brought up on the tough streets of LA.

"He was an even match for all the thugs he ran up against in any given episode and could very easily have been one of their compadres. But his integrity and sense of honesty kept him on the right side of the law, even if his take-no-prisoners demeanor made his connections in the local Police Department wary of him."

Comparing the Mannix star with other legendary TV male stars such as Ed Asner, best known from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and Ralph Waite, of The Waltons, Ray concluded, “Mike Connors presented a seemingly fundamental decent presence on screen.”