Who Was Carroll O’Connor’s Greatest TV Character? The Answer Might Surprise You
Few actors are lucky enough to find a role that keeps them working for more than a decade, let alone one that turns them into a cultural icon. To follow it up with another meaty role — at age 63, in an entirely different genre — is practically unheard of. But tat’s the luck of Carroll O’Connor, who died 24 years ago today, on June 21, 2001, at the age of 76. He made television history as All in the Family‘s dock foreman-turned-barkeep Archie Bunker, and then followed it up with 8 seasons as Southern small-town police chief Bill Gillespie on In The Heat of the Night.
But which character did the famously exacting O’Connor enjoy playing the most?
Was Bunker better?
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According to his 2001 obit in the Los Angeles Times, O’Connor claimed in 1994 that Bunker was “the best character, the most fulfilling character, and I never thought it was going to develop that way. There’s no role that can top that.”
But that same year, O’Connor seemed to take his creative control on each show into consideration in choosing a favorite. The outspoken actor famously butted heads with All in the Family producer Norman Lear and his writers and directors over scripts, and the fine line he know existed between making Archie a cartoonish buffoon or a blue-collar everyman who loved his family and played the hand he was dealt, even if his opinions were vividly offensive.
“I prefer [Gillespie],” O’Connor said later in ’94 while filming Night’s final season. “But I’m probably influenced in that by my augmented status with the show. I mean more to this show as executive producer, head writer, the star, the guy who even passes on the ladies’ wigs. It involves me more than Archie did. So it’s more fun.”
As was the case with All in the Family, O’Connor frequently chimed in on the scripts for In the Heat of Night, submitting frequent revisions and driving the writers and producers crazy. O’Connor had a clear vision for Heat‘s characters, the place in which they lived and worked, and the crimes that impacted their lives. He had no patience for what he deemed big-city storylines set in a steamy little Mississippi town — and he much preferred directors who could guide any character regardless if they were serious or comic roles.
But this time, O’Connor — who felt that Lear diminished the creative input the actor insisted be written into his contract — ensured he had the upper hand.
Gillespie gets his due
By 1999, O’Connor realized the gifts that came with both roles. He told the Archive of American Television that he enjoyed playing Gillespie the most, but he was quick to honor Archie, the role he knew was any serious actor’s dream.
“In spite of my griping, or anything else, I was very pleased with it. It’s the best part I’ve ever played,” O’Connor said of the dozen years he spent in Bunker’s surly skin. “I don’t think I’ll ever find a part as good as that. I enjoyed playing the chief down in Georgia [where In the Heat of the Night filmed] more. But I know, from an actor’s standpoint, which was the better part.”
“Carroll was a man who took everything very seriously,” All in the Family executive producer Bud Yorkin told the Los Angeles Times when O’Connor died. “He wouldn’t accept everything. Some people might have found that difficult, but he was just trying to make it better. I thought he was a terrific performer. And I can’t imagine anyone else doing that role.”
More than a colleague
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In the end, the casts of both series knew that they had more than a colleague in Carroll O’Connor. They had a champion for making the most successful and most believable series possible, in shows that asked viewers to examine their own attitudes about societal strife while also enjoying some really great TV.
“From Carroll O’Connor, I learned a lot about how you perform and how important the script and story are for the actors,” Rob Reiner, who played Archie’s son-in-law Mike “Meathead” Stivic, told Huffington Post. “So the actor doesn’t have to push things. You can let the story and the dialogue support you if it’s good.”
“What really made [In the Heat of the Night] so popular, and what makes it even more popular today, was that Carroll really wanted to portray race relations and race relationships as honestly as possible,” said O’Connor’s costar Anne-Marie Johnson. “The integrity of the show has his thumbprint on it.”
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