What Was Carroll O'Connor's Net Worth and Salary?
Carroll O'Connor was an American actor, producer, and director who had a net worth equal to $25 million at the time of his death in 2001.
Carroll O'Connor is most famously recognized for his portrayal of Archie Bunker, the blustering, often bigoted, but ultimately endearing patriarch on the groundbreaking television series "All in the Family." His portrayal of Bunker not only won him critical acclaim but also made a lasting impact on American television.
O'Connor's career began in the theater, where he honed his acting skills before transitioning to television and film. His early work included appearances in various television shows and supporting roles in films. However, it was his role on "All in the Family," which aired from 1971 to 1979, that catapulted Carroll to stardom. His character, Archie Bunker, was at the center of the show's exploration of social and political issues of the time, a novel approach for a sitcom. O'Connor's performance was groundbreaking, earning him four Emmy Awards.
After "All in the Family," O'Connor continued to have a successful career in television. He starred in the spin-off series "Archie Bunker's Place," and later, in the 1980s, he took on the role of Police Chief Bill Gillespie on the television series "In the Heat of the Night," which dealt with racial tensions in a small Southern town. His performance in this series also garnered critical praise, earning him an additional Emmy Award.
Highest Paid Actor
In 1979, Carroll O'Connor was briefly the highest-paid actor on television thanks to his per-episode salary on "Archie Bunker's Place." For the series' four-season run, Carroll earned a salary of $4.8 million per season. That's the same as earning around $20 million per year today. In 1980, he lost the title of highest-paid TV actor after Alan Alda's M*A*S*H salary was boosted to $5.8 million per season.
(Photo by Ron Eisenberg/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Early Life
Carroll O'Connor was born John Carroll O'Connor on August 2, 1924, in New York City. His father was a lawyer, and his mother was a homemaker. He was of Irish descent and had two brothers. Carroll grew up in Queens and attended Newtown High School in Elmhurst. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. When the United States entered World War II, he dropped out of college and tried to join the Navy. He was rejected, so he enrolled in the US Merchant Marine Academy and served as a US Merchant Marine during the war.
After his military service ended in 1946, O'Connor attended the University of Montana and began working at the student newspaper, the "Montana Kaimin." He participated in school theater productions and was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. He left the university without completing his degree and moved to Ireland to help his younger brother get into medical school. In Ireland, Carroll completed his degree at the University College Dublin, where he studied Irish history and English literature.
Early Career
O'Connor had acted in theater productions while in New York and Dublin during the 1950s, but his breakthrough role was in the Broadway adaption of the James Joyce novel "Ulysses." He made his television debut in 1960 with two appearances on the show "Sunday Showcase," and in addition to several other minor roles on television, he was featured in four episodes of the show "Armstrong Circle Theater."
Carroll made his film debut with a minor role in the drama "A Fever in the Blood." Throughout the sixties, he made numerous minor and guest appearances on television and film. He had roles on the shows "The Americans," "The Untouchables," "The Outer Limits," "The Dick Powell Theatre," "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," "Mission: Impossible," and "The Magical World of Disney." He was in the films "Lonely Are the Brave," "Cleopatra," "In Harm's Way," "What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?," "Death of A Gunfighter," and "Marlowe." By the end of the decade, O'Connor had moved to Italy, and producer Norman Lear asked him to come back to New York and star in the television series "Justice for All." Carroll signed on to play the role of Archie Justice. After two pilot episodes had been shot, the network producing the show switched to CBS, and they changed the show's name to "All in the Family" and the main character's name to Archie Bunker.
(Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Television Career
When O'Connor accepted the role of Archie Bunker on the sitcom "All in the Family," he did so believing that the show would fail and that he would be able to return to Italy within a few years. He even made it a stipulation in his contract that the studio would pay for his return flight. The series premiered in January 1971 and lasted nine seasons. It was the most popular television show in the US for five consecutive years based on Nielsen ratings. The show followed a closed-minded working-class father, Archie, and his family. The series was both set and filmed in Queens, New York. It was notable because of the controversial topics that were previously considered too taboo for television, and it was able to present these topics without losing its comedic focus. During its nine-year run, the show won twenty-three Emmy Awards and was nominated for another fifty-seven. For his work on the show, O'Connor was nominated for eight Emmy Awards and won four. He was also nominated for five Golden Globes and received one win. The series concluded in April 1979, but the story continued later that year through the spin-off "Archie Bunker's Place." The show remained on air for four seasons, ending in 1983. Over the course of its run, it was nominated for five Emmy Awards and one Golden Globe.
In 1988, O'Connor was cast as hard-line Police Chief Bill Gillespie in the procedural crime drama "In the Heat of the Night." He was an executive producer on the series and decided to cast his son, who was struggling with a substance abuse issue at the time, as Officer Jamison. The show was met with positive reception, and it ultimately lasted for eight seasons, ending in 1995. O'Connor was nominated for five Golden Globes, and he won an Emmy for his work in the series. After its conclusion, he had a minor role in a few episodes of the television show "Party of Five" in 1996. He starred in the 1996 television movie "36 Hours to Die" and had a small role in the film "Return to Me," which starred David Duchovny.
Personal Life and Activism
O'Connor met Nancy Fields at the University of Montana, and they married in 1951. While he was filming "Cleopatra" in Rome, they decided to adopt a child and returned to the US with a six-day-old son named Hugh. Before Carroll cast his son as Officer Jamison, Hugh had worked as a courier on the set of "Archie Bunker's Place." In 1995, he died by suicide after a lengthy battle with drug addiction. After his death, O'Connor began appearing in Public Service Announcements warning about drug use. He successfully lobbied for a law that allowed families of drug addicts to sue drug dealers for the cost of treatments, care, and noneconomic damages. It is referred to as the Hugh O'Connor Memorial law. In the late nineties, Carroll and Nancy donated over $1.5 million to their Alma Mater, and O'Connor began teaching screenwriting at the university. Carroll died on June 21, 2001, due to a heart attack at the age of 76.
Real Estate
For more than 30 years, Carroll and Nancy lived in a large home on the highly desirable Broad Beach Road in Malibu. Upon Nancy's passing in 2014, the home was sold for $9.5 million. After a major renovation, in November 2020, the next owners sold the home for $24.8 million.
