Chuck Connors (April 10, 1921 – November 10, 1992) was an American actor, writer and a professional basketball and baseball player. For the course of his four decade career, he was best known for his roles in films of the 1950s, such as Pvt. Davey White, in the movie South Sea Woman, opposite Burt Lancaster, as Det. Ben Merrill in Hot Rod Girl and as Burn Sanderson in Old Yeller, opposite Dorothy McGuire. He was also known for his starring role on television in the 1960s ABC hit western series, The Rifleman. Towards the end of his career, he reprised his role as Lucas McCain in The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, with Johnny Crawford and as veteran police officer, Capt. Damian Wright in his last film, Three Days to a Kill.

SPORTS CAREER - During his army service, Connors moonlighted as a professional basketball player. Following his military discharge in 1946, he joined the newly-formed Boston Celtics of the Basketball Association of America. Connors left the team for spring training with Major League Baseball's Brooklyn Dodgers. He played for numerous minor league teams before joining the Dodgers in 1949, for whom he played in just one game; and the Chicago Cubs in 1951, for whom he played in 66 games as a first baseman and occasional pinch hitter.[1] In 1952 he was sent to the minor leagues again, to play for the Cubs' top farm team, the Los Angeles Angels. Connors was also drafted by the Chicago Bears, but never suited-up for the team. He is one of only 12 athletes in the history of American professional sports to have played for both Major League Baseball and in the NBA. He is also credited as the first professional basketball player to break a backboard. During warm-ups in the first-ever Boston Celtics game on November 5, 1946, at Boston Arena, Connors took a shot which caught the front of the rim and shattered an improperly installed glass backboard.[2] In 1966 Connors played an off-field role by helping to end the celebrated holdout by Los Angeles pitchers Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax when he acted as an intermediary between the Dodgers and the players. Connors can be seen in the Associated Press photo with Drysdale, Koufax and Dodgers general manager Buzzie Bavasi announcing the pitchers' new contracts.