Chuck Connors as a Celtic

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Chuck Connors as a Celtic Empty Chuck Connors as a Celtic

Post by worcester Tue Jan 06, 2015 10:58 am

A patient of mine was a close friend with Chuck Connors, and he's replete with true stories about the Rifleman. The following link is a hilarious tale about Connors in the inaugural Celtics season.

http://legendsrevealed.com/sports/2012/11/29/what-peculiar-punishment-did-future-tv-star-chuck-connors-suffer-while-playing-for-the-boston-celtics/

By the way, Chuck also was the first NBA player to break the backboard in a game.
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Post by rickdavisakaspike Tue Jan 06, 2015 12:28 pm


woostah

Thanks for the link. Guess we have to add The Rifleman to the list of former Celtics who also played major league baseball, even if it was only for one at bat.

If I recall correctly, the backboard incident happened in the Celtics very first game. The game had to be played in the old Boston Arena, because Barnum and Bailey had taken over the Gahden. Chuck was probably not at fault, either, because the set-up crew forgot a guy wire or something. For their punishment, they had to go back to the Gahden and retrieve another backboard, which happened to be stored either in or next to the lions' cage. The whole thing would have made a good made-for-tv movie, starring Chuck Connors, of course.

The final act would have had the multi-talented Chuck as an unofficial ambassador to the USSR, since Kruschev (or Breshnev, or one of those politburo leaders) was a huge fan of the Rifleman television series. Chuck, who married a former Miss Israel, I might add, made any number of visits to our Cold War adversaries, proving that the war wasn't as cold as they wanted us to think.

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Post by worcester Tue Jan 06, 2015 12:55 pm

Rick, Chuck did have only one at bat for the Dodgers, but he did play a bit for the Cubs.
You're quite right about the backboard story...what humble beginnings had the NBA.

Regarding Breshnev, Chuck had been a big supporter of Nixon, so when Breshnev came to the USA in 1973 and Nixon heard he was an ardent fan of the Rifleman, the President summoned Chuck  for a meet up. Chuck presented Breshnev with two Colt 45 six guns, to the Russky's enormous delight, so much so that upon leaving the USA at the airport, he jumped up into Connor's arms to give him an enormous hug. [Images of Chris Christie and Jerry Jones now spring to mind]. Through Breshnev's era, the Rifleman was only one of two or three American shows allowed to play on Soviet TV.

George Will wrote a column criticizing Connors' perfidy, something Chuck never forgot. Actually, I think more human to human warmth and rapport are helpful for international relations, and I wish they'd installed that program at the robot factory where George Will was fabricated.

Years later Chuck was having lunch with my patient at the Beverly Wiltshire hotel when who should he spy in the dining room but George Will. Chuck got up from their table, strode across the room, all 6'5"/6'6" of him, to where Will was sitting. Chuck wrapped his arm around Will's waist and carried him out of the hotel like a squealing pig, where Chuck deposited him on the sidewalk.

You've gotta love the guy's style!
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Post by Sam Tue Jan 06, 2015 4:10 pm

I believe Chuck also starred in a short-lived (maybe two years) western series called "Branded," in which he played en ex-soldier who had been unfairly dismissed from the military. So, instead of serving in the Army, Chuck basically saved every woman in the West from one scrape or another.

If Chuck could only have shot a basketball the way he could shoot the rifle in "The Rifleman," Chuck could have been an NBA star.

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Post by gyso Tue Jan 06, 2015 5:02 pm

Sam,

I remember "Branded".  It has a theme song that we young boys got silly with and changed the lyrics a bit.

http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/brandedlyrics.html

This was the bit we played with:

Branded, scorned as the one who ran.
What do you do when you're branded, and you know you're a man.


This is what we did with it:

Stranded, stranded on the toilet bowl.
What do you do when you're stranded, and you can't find a roll.


Every time I think of the TV show, that song comes to mind. (LOL)

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Post by bobc33 Tue Jan 06, 2015 5:18 pm

gyso wrote:Sam,

I remember "Branded".  It has a theme song that we young boys got silly with and changed the lyrics a bit.

http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/brandedlyrics.html

This was the bit we played with:

Branded, scorned as the one who ran.
What do you do when you're branded, and you know you're a man.


This is what we did with it:

Stranded, stranded on the toilet bowl.
What do you do when you're stranded, and you can't find a roll.


Every time I think of the TV show, that song comes to mind. (LOL)

gyso

Humor on the Forum? Yes indeed we need it and probably will for the next couple of years.

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Post by worcester Tue Jan 06, 2015 5:19 pm

too funny
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Post by worcester Tue Jan 06, 2015 5:26 pm

This is how my patient Bob met Chuck. Bob was with his attractive wife at the bar of the Beverly Wiltshire Hotel, where they had an apartment. Bob was off to the side a bit, and his wife was sitting there alone. Meanwhile Chuck Connors who was also at the bar kept sending drinks over to her, until Bob - who had been watching this transpire - walked up behind her and asked, "How do you like these drinks I've been sending?"

Chuck overheard that and boomed out, "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I'm her husband" Bob answered, and they became fast friends thereafter.
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