Chuck Connors (born Kevin Connors) was a professional major-league baseball player for the Chicago Cubs and other teams. In the early '50s he began playing bit roles in films, then started getting leads in "B"-movies. A rangy, tough, sinewy, athletic man with a thin smile, he became well-known as an actor for his work in the TV western The Rifleman (1957-62), going on from that role to play leads in higher-quality movies in the '60s and '70s, mostly appearing in westerns and action pictures.