Today would have been his 88th birthday. IMO his best role was Chief Bill Gillespie in The Heat Of The Night. He was the exact opposite of Archie Bunker! RIP Carroll. We miss you!:(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEfQYVfshs8&playnext=1&list=PL6A5CFCF08C2D79C9&feature=results_video

Happy birthday to a wonderful actor.

Yes happy birthday to this wonderful actor.

I am from Mississippi, and although I thought "In the Heat of the Night" was a bit over the top (that a small town like a (fictional) small town like Sparta, Mississippi can have as many murders as it did) Carroll O'Connor really nailed it playing a Mississippian and southerner, and this character was nothing like Archie Bunker.

The show itself was filmed in Georgia and not Mississippi. Georgia seems to be a more friendly state to film shows than Mississippi. I am also from Tennessee (from Memphis, but went to Ole Miss, had a home and job in Mississippi, I claim both as home states). There was a film called The Blind Side in which the characters were from Memphis and the lead character played football at Ole Miss, but the movie was also shot in Georgia.

Another thing about O'Connor, he looked older than he actually was. He was only 47 when All In the Family premiered in 1971. Rob Lowe on Parks and Recreation is about the same age as O'Connor ws in early Family episodes. Jean Stapleton was 1.5 years older than O'Connor, so she was in her late 40's when the show went off. When Archie Bunkers Place went off in (around) 1983, O'Connor was under 60 years old.

Sort of wish The Heat of the Night tried not to be such a Hill Street Blues in a tiny town and more focused on the small town. My two cents.