Mike Connors dead: ‘Mannix’ star passes away, aged 91

Mike Connors, who played a hard-hitting private eye on the long-running TV series “Mannix,” has died. He was 91.

His son-in-law, Mike Condon, says the actor died Thursday afternoon at a Los Angeles hospital from recently-diagnosed leukemia.

4:09 Winners and losers of the Fall 2016 TV shows

• Winners and losers of the Fall 2016 TV shows
• New take on classic TV shows and movies coming this Fall
• Product placement in TV shows
• Cancelled TV shows for Fall 2016

Previous Video

Next Video

“Mannix” debuted on CBS in 1967 and ran for eight years.

Viewers were intrigued by the smartly dressed, well-spoken Los Angeles detective who could still mix it up with thugs. Episodes normally climaxed with a brawl.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

READ MORE: Global TV 2016-2017: New TV shows include ‘Bull,’ ‘MacGyver,’ ‘The Blacklist: Redemption’

Connors once said that until “Mannix,” TV private investigators were hard-nosed and cynical, while Mannix “got emotionally involved” in his cases.

Connors also starred in the short-lived TV shows “Tightrope” and “Today’s FBI.” His movie roles included “Sudden Fear” with Joan Crawford, “Island in the Sky,” “The Ten Commandments,” and a remake of “Stagecoach.”