Carroll O’Connor’s Hat

Carroll O’Connor’s Hat.

One of my favorite memories of growing up was hearing the loud and boisterous laugh of my step-father, Jim Fariss.  (Some of you may remember that name as one of the main characters in my business fable, The Unexpected Tour Guide.

I am pretty well convinced that my laughter is a close match to Jim’s.  People can normally recognize my laugh in a crowd.  As a matter of fact, on a trip to California a few years ago, my wife Laurie and I were in the live audience during the filming of an episode of Two and a Half Men.  Later, when the episode aired… you could definitely hear me laughing.

I have always been a fan of movies and television.  Some of that must link back to watching my step-father laugh so much at all of the comedies.

This past weekend, on a trip to Malibu with some friends, we had something very unusual happen.  We were driving down a particular beach road where many stars have their homes.  On the drive, we saw a sign that said, “Estate Sale.”  Not being on any particular schedule, we decided to stop and take a look.

Much to our surprise, the estate sale was in the house that belonged to Nancy and Carroll O’Connor. Carroll O’Connor passed away in 2001.  Nancy O’Connor passed away late last year.  The couple had been married for over 50 years.

As we walked through their beach house, we saw many items that were now for sale that had belonged to the couple.  I bought one of those items.

I bought one of Carroll O’Connor’s hats.[lightbox link=”http://jeffcwest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_3968.jpg” thumb=”http://jeffcwest.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/IMG_3968-300×200.jpg” width=”300″ align=”right” title=”IMG_3968″ frame=”true” icon=”image” caption=””]

This hat was one of Carroll’s personal hats and was most likely not worn in any of his television or movie appearances.  However, I did find a publicity shot in which he is wearing a hat that looks a bit similar.

Although, many actors seem a bit too liberal for my tastes, I always liked Carroll O’Connor.  Maybe because of his acting.  Or maybe because of the way he made Jim laugh.

Tomorrow, I will give you some sales lessons from Carroll O’Connor’s most iconic role, Archie Bunker.

QUESTION:  What was your favorite TV show when growing up?