After five years of The Rifleman, it wouldn't be surprising if Chuck Connors was willing to hang up his cowboy hat and move away from the life of a Western lead.

However, according to The Toronto Star, Connors moved to a ranch in the Sierra Nevadas after The Rifleman had ended.

Connors, originally born in Brooklyn, said of his new home, "This place is my sanity now." 

Connors utilized the 20-acre ranch to its utmost potential, as the article stated that he "spends much of his time raising prizewinning horses and doing other chores around the ranch — just like Lucas McCain did on our screens 25 years ago."

Connors also clearly didn't miss his fame and city life back in California as he stated, "Hollywood is for the birds." He continued, "I love it here. If I had my way I'd never leave it."

See More

Did you know?

Chuck Connors turned down $10,000 because he refused to make fun of Westerns

While Connors was indeed spending much of his time sharing common daily tasks with Lucas McCain, his day-to-day life was certainly less dramatic and violent than McCain's was. However, that doesn't mean that Connors himself strayed away from excitement. According to an interview with the Longview Daily News, Connors remarked, "You might say that I've always been something of a thrillseeker, myself."

Moreover, while Connors led a tranquil life on his ranch, he still managed to keep up with the high-energy profession that he fell in love with all those years ago: acting. At the time of the article with The Toronto Star, Connors would travel away from the ranch to work on set. Also keeping Connors away from his beloved home was baseball card conventions, which he frequently attended.

While Connors loved acting as a craft, there was no love lost between him and Hollywood as an institution. The article states that in a recent interview, Connors claimed, "Hollywood's phony. Too many high and mighty parties, too many people running 'round thinking they're something else."

Watch The Rifleman on MeTV!

Monday-Saturday at 3 PM & 3:30 PM

*available in most MeTV markets

 Add to Favorites  Remind Me