Carroll O'Connor began an anti-drug crusade in memory of his son

He used his platform to make a difference.

January 8, 2025, 11:09AM By MeTV Staff

MGM Television

Carroll O'Connor is one of television's most iconic fathers. As Archie Bunker, he exemplified the kind of armchair philosophizing typical of many dads. His place on his recliner in the middle of his family's living room has come to supplant many real-life memories, overwriting our ideas of fatherhood. O'Connor's role in All in the Family interrogated the patriarchy by holding up this extreme example, daring viewers to change lest they, too, scorn their Meatheads in a bigoted hereafter.

In real life, Carroll O'Connor was a father of one, just like his onscreen counterpart. Unlike Archie, though, O'Connor had a son, Hugh, who he adopted when the boy was six days old. At the time, O'Connor was in Rome, filming the Elizabeth Taylor epic, Cleopatra.

O'Connor and his wife Nancy were reportedly devoted to their son, staying by his side as Hugh battled Hodgkin's disease at 16. It was around this time, however, that Hugh began a lifelong struggle with drug addiction.

This disease of addiction eventually overcame Hugh, who ended his life at 32.

“Nothing will give me any peace,” Carroll O'Connor told Closer Weekly. “I’ve lost a son. And I’ll go to my grave without any peace over that.”

However, O'Connor persevered, determined to ensure his son did not die in vain. He used his celebrity to advocate for the Drug Dealer Liability Act, a piece of legislation drafted to allow families to sue narcotics pushers who caused the wrongful death of a loved one.

The Act was passed in 1997 in California, and soon, other states followed. The statute became known as the Hugh O’Connor Memorial Law.

“He was 100 percent supportive, and it was perhaps cathartic for him to have something he could do in response to his son’s death,” said Steve Borman, an attorney who worked closely with O'Connor. “He felt like something needed to be done as far as the people who are profiting from selling poison.”

The law was a small token of Carroll's love for Hugh.

“The biggest part of my life was the acquiring and loss of a son, nothing was as important as that,” said O'Connor. “Get between your kids and drugs any way you can if you want to save their lives.”