A Heavy Habit

Chuck Connors concealed a surprising secret from his viewers: he was a devoted smoker, a fact that may astonish those who watched his character, Lucas McCain, puff on a cigarette only once during the show’s run. It’s a stark contrast to the different attitudes toward smoking in the 1950s, where it wasn’t viewed as negatively as it is today.

What makes this even more intriguing is how the show’s producers chose not to incorporate this smoking habit into Lucas’s character, even though Connors himself lit up as many as 60 cigarettes a day. This decision, tragically, played a part in Connors’ eventual demise at the age of 71, as he succumbed to lung cancer.