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Created page with "{{Infobox Officeholder | name=Merrill Lee Connally, Sr. | image = |office=County Judge of Wilson County, Texas |term_start=1955 |term_end=1958 |preceded=Verner Monr..."
{{Infobox Officeholder
| name=Merrill Lee Connally, Sr.
| image =
|office=County Judge of Wilson County, [[Texas]]
|term_start=1955
|term_end=1958
|preceded=Verner Monroe Butler
|succeeded=Dietrich Richard Voges
| birth_date=April 9, 1921
| birth_place=Floresville, Wilson County, Texas, USA
| death_date=September 4, 2011 (aged 90)
| death_place=Floresville, Texas
| religion =
| spouse=Mary H. Connally (born 1930)
| children= including Merrill Connally, Jr. (born 1956)
| occupation=[[ Actor]], [[Rancher]]
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
}}
'''Merrill Lee Connally, Sr.''' (April 9, 1921 – September 4, 2001), was an American [[film]] [[actor]], a county administrative [[judge]],<ref>Charles Ashman, ''Connally: The Adventures of Big Bad John'', New York: William Morrow, 1974, pp. 131.</ref> a [[rancher]], and a brother of both [[Governor]] [[John Connally|John B. Connally, Jr.]], and Texas state Senator [[Wayne Connally]].
Connally was born, John Connally once ran for Wilson County clerk. In addition to Wayne and John, Merrill had five other siblings.<ref>Ashman, ''Connally'', pp. 50–51.</ref> Merrill Connally served in the [[United States Marine Corps]] during [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=60DynX-lMKIC&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=Merrill+Connally&source=bl&ots=AUSlwhqGla&sig=pSOs5sa4pfQ_NdSX7lXSgBsXojY&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result|title=''Jake''|author=J. J. "Jake" Pickle|publisher=Google Books|accessdate=December 29, 2008 | isbn=978-0-292-76572-6}}</ref>
He portrayed [[Davy Crockett]] in the 1988 picture ''The Alamo: The Price of Freedom''. He also appeared in [[Steven Spielberg]]'s ''Sugarland Express'' and ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=Variety100&reviewid=VE1117789972&content=jump&jump=review&category=1935&cs=1&p=0|title=''Close Encounters of the Third Kind''|publisher=Variety 100|accessdate=December 26, 2008 |author=A. D. Murphy|date=November 9, 1977}}</ref> In the filming of ''Close Encounters'' in 1977, Connally was known on the roll-call sheets as "The American Eagle" because of his shock of white hair and his authoritarian demeanor. He physically resembled his older brother John. Spielberg was so impressed with Connally's diction that he kept taking lines of dialogue from other actors to give Connally a greater part.<ref name=imdb>{{cite web|url=
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0174919/|title=Merrill Connally, List of credits|publisher=Internet Movie Data Base|accessdate=October 14, 2020}}</ref>
Other Connally film appearances were in ''Rush'' starring Jason Patric as a [[narcotics]] [[detective]], and in ''Heaven and Hell: North & South: Book Three." In 1991, he played Judge Bolen in the [[television]] production ''Wild Texas Wind.'' He was an extra in the 1979 television film ''The Girls in the Office.'' On August 12, 1956, he appeared as himself as a contestant on John Charles Daly's '[What's My Line?'' [[CBS]] quiz program in which a celebrity panel attempts to guess the occupation of the guest. [[Jimmy Carter]] of [[Georgia], before he was nationally-known also appeared once on ''What's My Line?''<ref name=imdb/>
Connally served as the Wilson County judge from 1955 to 1958<ref>Years confirmed by the office of the Wilson County, Texas county judge</ref> and was involved in various [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] activities. He was a delegate to the 1956 [[Democratic National Convention]] in [[Chicago]], which nominated the [[Adlai Stevenson]]-[[Estes Kefauver]] ticket. In 1968, he managed the unsuccessful candidacy of Eugene Locke, who resigned as deputy ambassador to the former [[South Vietnam]] to seek to succeed Connally's brother as governor. John Connally professed neutrality in the primary because the lieutenant governor, [[Preston Smith]] of [[Lubbock]], and the former appointed Texas secretary of state, John Luke Hill, were also in the race.<ref name="Ashman, Connally, pp. 131–133">Ashman, ''Connally'', pp. 131–133</ref>
Another brother, Golfrey M. Connally (born 1919 - deceased), an [[economics]] professor at then San Antonio Junior College, supported [[George S. McGovern]] for [[U.S. President]] in 1972, while brother John Connally was heading the national "Democrats for [[Richard M. Nixon|Nixon]]" committee.<ref name="Ashman, ''Connally,'' pp. 131–133.<ref/>
Connally died of lung cancer. He is interred at Fairview Cemetery in Fairview in Wilson County.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=23918654|title=Merrill Lee Connally, Wilson County, Texas|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=October 14, 2020}}</ref> The Connally Memorial Medical Center in his native Floresville is named for him and his brothers John and Wayne.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.journals.senate.state.tx.us/sjrnl/79r/html/sj03-07-f.htm|title=Texas State Senate journals|publisher=journals.senate.state.tx.us|accessdate=December 25, 2008}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Connally, Merrill}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Ranchers]]
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps]]
[[Category:World War II]]
| name=Merrill Lee Connally, Sr.
| image =
|office=County Judge of Wilson County, [[Texas]]
|term_start=1955
|term_end=1958
|preceded=Verner Monroe Butler
|succeeded=Dietrich Richard Voges
| birth_date=April 9, 1921
| birth_place=Floresville, Wilson County, Texas, USA
| death_date=September 4, 2011 (aged 90)
| death_place=Floresville, Texas
| religion =
| spouse=Mary H. Connally (born 1930)
| children= including Merrill Connally, Jr. (born 1956)
| occupation=[[ Actor]], [[Rancher]]
| party=[[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
}}
'''Merrill Lee Connally, Sr.''' (April 9, 1921 – September 4, 2001), was an American [[film]] [[actor]], a county administrative [[judge]],<ref>Charles Ashman, ''Connally: The Adventures of Big Bad John'', New York: William Morrow, 1974, pp. 131.</ref> a [[rancher]], and a brother of both [[Governor]] [[John Connally|John B. Connally, Jr.]], and Texas state Senator [[Wayne Connally]].
Connally was born, John Connally once ran for Wilson County clerk. In addition to Wayne and John, Merrill had five other siblings.<ref>Ashman, ''Connally'', pp. 50–51.</ref> Merrill Connally served in the [[United States Marine Corps]] during [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=60DynX-lMKIC&pg=PA60&lpg=PA60&dq=Merrill+Connally&source=bl&ots=AUSlwhqGla&sig=pSOs5sa4pfQ_NdSX7lXSgBsXojY&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result|title=''Jake''|author=J. J. "Jake" Pickle|publisher=Google Books|accessdate=December 29, 2008 | isbn=978-0-292-76572-6}}</ref>
He portrayed [[Davy Crockett]] in the 1988 picture ''The Alamo: The Price of Freedom''. He also appeared in [[Steven Spielberg]]'s ''Sugarland Express'' and ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=Variety100&reviewid=VE1117789972&content=jump&jump=review&category=1935&cs=1&p=0|title=''Close Encounters of the Third Kind''|publisher=Variety 100|accessdate=December 26, 2008 |author=A. D. Murphy|date=November 9, 1977}}</ref> In the filming of ''Close Encounters'' in 1977, Connally was known on the roll-call sheets as "The American Eagle" because of his shock of white hair and his authoritarian demeanor. He physically resembled his older brother John. Spielberg was so impressed with Connally's diction that he kept taking lines of dialogue from other actors to give Connally a greater part.<ref name=imdb>{{cite web|url=
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0174919/|title=Merrill Connally, List of credits|publisher=Internet Movie Data Base|accessdate=October 14, 2020}}</ref>
Other Connally film appearances were in ''Rush'' starring Jason Patric as a [[narcotics]] [[detective]], and in ''Heaven and Hell: North & South: Book Three." In 1991, he played Judge Bolen in the [[television]] production ''Wild Texas Wind.'' He was an extra in the 1979 television film ''The Girls in the Office.'' On August 12, 1956, he appeared as himself as a contestant on John Charles Daly's '[What's My Line?'' [[CBS]] quiz program in which a celebrity panel attempts to guess the occupation of the guest. [[Jimmy Carter]] of [[Georgia], before he was nationally-known also appeared once on ''What's My Line?''<ref name=imdb/>
Connally served as the Wilson County judge from 1955 to 1958<ref>Years confirmed by the office of the Wilson County, Texas county judge</ref> and was involved in various [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] activities. He was a delegate to the 1956 [[Democratic National Convention]] in [[Chicago]], which nominated the [[Adlai Stevenson]]-[[Estes Kefauver]] ticket. In 1968, he managed the unsuccessful candidacy of Eugene Locke, who resigned as deputy ambassador to the former [[South Vietnam]] to seek to succeed Connally's brother as governor. John Connally professed neutrality in the primary because the lieutenant governor, [[Preston Smith]] of [[Lubbock]], and the former appointed Texas secretary of state, John Luke Hill, were also in the race.<ref name="Ashman, Connally, pp. 131–133">Ashman, ''Connally'', pp. 131–133</ref>
Another brother, Golfrey M. Connally (born 1919 - deceased), an [[economics]] professor at then San Antonio Junior College, supported [[George S. McGovern]] for [[U.S. President]] in 1972, while brother John Connally was heading the national "Democrats for [[Richard M. Nixon|Nixon]]" committee.<ref name="Ashman, ''Connally,'' pp. 131–133.<ref/>
Connally died of lung cancer. He is interred at Fairview Cemetery in Fairview in Wilson County.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=23918654|title=Merrill Lee Connally, Wilson County, Texas|publisher=findagrave.com|accessdate=October 14, 2020}}</ref> The Connally Memorial Medical Center in his native Floresville is named for him and his brothers John and Wayne.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.journals.senate.state.tx.us/sjrnl/79r/html/sj03-07-f.htm|title=Texas State Senate journals|publisher=journals.senate.state.tx.us|accessdate=December 25, 2008}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Connally, Merrill}}
[[Category:Texas]]
[[Category:Ranchers]]
[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:United States Marine Corps]]
[[Category:World War II]]