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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>

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/>

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>''Connally,'' pp. 131–133.</ref>

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>''Connally,'' pp. 131–133.</ref>