10 Actors Who Had INSANE Careers Before Movies
9. Chuck Connors Played Professional Basketball AND Baseball
For someone to make it as an actor, generally they would have to have a lot of relevant talent. Similarly, an insane amount of skill and ability is required to play any sport professionally, let alone be good enough for two different games.
When someone has the talent to act, play basketball, and play baseball, all at a high level, well that's just an unfair distribution of skill. However, that is exactly what Chuck Connors could boast.
Before a four-decade-long on-screen career, arguably most well-known for his role as Lucas McCain in The Rifleman, Connors had played both professional basketball and professional baseball. Standing 6' 5" tall, the soon-to-be actor certainly had an athlete's frame, and played for one of the biggest basketball teams in the world, the Boston Celtics, in their inaugural 1946 season.
After being released by the Celtics, he became one of just 13 people to have played in both the NBA and MLB, when he turned out for the Brooklyn Chargers in 1949. Then, after a brief stint with the Chicago Cubs, he began his soon-to-be illustrious acting career which saw him granted a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1984. To reiterate, that is a completely unfair amount of talent for one person to possess.