MIKE CONNORS CELEBRATES 75TH BIRTHDAY

MIKE CONNORS CELEBRATES 75TH BIRTHDAY

LAKE ARROWHEAD, Calif. (Wireless Flash) -- TV actor Mike Connors has a good reason to celebrate -- on Tuesday he turned 75. Connors -- who played detective Joe Mannix from 1967 to 1975 -- says he started celebrating his birthday last week by throwing parties with Eydie Gorme and Tim Conway's wife, who both had birthdays over the past week. These days, Connors only acts when friends ask him and he keeps active by playing golf. However, he says his 75- year-old knees keep him from his first love: basketball. Believe it or not, Connors shot hoops in the 1950s for UCLA under the name "Touch Connors." He says the game today is so different that if he tried to play in the NBA, "They wouldn't give me three bucks."