Harry Connick Jr. shares that his dad, Harry Connick Sr., has died at 97
NEW ORLEANS — Actor and musician Harry Connick Jr., has shared that his father, Harry Connick Sr. — who was New Orleans’ district attorney for three decades, after which he faced allegations that his staff sometimes held back evidence — died Thursday.
He was 97 years old.
According to an obituary distributed by Harry Connick Jr.'s publicist, Harry Connick Sr. died peacefully at his home in New Orleans with his wife, Londa, and children — Suzanna and musician and actor Harry Connick Jr. — by his side. A cause of death was not provided.
Harry Connick Sr. was "the longest tenured district attorney, serving from 1973-2003," according to New Orleans’ current district attorney, Jason Williams.
Who was Harry Connick Sr.?
In a 1973 election, Connick dethroned an incumbent prosecutor, Jim Garrison. He won reelection four times, a white politician who successfully built biracial support as the city’s political power base shifted to African Americans.
Connick remained undefeated, but in retirement he was dogged by questions about whether his office withheld evidence that favored defendants. The issue came to the forefront with a 2011 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a lawsuit filed by John Thompson, who was exonerated after 14 years on Louisiana's death row for a killing he didn't commit.
In a 5-4 decision, the high court overturned a $14 million award for Thompson, ruling that the New Orleans district attorney’s office shouldn’t be punished for not specifically training prosecutors on their obligations to share evidence that could prove a defendant’s innocence. In a scathing dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg decried "Connick’s deliberately indifferent attitude."
Connick repeatedly declined to comment on the cases. However, in 2012 he defended his legacy in an interview with The Times-Picayune tinged with sports references. "My reputation is based on something other than a case, or two cases or five cases, or one interception or 20 interceptions. Look at the rest of my record. I have more yards than anybody,” Connick told the newspaper.
He added: “I have to look at myself and say this is who I am. This is what I’ve done. Perfect? No. But I’ve done nothing to go to confession about in that office. At all.”
Connick, a Navy veteran who served in the South Pacific during World War II, nurtured his son into becoming a jazz piano prodigy, partly by arranging for the boy to sit in with New Orleans Dixieland players and legends such as pianist Eubie Blake and drummer Buddy Rich.
For years, the elder Connick performed at weekly gigs in French Quarter nightclubs.
Connick sang standards made famous by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Louis Prima. His voice sometimes wavered, but even in his later years Connick was spry and enthusiastic on stage, dancing and waving to the crowd.
Photos:See Harry Connick Jr. through the years