The father of actor and singer Harry Connick Jr. and New Orleans District Attorney Harry Connick Sr. has died at the age of 97.
Connick died “peacefully” at his home in New Orleans and was surrounded by his family, including the 56-year-old Independence Day star, his daughter Suzanna and his wife Londa, according to an obituary written by Harry Connick Jr.'s publicist.
A cause of death is not yet known.
Connick Jr. recently shared a selfie with his father in November, with both of them smiling warmly in the snap.
He also penned a touching caption: “Hangin’ with my Dad – my FAVORITE thing in the world! I visit him in New Orleans about once a month and it's still not enough! At 97 he is still my hero and my inspiration… I love you sooooo much dad!!!'
The father of actor and singer Harry Connick Jr. and New Orleans District Attorney Harry Connick Sr. has died at the age of 97. A cause of death has not yet been announced; Pictured in 2001
He died “peacefully” at his home in New Orleans and was surrounded by his family, including the 56-year-old Independence Day star, his daughter Suzanna and his wife Londa, according to an obituary written by Harry Connick Jr.'s publicist. The father-son duo seen in an Instagram photo
Connick Sr. served as New Orleans district attorney for three decades and later faced allegations that his staff sometimes withheld evidence that could have helped defendants.
Connick unseated incumbent District Attorney Jim Garrison in a 1973 election.
He won re-election four times and successfully built biracial support as the city's political power base shifted to African Americans.
Connick remained undefeated and retired in 2003.
But he was later dogged by questions about whether his office had withheld evidence in favor of the defendants.
The issue came to the fore 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 murder he did not commit.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court overturned a $14 million arbitration award for Thompson and ruled that the New Orleans district attorney's office should not be penalized for failing to explicitly inform prosecutors of their duty to disclose evidence that could prove the innocence of a defendant.
In a scathing dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg decried “Connick’s deliberately indifferent attitude.”
Connick Jr. recently shared a selfie with his father in November, with both of them smiling warmly in the snap
He also wrote a touching caption: “At 97 he continues to be my hero and my inspiration…I love you sooooo much dad!!!”
Connick Sr. served as New Orleans district attorney for three decades and later faced allegations that his staff sometimes withheld evidence that could have helped defendants; seen in 2001
The issue was revived in 2014 when a murder conviction against Reginald Adams, who had been imprisoned for 34 years, was overturned. Attorneys with the Innocence Project New Orleans presented evidence that detectives and prosecutors withheld key information in the case before Adams' 1990 conviction.
Adams later received $1.25 million in a legal settlement.
Connick repeatedly declined to comment on the cases. However, in 2012, he defended his legacy in a sports-filled interview with The Times-Picayune.
“My reputation is based on something other than one interception, or two interceptions, or five interceptions, or one interception, or 20 interceptions.” Look at the rest of my record. “I have more yards than anyone,” Connick told the newspaper.
He added: “I have to look at myself and say, ‘This is who I am.’ That’s what I did. Perfect? No. But I haven't done anything in this office that I need to confess about. At all.'
Current New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams expressed his condolences to Connick's family.
'Mister. Connick remains the longest-serving district attorney, having served from 1973 to 2003. Such a long-serving public servant gives an enormous amount of themselves to their community – as well as their families. “Our thoughts are with the Connick family during this difficult time,” he said in a statement.
Connick, a Navy veteran who served in the South Pacific during World War II, raised his son to be a jazz piano prodigy by, among other things, making sure he played with New Orleans Dixieland players and legends like pianist Eubie Blake and sat in on drummer Buddy Rich.
Connick raised his son to be a jazz piano prodigy by, among other things, arranging for him to sit in with New Orleans Dixieland players and legends like pianist Eubie Blake and drummer Buddy Rich; Pictured in 1999 singing with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra
Connick was born on March 27, 1926 in Mobile, Alabama and moved to New Orleans with his family when he was two years old. By the 1970s he had become part of the city's political fabric.
In 1973, Connick was a little-known federal prosecutor when he took on Garrison, a three-term district attorney whose fame extended far beyond the borders of New Orleans.
“I worked as a legal aid attorney for over three years and learned firsthand about the operations of Garrison's office,” Connick said in a 2001 interview. “I decided I could do a better job than Jim Garrison.”
Known as “Big Jim,” the 8-foot-tall Garrison gained worldwide notoriety when he unsuccessfully prosecuted a New Orleans businessman in connection with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, insisting that it was a massive cover-up in connection with the assassination attempt.
After Garrison lost his big case, Connick challenged him. Connick ran as a reformer and won by just over 2,000 votes.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Connick led crackdowns on prostitutes and used 19th-century moral codes to close adult bookstores in the French Quarter.
In the 1990s, anti-death penalty groups attacked Connick for insisting that prosecutors seek the death penalty in most first-degree murder cases.
And Connick learned firsthand what happened as a defendant: In 1990, he was charged by federal prosecutors with extortion and aiding and abetting a sports betting operation. The indictment alleged that Connick returned the betting records to a convicted bookmaker who wanted the records to collect gambling debts.
Connick was acquitted and won his fourth election that same year.
The elder Connick performed weekly gigs at nightclubs in the French Quarter for years.
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 lively and enthusiastic on stage, dancing and waving to the crowd.
His music was also politically useful. Through his performances, Connick developed close friendships with black musicians – and black voters. That was crucial for a white candidate in a city where nearly 70% of voters were African American at the time.
The support of powerful black politicians was also crucial to his political survival. In 1996, Connick defeated a black challenger and recognized Mayor Marc Morial, whose supporters lobbied heavily for Connick.
Connick did not seek re-election in 2002 and was succeeded by Eddie Jordan, a former U.S. attorney who oversaw the successful prosecution of former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards. Edwards was convicted in 2000 of collecting payoffs from suitors seeking a riverboat casino license during his last term in office in the 1990s.
Funeral arrangements for Connick are still pending.