Shows don’t come more than that of Bonanza. Set during the 1860s, this show could give audiences some lighthearted laughs and confront them with serious topics seamlessly. Sunday evenings showed Americans a family they could get inspiration from. And behind the powerful legacy of Bonanza was a powerful cast. But where are they now? We’re going to jump right into things here…
The Cartwright family lived in Virginia City, Nevada, though sometimes they also appeared in the age of dinosaurs thanks to an episode of The Flintstones. And through it all, they made television history by confronting racism and showing an interracial marriage. To this day, Bonanza is the biggest show credit on a lot of these people’s lists. But the cast still got up to some truly remarkable work after the fact, and although many of them are long gone now, they still deserve to be celebrated. So, let’s explore that subsequent work right here.
1. Lorne Greene – Ben Cartwright
In a show with a lot of horses, Lorne Greene stands out as the busiest workhorse of all. He was one of the few cast members who appeared in every single episode of Bonanza. For reference, that totals up to 431. Thanks to his performance on the show, and Bonanza‘s overall impact, Greene really had to appear as often as possible. No one wanted to miss a chance to see TV Guide’s 2nd Favorite Dad. But Greene stimulated the show’s success behind the scenes as well. When the Cartwrights started as rude to guests, Greene suggested making them more welcoming, especially since their business served the greater community. They tried his change out and popularity soared.
Bonanza is considered a western and even after the show ended, Lorne Green did not leave the genre. Instead, he went on to use his fame as Ben Cartwright to promote his own musical career creating country-western and folk albums. His spoken-word ballad, “Ringo,” actually reached number one in the music charts.
He finally did jump genres with the science-fiction TV series Battlestar Galactica in 1978. There, Greene once again played a patriarch, Adama, who lead a motley crew of survivors fleeing war with robots and reptiles. When it came time to live a quiet life away from oil country drama and space battles, Lorne Green went on to host the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with Betty White herself. The two made a very memorable pair and enjoyed a lot of fun banter together. Sadly, Greene passed away in 1987 from pneumonia. He was 72 and left behind a legacy that transcended time and space.
2. Pernell Roberts – Adam Cartwright
Born on May 18, 1928, Pernell Roberts played the eldest Cartwright boy, Adam. With the character’s architectural savvy and university education, Adam had a lot to be proud of. But Roberts didn’t share that pride. He looked at Bonanza and felt it wasn’t living up to its fullest potential. Robert Reed would share that opinion over The Brady Bunch, too. For Roberts, the show felt less like a labor of love and more like something on an assembly line. Additionally, he felt bothered by Adam’s need for his father’s approval even well into adulthood.
As a result, Roberts left the cast of Bonanza about halfway through the series. His wishes took him to the stage where he could pursue storylines that held more social impact and weight. Outside of work, he put his preaching into constructive action by participating in the march from Selma to Montgomery.
Just a decade after departing from Bonanza, Roberts became part of the cast of M*A*S*H, sort of, by extension. The show’s spinoff series, Trapper John, M.D., had Roberts as the title character. It proved very popular, aided by the fame of its predecessor while also adding to it. Outside of work, Roberts went through wives as he did big series, marrying four times in total. Then, in 2010, Roberts died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 81. Rest in peace.
3. Dan Blocker – Eric “Hoss” Cartwright
No one else could have played the “big, friendly man” of Eric “Hoss” Cartwright than Dan Blocker, standing at 6 foot 4 inches and weighing 300 pounds. As part of the Bonanza cast, all Blocker had to do was tap into his own Texan-born likability and he was Hoss. Born in De Kalb, Texas, Blocker was the heaviest baby born in Bowie County, weighing 14 pounds at birth. It should be no surprise, then, that one of Blocker’s first gigs came as a rodeo performer while he was still a student. He broke into slapstick thanks to a Three Stooges short where he played Goon/Zombie.
Quickly, though, his physicality and roots made him perfect for several westerns. He joined the cast of Gunsmoke and Cheyenne; however, Bonanza remained his most enduring – and his final role. After some 400 episodes, Blocker died suddenly in 1972 from a pulmonary embolism during a post-op procedure. The big, friendly man named Hoss was just 43. However, some of his legacy lives on both through Bonanza and his son, Dirk Blocker, who is on Brooklyn Nine-Nine as Detective Hitchcock.
4. Michael Landon – “Little Joe” Cartwright
The life of Michael Landon was incredibly eventful before, during, and after joining the cast of Bonanza. He endured harsh challenges from his own mother’s bullying and death threats. But Bonanza helped the then-22-year-old Landon become a television icon on screen and behind the director’s camera. In fact, Bonanza taught him a lot about acting, writing, and directing. So, Landon used this knowledge to try his hand at it himself on-set.
The results turned out superb. Some of the most beloved episodes came from Landon’s craftsmanship, including the season 14 opener, “Forever.” After Bonanza, Landon went from endearing son to iconic patriarch as Charles Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie. There, he continued making a TV show a cultural staple of television – though not without some pranking, too.
On a personal level, Landon had several rocky relationships. He married Dodie Levy-Fraser for six years. He met Marjorie Lynn Noe while acting, the first time he’d meet a future spouse through work. Then, they broke up when he began an affair with makeup artist Cindy Clerico. Though he made some of this family through infidelity, Landon tried to assure all children he considered them his family – even if they weren’t his blood. Indeed, Landon networked a lot and found friends in the likes of Johnny Carson who he broke news of his cancer diagnosis to. This let him stay ahead of the tabloids. Unfortunately, though, he succumbed to pancreatic cancer in 1991 at the age of 71.
5. Ray Teal – Sheriff Roy Coffee
As a character actor, Ray Teal fully embedded himself into the Western genre to the point he became synonymous with it. Over the course of his career, he’d essentially become Sheriff Roy Coffee from Bonanza: experienced, enduring, irreplaceable no matter what. As part of the Bonanza cast, Teal portrayed a man that proves experience is the best teacher.