Folks might spend ages fantasizing about how exciting it would be to become famous. But for many of us, we can only imagine an idealized version of fame; lavish parties, endless adoration from fans, etc.
Many of us will never know the reality of what fame looks like and, honestly, we might be better off for it. It turns out that Dan Blocker, who gained fame as Hoss Cartwright on Bonanza, saw the other side of stardom and was nice enough to let us know that it wasn’t as sweet as everyone made it out to be.
Dan Blocker told the Chicago Tribune, “Bonanza has brought me all kinds of good things and some bad. Mainly, loss of privacy. We play to 500 million people around the world every week, and there’s nowhere my family and I can go and participate like a normal family.”Blocker recalled an incident where he tried to take his sons to a ball game but was quickly overwhelmed with young kids asking him for autographs. The trio was forced to leave. He said, “Like money or health, we don’t appreciate the value of privacy until we’ve lost it.”
In another instance, Blocker was again accosted by fans looking for autographs, this time at his twin daughters’ dance recital. “Soon there were about 50 people around me. I had to get up and leave.”
So heavy was the price of fame that he actually tried to return to teaching, but he was refused. He said, “My old principal said, ‘Forget it. You’ll never be Mr. Blocker again. You’ll always be Hoss.'”
In an interview with the Victoria Advocate, Blocker was even more honest. He said, “I would give up everything I have, I honestly believe, to be able to take my kids to a ball game or to a school function or to Disneyland or Marineland. I just can’t do it. I’ve tried. It becomes a shambles.”