'Bonanza' tales and tidbits

Here are some tidbits of "Bonanza" information, much of it gleaned from the book "Bonanza: The Definitive Ponderosa Companion," by Melany Shapiro.

THE SERIES

* It has been widely reported that NBC, then owned by RCA, started "Bonanza" in 1959 to sell color television sets. Dseries creator/ producer David Dortort says it was his idea -- not the network's -- to make the show in color. The network wanted the show in black and white. NBC said it would cost 25 percent more to produce a show in color and would only agree to it if Dortort paid the 25 percent cost overrun, which he did for several years, until Chevrolet took over the sponsorship.

* There were 430 "Bonanza" episodes filmed over a 14-year period between Sept. 12, 1959 and Jan. 16, 1973. All but three of them are in continuous reruns on the new, family-oriented Pax network. The syndication rights to the out-of-circulation episodes are owned by the Fox Family Channel, which has deemed the episodes inappropriate for family viewing. Two of the episodes deal with polygamy and one has a painting of a nude woman prominently displayed.

* As in all good westerns, the cowboys named their horses. Ben rode Buck, Adam rode Sport, Hoss rode Chubb and Little Joe rode Cochise.

* Did any of the Cartwrights marry during the course of the series? Yes. Little Joe got married in an episode called "Forever," which aired Sept. 12, 1972. By the end of the show he was a widower. The script was written by Michael Landon for Dan Blocker's Hoss, but Blocker died months earlier and Landon's Little Joe got hitched instead.

* Two events spelled the end of "Bonanza" during its 14th season: Dan Blocker's death and the move from Sunday to Tuesday nights.

* In 1988 a TV movie called "Bonanza: The Nexg Generation," starred John Ireland as Aaron Cartwright, brother of the deceased Ben Cartwright. Michael Landon Jr. co-starred as Benji, the son of ... Hoss.

* Landon Jr. and Dirk Blocker, son of Dan, teamed up for "Bonanza: The Return" in 1993, and "Bonanza: Under Attack" in 1995.

THE STARS

Lorne Greene:

* Greene was born Feb. 12, 1915, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants.

* Greene was a well-known Canadian broadcaster before coming to America. During World War II he was called "The Voice of Canada," with a daily newscast reporting on the war. He also did a lot of episodic TV, stage and film work.

* Dortort saw Greene in an episode of the popular series "Wagon Train" and liked how he commanded respect in front of the camera. As a result, he cast Greene as Ben, the wise patriarch of the Cartwright clan.

* Initially, Ben was to have been more of a tyrant, but Greene resisted that interpretation and turned him from a bible-thumping, gun-wielding old coot into a real father figure.

* After "Bonanza" was canceled, Greene had three short-lived series: "Griff," "Battlestar Galactica" and "Code Red."

* Greene died Sept. 11, 1987, from pneumonia following surgery for a perforated ulcer.

Pernell Roberts:

* Born May 18, 1928, in Waycross, Ga., Pernell Roberts flunked out of three colleges.

* Roberts' character, Adam, the eldest stepbrother, was born in New England, the son of Ben's first wife, Elizabeth.

* Roberts was just beginning his career when he accepted the role of Adam. Almost from the beginning of the series he began complaining. "I feel like I'm an aristocrat in my field of endeavor," he said in a 1965 interview shortly after his final season. "My being part of 'Bonanza' was like Isaac Stern sitting in with Lawrence Welk." Roberts said the show was degrading to women and minorities, although many shows dealt with issues relevant to both.

* When he finally left "Bonanza," his departure on the show was explained in very vague terms, in case he should ever return. Sometimes it was mentioned that he had gone to California, or was back East or in Europe or at sea.

* Roberts is semiretired. He declines publicly to discuss the show that he often criticized while appearing on it.

* Some people think Roberts' career crashed and burned when he finally left "Bonanza" midway through its lengthy run. In fact, after leaving the show in 1965 he performed on most of the major television shows of the late '60s and '70s. From September 1979 through September 1986 he starred in the TV series "Trapper John, M.D."

Dan Blocker: * Blocker was born in Bowie County, Texas.

* Blocker was an enormous presence on the "Bonanza" set, both physically and in terms of his popularity. He was 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighed about 300 pounds.

* Blocker was an outstanding lineman in high school football and started acting while attending Sul Ross State College in Alpine, Texas.

* Blocker saw action in the Korean War, heading up a platoon that withstood a communist attack in order to save a wounded buddy who later died of his wounds.

* The public often perceived Blocker as dense. In fact, he was a Shakespearean scholar, taught sixth grade, was a good debater and was once touted as a possible political candidate.

* In 1956 Blocker decided to pursue acting and landed roles in such popular series as "The Rebel" and "Gunsmoke."

* Producer Dortort said he wrote the Hoss part specifically for Blocker, who had played a number of roles in an earlier series Dortort produced and wrote -- "John Payne's Restless Gun."

* The character of Hoss, the middle stepbrother, was Ben's son by his second wife, Inger, a Scandinavian woman who was killed by Indians.

* Hoss' real name was Eric. His nickname, Hoss, is Norwegian for "good luck."

* Blocker died May 13, 1972, from a blood clot in a lung.

Michael Landon:

* Landon (real name Eugene Maurice Orowitz) was born Oct. 31, 1936 in Queens, N.Y., into a dysfunctional family. He noted that his mother attempted suicide so many times, "I was 10 before I knew you put anything but a head into a gas oven." He said he quit paying attention to the suicide attempts when he noticed she always had a pad under her knees and the window was alway open when she turned the gas on.

* One of Landon's many odd jobs was at a ribbon factory. He also worked as a babysitter and in a soup factory.

* Landon received a track scholarship, throwing the javelin, to the University of Southern California but quit after the first semester following an injury and a poor showing on the track field. He blamed the loss of his powers on a prank by his college fraternity brothers, who shaved his head. Landon believed his strength, like Samson of the Bible, was somehow attached to his hair, which he allowed to grow longer than normal for that crew-cut period of history.

* After dropping out of college he worked odd jobs and pursued a career in acting, landing a number of parts, including the werewolf in "I Was a Teenage Werewolf," a role in which long hair was a definite asset.

* Just as in Blocker's case, Dortort created Landon's "Bonanza" role with Landon in mind. Landon also played a part in the pilot of Dortort's "Restless Gun."

* While Landon was on "Bonanza," Dortort became his mentor, teaching him writing and production. Landon wrote and directed many of the scripts and when the series ended he took the production crew with him to make "Little House on the Prairie."

* Landon's Little Joe, the youngest stepson, was the son of Ben's third wife, Marie, who died after a fall from a horse.

* Landon, who went on to make "Little House on the Prairie" and "Highway to Heaven" after "Bonanza," made two motion pictures -- the cult classic "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" and "The Legend of Tom Dooley."

* Landon died July 1, 1991, from cancer.

Victor Sen Yung:

* Yung played the "Fifth Cartwright" -- Hop Sing, the Ponderosa cook.

* Yung was born and raised in San Francisco's Chinatown. He majored in animal husbandry at the College of Agriculture at the University of California, Berkeley.

* Yung began acting in 1938 and played more than 300 movie and television roles. His most identifiable part, other than Hop Sing, was as Charlie Chan's No. 2 son in 25 films.

* An accomplished Cantonese cook, Yung supplemented his income by working with a public relations firm marketing Chinese food.

* Yung may have been the only cast member not to have prospered from the series. He died in poverty at the age of 65 in a tenement apartment on Nov. 9, 1980, as the result of a gas leak in a stove.

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