Pernell Roberts (Bonanza, Trapper John, M.D. actor), RIP

"Bonanza" star Pernell Roberts dies at 81


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Pernell Roberts Jr, who played the introspective eldest son of wealthy rancher Ben Cartwright on the hit TV western "Bonanza" and went on to star in medical drama "Trapper John, M.D.," has died. He was 81.

Roberts died at his Malibu home on Sunday of pancreatic cancer, said his spokesman, Richard Stone.

"Bonanza" first aired in 1959, and Roberts starred in the show from the start, as rancher Ben Cartwright's son.

Roberts earned many fans with the role as the quiet and serious Adam, but he left the show in 1965, even though some at the time said he was ruining his career by doing it.

"Bonanza" ran until 1973, and the popular series is one of the longest running westerns in TV history, behind "Gunsmoke."

After "Bonanza," Roberts mainly appeared in stage musicals and guest starring roles in TV shows, before he returned to series work in 1979 with his title role in "Trapper John, M.D." a part he played for seven seasons.

The actor supported the U.S. civil rights movement, and in 1965 he marched to Selma, Alabama, with Martin Luther King Jr in a campaign for voting rights for blacks.

Roberts was married four times and his only son, Chris, died in 1989. He is survived by his wife Eleanor Criswell.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100126/people_nm/us_roberts

 

The sad news being that Pernell died, but at least he has reunited with the other 3 Cartwright's once and for all.

 

RIP

 

Even if "Bonanza" were the only show Pernell starred in, he would have left a tremendous legacy right there. Great actor. Trapper John MD only proved that he was indeed a great dramatic actor later on. He has sure left a legacy which will never be forgotten.

 

RIP

Now I've got the Trapper John theme song stuck in my head.

 

This is sad news!!

Bonanza screened for many year here in Australia and was very popular. Trapper John MD had a large and loyal following also!

 

Isn't amazing how many actors have fame in two TV shows?

For instance Jack Klugman starred in The Odd Couple and then found big fame playing Quincy ME.

 

Indeed both shows were long running and there are networks that rerun both shows to this day. Pernell is an American Icon.

 

Indeed, an entire era is over but lives on TV Land, the Bear Family boxed set of the cast albums, etc.

 

R.I.P. AC

 

Marc W. (Vidiot here on SH.tv) posted this on BSN and these are his words: Roberts was a good guy, too. I worked on the last couple of seasons of Trapper John, and always heard from the crew that he was a decent person. It's sad that what he's remembered for most is being one of the first major actors to walk off a hit TV show, paving the way for McLean Stevenson, Shelly Long, David Caruso, and many others.


I can kind of see Roberts' side of it: after you're in 150 episodes of a show, working 12 hours a day, playing the same part week after week, it gets deadly dull, no matter how much money they throw at you. At least in Roberts' case, he was able to come back to TV and appreciate his success in a completely different role. (Ditto with David Caruso, who now makes over $350K a week on CSI Miami.)



--Marc W.

 

RIP.

 

The AP obit:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/obit/2010-01-25-pernell-roberts_N.htm?csp=34
LOS ANGELES – Pernell Roberts, the ruggedly handsome actor who shocked Hollywood by leaving TV's "Bonanza" at the height of its popularity, then found fame again years later on "Trapper John, M.D.," has died. He was 81.

Roberts, the last surviving member of the classic Western's cast, died of cancer Sunday at his Malibu home, his wife Eleanor Criswell told the Los Angeles Times.

Although he rocketed to fame in 1959 as Adam Cartwright, eldest son of a Nevada ranching family led by Lorne Greene's patriarchal Ben Cartwright, Roberts chafed at the limitations he felt his "Bonanza" character was given.

"They told me the four characters (Greene, himself and Dan Blocker and Michael Landon as his brothers) would be carefully defined and the scripts carefully prepared," he complained to The Associated Press in 1964. "None of it ever happened."

It particularly distressed him that his character, a man in his 30s, had to continually defer to the wishes of his widowed father.

"Doesn't it seem a bit silly for three adult males to get Father's permission for everything they do?" he once asked a reporter.

Roberts agreed to fulfill his six-year contract but refused to extend it, and when he left the series in 1965, his character was eliminated with the explanation that he had simply moved away.

"Bonanza," with its three remaining stars, continued until 1973, making it second to "Gunsmoke" as the longest-running Western on TV. Blocker died in 1972, Greene in 1987, and Landon in 1991.

When Roberts left the show the general feeling in Hollywood was that he had foolishly doomed his career and turned his back on a fortune in "Bonanza" earnings.

Indeed, for the next 14 years he mainly made appearances on TV shows and in miniseries, or toured with such theatrical productions as "The King and I, "Camelot" and "The Music Man."

His TV credits during that time included "The Virginian," "Hawaii Five-O," "Mission Impossible," "Marcus Welby, M.D.," "Banacek," "Ironside" and "Mannix."

Then, in 1979, he landed another series, "Trapper John, M.D.," in which he played the title role.

The character, but little else, was spun off from the brilliant Korean War comedy-drama "M-A-S-H," in which Wayne Rogers had played the offbeat Dr. "Trapper" John McIntire opposite Alan Alda's Dr. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce.

Rogers had left that series after just three seasons.

In "Trapper John, M.D.," the Korean War was nearly 30 years past and Roberts' character was now a balding, middle-aged chief of surgery at San Francisco Memorial Hospital. He no longer fought the establishment, having learned how to deal with it with patience and wry humor.

The series, praised for its serious treatment of the surgical world, aired until 1986.

Roberts' other venture into series TV was "FBI: The Untold Stories" (1991-1993), in which he acted as host and narrator.

Pernell Roberts Jr. was born in 1928 in Waycross, Ga. As a young man, he once commented, "I distinguished myself by flunking out of college three times." After pursuing occupations that ranged from tombstone maker to railroad riveter, he decided to become an actor.

Roberts worked extensively in regional theaters, then gained notice in New York, where he won a Drama Desk award in 1956 for his performance in an off-Broadway production of "Macbeth."

He eventually moved to Hollywood, where he appeared in several TV shows and landed character roles in such features as "Desire Under the Elms," "The Sheepman" and "Ride Lonesome" until "Bonanza" made him a star.

Three of Roberts' marriages ended in divorce. His first, to Vera Mowry, produced a son, Jonathan, who died in 1989 at age 37.

 

RIP

 

RIP - a truly gifted actor and, by all accounts, a good man.

 

Indeed he was a truly gifted actor and a good man. BTW, he could also sing extremely well as exhibited on the Ponderosa Party Time and Christmas On The Ponderosa albums with the cast and his own album "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies."

 

Wow, that is really sad news. A man who had been around in the TV world. Aside from his well known starring roles, there was his classic Hawaii Five O two parter, The Grandstand Play with him as a baseball player whose mentally challenged son may or may not have killed a girl. Great episode and great performance from him. RIP

 

RIP

 

Sad news - Bonanza was a childhood favourite.

Condolences to friends and family.

Best Wishes
David

 

He definitely was the most handsome Cartwright.
Rest well.

 

Fans who do not have any of the RCA albums or the Bear Family 4 CD boxed set of the cast albums and the single disc companion to the boxed set, you must get the music. You also must get the MGM LP or the Harkit CD of the David Rose Bonanza LP of incidental music.

 

Great column on a great show.

 

R.I.P. Pernell