Bonanza
Dan Blocker
The Big "Un"
Although the character of Ben Cartwright (by Lorne Greene) was obviously of primary and central importance to "Bonanza", it was not the first role that David Dortort cast in preparing his new show. That distinction fell to the part of second son Hoss, a character created with actor Dan Blocker specifically in mind.
Blocker was a massive, good-natured man, the proverbial "gentle giant". When he burst onto the scene on December 10, 1929 (some sources list the year as 1932), as the only son of Shack and Mary Blocker, he was said at 14 pounds to be the largest baby ever born in Bowie County, Texas. "My daddy used to say... that I was too big to ride and too little to hitch a wagon -- no good for a damn thing," he later recalled. He eventually grew to stand 6 feet 4 inches tall, and usually weighed in at close to 300 pounds. Many nights in O'Donnell, Texas, the town where he grew up, a section of Main Street would be roped off and "The Big "Un"" (as Blocker was affectionately nicknamed) would take on all comers in recreational brawls.
The loveable Hoss Cartwright
Dan Blocker attended the Texas Military Institute and later Sul Ross State College, majoring in drama. He'd first caught the acting bug when drafted to participate in a school play -- the cast needed someone strong enough to carry out the bodies in a performance of "Arsenic and Old Lace". After graduation, Blocker turned down a potential career in professional football to appear in various theatricals. Dan even served in combat during the Korean conflict. On his return he earned a Master's degree at Sul Ross and eventually became a public school teacher in Carlsbad, New Mexico. From there he moved on to Los Angeles, where he began spending less time in the classroom and more on studio soundstages.
In 1957, Dan made his first television appearance on an episode of "The Restless Gun", a fateful assignment that brought him to the attention of David Dortort. In 1958 Dan landed his first recurring role, the part of Tiny Budinger on the short-lived NBC series "Cimarron City".
In 1959 David Dortort cast Blocker as brawny, earnest, loveable Hoss Cartwright, the middle son on "Bonanza". The character's actual name was Eric. "Hoss", being a norwegian nickname meaning "good luck". The part certainly proved a lucky one for Blocker. It made him wealthy and famous, and he played Hoss with gusto until his untimely death in 1972.
The end of "Bonanza"
"Bonanza" easily survived the departure of Pernell Roberts in 1965. Much more devastating, however, was the untimely death of Dan Blocker in 1972.
A year earlier, Blocker had moved his family to Switzerland because he was uncomfortable with United States policy toward Vier Nam. He commuted to the U.S. for "Bonanza" and in April of '72, just before shooting for the new fall season was to commence, he fell ill and went into the hospital for gall bladder surgery. The operation was a success, but during his recuperation period Dan developed a blood clot in his lung and died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 43. Ironically, the season premier of "Bonanza" that year was to have been a two-part Michael Landon (Little Joe) script entitled "Forever" in which the character of Hoss was to be maried, only to lose his newfound love to a tragic death. Landon rewrote the show to acknowledge the passing of Hoss, and to made his own character of Little Joe the brother who was married only to become a widower a short time later.
The death of Dan Blocker was the beginning of the end. Ratings slipped precipitously. NBC moved the show to Tuesday nights where its competition was "Maude", a hip situation comedy with a feminist slant that made the rustic adventures of the men of the Ponderosa seem dated and passe.
"They told us on Monday that we would quit shooting on Wednesday," Lorne Greene (Ben Cartwright) said later on. "After you have been on the air for fourteen years, even if you are a caretaker, you should get a month's notice. They fell that they didn't have to do that because our contract said we got paid for that year, whether we did any shows or not. But that wasn't the point. The point was: Wind up the show in the nicest way possible. There was a lack of dignity."
When "Bonanza" was cancelled midway through its fourteenth season in 1973, those who loved it could take consolation in the fact that it had been the second longest running TV western in the history of the medium. Only the redoubtable "Gunsmoke", which ran for an astonishing 20 years, could compare.
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