Michael Landon

Bonanza

Michael Landon

The athlete Eugene Orowitz
David Dortort was savvy enough to realize that it would be the show's best interests to round off the trio of Cartwright brothers by assigning the part of Little Joe to a good looking actor who could serve as the Ponderosa's resident hearththrob. The role went to Michael Landon who, like Dan Blocker (Hoss), benefitted from an involvement with Dortort's previous effort, "The Restless Gun". In 1957 Michael made a favorable impression playing a heavy who was gunned down in the show's pilot episode (an installment of the Schlitz Playhouse anthology series). The part of Little Joe transformed Michael Landon into a television superstar, and "Bonanza" was but the first of three highly successful and long-running series he was to be associated with in his career.
He was born Eugene Maurice Orowitz in Forest Hills, New York, on October 31, 1936. His father was a none too successful theatrical publicist, and his mother's Broadway dancing career was short-circuited by marriage. Their stormy union made Landon's childhood often traumatic and difficult, and one of the psychological scars inflicted on him was a bed-wetting problem that he later bravely dramatized in a made for television movie.
The family moved and Michael grew up in Collingswood, New Jersey, where outside the home he had to deal with bigoted hostility directed toward his Jewish heritage. In high school Landon escaped from some of the pressures in his life by throwing himself into track and field with such determination that despite being relatively scrawny (he was 5 feet 11 inches tall, and in those days only weighed around 130 pounds) he managed to set a national high school record by tossing a javelin 211 feet and 7 inches, an achievement which helped secure him an athletic scholarship to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

How Eugene Orowitz became Michael Landon
Joe Cartwright

Dropping out of school after his freshman year, Michael wandered through a variety of jobs before discovering his knack for acting and picking his new professional name of "Michael Landon" from the L.A.telephone directory.
His handsome face and appealing screen presence won him guest appearances on television westerns and the early live dramatic anthology showcases, but his most famous role prior to that of Little Joe Cartwright was his 1957 film debut in the cult/camp horror classic "I Was A Teenage Werewolf".
He was still a relative unknown when he joined the cast of "Bonanza" at the tender age of 21.

Singing, acting, writing and directing
Michael landon was ecstatic with the way the show's overwhelming popularity changed his life, but he was never content to restrict himself to the confines of being merely a "teen idol" (although, like Tab Hunter and Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, he did take the obligatory teen idol fling at pop singing, recording "Without You" and "Linda Is Lonesome" as the A en B-sides of an RCA single that didn't create much exitement). Little Joe Cartwright

Soon he was seeking other outlets besides acting for his creative energies, and he began urging David Dortort to let him try his hand at writing. Dortort gave him several old "Bonanza" scripts for study, and Michael managed to sell his first original teleplay to the show during the 1962-1963 season. Before "Bonanza" left the air, Landon had contributed 30 scripts and directed a dozen episodes. In the course of his technical education Michael was also tutored in the finer points of camera work and lighting by the show's cinematographer, Ted Voightlander.
After Pernell Roberts (Adam) left "Bonanza" in 1965, Landon's increasing desire to participate in all aspects of production caused the mantle of "difficult cast member" to be passed along to him. He had no trouble with his co-stars -- Lorne Greene (Ben) looked on him as a son and Dan Blocker (Hoss) served as best man at his wedding to actress Lynn Noe -- but series creator David Dortort later recalled that in the show's last five years Michael Landon began challenging, "nearly every line, every scene, every setup... Everything would halt for endless story conferences on the set... It got increasingly bitter toward the end." Clearly, Michael felt an artistic need for total control, and with the formation of Michael Landon Productions he was to enjoy just that for the remainder of his career.

After "Bonanza"
In 1974, he followed up the success of "Bonanza" with "Little House on the Prairie", a frontier family drama loosley based on the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Landon played the role of Charles Ingalls (now its was his turn to be a patriarch!), and the top-rated show ran on NBC until 1984 Joe Cartwright

He followed this with "Highway to Heaven", in which he played an angel named Jonathan Smith who returned to the earth to help people in need. The foundation for "Highway to Heaven" is told to be a tragic auto accident in 1973 that killed three of Michael's daughter Cheryl's friends and nearly killed her. It was during this time that Michael made a deal with God: spare his daughter and he would "do his best to make a product to help people." Another ratings success, "Hinghway to heaven" ran on NBC from 1984 to 1988.
A firm believer in wholesome family entertainment, Landon summed up his approach thusly: "I want people to laugh and cry, not just sit and stare at the TV. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I think viewers are hungry for shows in which people say something meaningful."
He was at work developing yet another show in this tradition, a family drama entitled "Us", when it was announced that he was suffering from inoperable cancer of the liver and pancreas. Michael faced this ordeal publicly and with great personal courage, but only three short months after his diagnosis he died at his ranch in Malibu, California, on July 1, 1991.

Michael's family
Michael was married three times:
1. Dodier Frasier, who had a son, Mark, by a previous marriage. Michael adopted Mark and Dodie and Michael adopted Josh
2. Lynn Noe, who had a daughter, Cheryl by a previous marriage. Together they had Leslie, Michael Jr., Shawna and Chris
3. Cindy; together they had Jennifer and Sean
Michael Landon had his share of family problems as we all do. After his initial fame on "Bonanza", Michael had been out of control, taking tranquilizers, and drinking heavily. Gladly he conquered these addictions, when he went from the hot-tempered youngest Cartwright on "Bonanza" the father-figure of Charles Ingalls on "Little House on the Prairie". Suffice it to say that he left his family well-cared for and a name they can be proud of.

Michael's grave

May his memory be for a blessing

If you want to know more about Michael Landon, click on Little Joe Cartwright. You'll find here a photo gallery of Michael, including episode guides, trivia, faqs, exclusive interviews and articles. Have fun on this website surfing thru memories of one of United States' most creative actor/writer/producer/director ever

More about Little Joeor back to the homepage

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws