Cancer. 81 years old. Now all the Bonanza actors are dead. An era has closed. I grew up on it...

We are diminished. I watched him as a kid growing up on Bonanza, and then had the pleasure of seeing him in several musicals at the St Louis Muny Opera. The man had an awesome baritone voice.

Rich

Lads,

I remember in the early episodes they used Colt Paterson's and actually showed them reloading in the proper fashion. Even at that age, I was impressed. Probably the only show at that time to accurately portray firearms.

I think the early episodes were filmed on a back lot location. Then they switched to filming on a phony sound stage w/wierd shadows... HEY... how many suns do we have???

However, I don't recall Hoss' hat ever coming off in a fist-fight!!!

None the less, iconic programming!!

Mike

I too remember the early Bonanza years. That, Gunsmoke, and Pallidon were some of my favorites.

Wasn't Mr. Roberts also on another show portraying a physician of some kind?

quote:

Originally posted by 22WRF:
Wasn't Mr. Roberts also on another show portraying a physician of some kind?

Trapper John, M.D.

I wonder if Hop Sing is still alive?

Had an uncle who was an "extra" on Gunsmoke and also Bonanza. On Gunsmoke he was one of the Long Branch Saloon regulars drinking and playing cards in the backgound, and also as part of the gallery in court room scenes. He also worked for a few seasons on Bonanza were he was again cast as a barroom regular and sometimes a stage coach driver and horseman in outdoor scenes.

He was with Gunsmoke for the entire run of the series and made a fairly decent living at it. He said that James Arness and Amanda Blake were wonderful folks to work with who would spend time between scenes with the extras. Amanda Blake even had cast and crew to her house on occasion.

quote:

Originally posted by homebrewer:
I grew up on it...

I was the youngest,so they named me "little joe"

Lorne Greene started out as a CBC news announcer, during WW ll, the Canadian Walter Cronkite, of his day. Not exactly good singing, but I Love to hear Ringo.
Grizz

Most of us are the first generation in history to have part of our perceptions/persona formed/developed at a young age by tv.

I sometimes think about it and ponder living 100 or 200yrs ago, when information was scant and very slow to disperse.

I also ponder 100yrs into the future, given cheat codes and facebook now contribute to the development of much of today's youth.

I feel fortunate to come from an era when doing the right thing is more important than money. Bonanza and most of the other westerns helped form that attitude. Not a bad thing.

The mention of Matt Dillion raises I think an interesting trivia question. Who all knows without looking it up who his real life brother is and what he's best known for?

"Have you ever seen a grown man naked?"

Right! Of course this too -

"Okay, Herr Preisshoffer, let's have the mailbox."

quote:

Originally posted by Shack:
The mention of Matt Dillion raises I think an interesting trivia question. Who all knows without looking it up who his real life brother is and what he's best known for?

Peter Arness
Mission Ridiculous

quote:

Originally posted by Don Slater:

quote:

Originally posted by conifer:

quote:

Originally posted by Shack:
The mention of Matt Dillion raises I think an interesting trivia question. Who all knows without looking it up who his real life brother is and what he's best known for?

Peter Arness
Mission Ridiculous

Actually it was Peter Graves. He was also the nazi villian in stalag 17 with William Holden.

The original family name was Aurness.

quote:

He was also the Nazi villain in Stalag 17...

Now that you mention it, the undercover Nazi in that movie does look like Peter Graves. I never suspected him until William Holden figgered him out...