Bonanza's Dan Blocker. The Gentle Giant

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Dan Blocker, 1928-1972.

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Hello! I'm Mr. Ed

Blog Created: 10-1-2024

Last Updated: 10-3-2024

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Bobby Dan Davis Blocker (December 10, 1928 – May 13, 1972) was an American television actor and Korean War veteran, who played Hoss Cartwright in the NBC Western television series Bonanza.

Early life ~

Blocker was born in De Kalb, Texas to Ora "Shack" Blocker and Mary Arizona (Davis) Blocker.

As a boy, Blocker attended Texas Military Institute. He enrolled in a San Antonio school in 1940. He went to Hardin-Simmons University and Sul Ross State University, where he earned a degree in speech and drama.

In 1946, Blocker played football at Southern Baptist-affiliated Hardin–Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. In 1947, he transferred to Sul Ross State Teacher's College in Alpine, Texas, where he was a star football player, and graduated in 1950. After two years of military service, he earned a master's degree in the dramatic arts.

Blocker worked as a rodeo performer and a bouncer in a bar while a student. He is remembered from his school days for his height of 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) and weight of 300 lb (140 kg), and for being good-natured despite his intimidating size.

Blocker was a high-school English and drama teacher in Sonora, Texas, from 1953 to 1954. He was a sixth-grade teacher and coach at Eddy Elementary School in Carlsbad, New Mexico, and then a teacher in California. Blocker and his wife Dolphia, moved to Los Angeles, where he secured some acting roles.

Dan and his wife, Dolphia.

U.S. Army ~

Blocker was drafted into the United States Army during the Korean War. He had basic training at Fort Polk, Louisiana. In Korea, he served as an infantry sergeant in F Company, 2nd Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, from December 1951 to August 1952. He received a Purple Heart for wounds in combat.

Dan in the military.

In addition to the Purple Heart, Blocker received the National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal with two bronze campaign stars, Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, United Nations Service Medal, Korean War Service Medal, and Combat Infantryman Badge.

Dan Blocker's military service awards.

Acting career ~

In 1957, Blocker appeared in a Three Stooges short, Outer Space Jitters, playing the Goon, billed as "Don Blocker".

Dan Blocker as the monster with the Three Stooges, Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Joe Besser.

He made two appearances on Gunsmoke. First as a cavalry lieutenant on August 24, 1956, in "Alarm at Pleasant Valley" (S1E39) and on October 18, 1958, in "Thoroughbreds". He appeared in 1957 as Will in the episode "A Time to Die" of the ABC/Warner Bros. Western series Colt .45.

Dan on Gunsmoke.

He returned to Gunsmoke for another episode.

In 1957, Blocker was cast in episodes of David Dortort's NBC series The Restless Gun as a blacksmith and as a cattleman planning to take his hard-earned profit to return to his family land in his native Minnesota. In 1957, he had at least two roles as a bartender in an episode of the syndicated Western-themed crime drama Sheriff of Cochise, starring John Bromfield, and in the film Gunsight Ridge. Also in 1957, he appeared in the Cheyenne episode "Land Beyond the Law", playing one of the outlaw minions (Pete). He also appeared in The Rifleman.

John Bromfield as Frank Morgan from the television program Sheriff of Cochise.

In 1958, he played a prison guard and later had a recurring role as Tiny Budinger in the NBC Western series Cimarron City, starring George Montgomery, John Smith and Audrey Totter. He was seen in "The Señorita Makes a Choice", a 1958 episode of Walt Disney's Zorro series, as well as an episode, "Underground Ambush", of Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, playing Mule Conklin.

George Montgomery, John Smith and Audrey Totter.

In 1958, Blocker had a supporting role as Sergeant Broderick in "The Dora Gray Story" on NBC's Wagon Train. That same year, he appeared in "Stagecoach Episode" of the NBC Western Jefferson Drum, starring Jeff Richards.

In March 1958, he appeared as Joe, a thief, in season one of Have Gun Will Travel, in the episode "Gun Shy".

Have Gun - Will Travel; Gun Shy, 1958.

Blocker was cast as bearded poker-playing rodeo performer Cloudy Sims in the 1958 episode "Rodeo" on the David Janssen crime drama, Richard Diamond, Private Detective. In the storyline, a rodeo performer named Ed Murdock, portrayed by Lee Van Cleef, is murdered before he can make his final performance at the annual event in Madison Square Garden.

David Janssen and Lee Van Cleef.

Another 1959 role was as Del Pierce in "Johnny Yuma", the first episode of the ABC Western series The Rebel, starring Nick Adams.

The Rebel; Johnny Yuma, 1959.

Bonanza (1959–1972) ~

Blocker's big break came in 1959, when he was cast as Eric "Hoss" Cartwright on the NBC television series Bonanza, playing that role in 415 episodes until his death. Blocker said he portrayed the gentle-natured Hoss character with a Stephen Grellet statement in mind: "We shall pass this way on Earth but once, if there is any kindness we can show, or good act we can do, let us do it now, for we will never pass this way again."

Dan Blocker as Hoss Cartwright in Bonanza.

In 1963, Blocker starred with Frank Sinatra in the comedy Come Blow Your Horn. He worked with Sinatra again in 1968 in the Tony Rome film sequel Lady in Cement, playing a menacing tough guy. Stanley Kubrick attempted to cast Blocker in his film Dr. Strangelove, after Peter Sellers elected not to add the role of Major T.J. "King" Kong to his multiple other roles, but according to the film's co-writer, Terry Southern, Blocker's agent rejected the script. The role went to Slim Pickens, who played the iconic scene of riding an atomic bomb down while waving his cowboy hat.

With Frank Senatra in Lady In Cement.

Slim Pickens as Major 'King' Kong riding a nuclear bomb to oblivion in Dr. Strangelove.

In 1968, Blocker starred as John Killibrew, a blacksmith, who had convinced a number of settlers to follow him to California and founded the town of Arkana. This TV film, Something for a Lonely Man, also featured Susan Clark, John Dehner, Warren Oates, and Don Stroud. In 1970, Blocker portrayed a love-shy galoot in The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County, with Nanette Fabray as a love prospect and a supporting cast featuring Jim Backus, Jack Elam, Noah Beery Jr., and Mickey Rooney. Blocker also appeared on NBC's The Flip Wilson Show comedy hour.

Dan Blocker and Mickey Rooney in Those Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County.

1-Susan Clark, 2-John Dehner, 3-Warren Oates and 4-Don Stroud

1-Jim Backus, 2-Jack Elam, 3-Noah Beery Jr. and 4-Mickey Rooney.

Director Robert Altman befriended Blocker while directing episodes of Bonanza. Years later, he cast Blocker as Roger Wade in The Long Goodbye, but Blocker died before filming began. The role then went to Sterling Hayden, and the film was dedicated to Blocker.

Robert Altman and Sterling Hayden.

Also in 1963, Blocker started and received partial ownership in a successful chain of Bonanza Steakhouse restaurants, in exchange for serving, in character as Hoss, as their commercial spokesman, and making personal appearances at franchises.

Personal life ~

Originally from Bowie County, Texas, Blocker arrived in Los Angeles in 1958 planning to do post-grad work at UCLA but began getting acting roles. Previously, while attending Sul Ross State College, he had a non-speaking part in a stage play and found that he was attracted to acting. He played in Summer Stock in Boston in 1950 after getting his degree at the College.

Blocker was a Free Methodist. He married Dolphia Parker, whom he had met while a student at Sul Ross State University. Their children are Hollywood actor Dirk Blocker, Hollywood producer David Blocker, and twin daughters Debra Lee (artist) and Danna Lynn. David Blocker won a 1998 Emmy for producing Don King: Only in America.

Blocker, a liberal Democrat, was among Hollywood celebrities who supported Pat Brown's re-election in 1966 as governor of California against Ronald Reagan. In 1968, Blocker backed then-U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota for the Democratic presidential nomination. Blocker later supported the eventual Democratic Party nominee, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, also of Minnesota, for the presidency against the Republican Richard Nixon.

1-Edmund G. 'Pat' Brown, 2- Ronald Reagan, 3-Eugene McCarthy asnd 4-Hubert Humphrey.

Blocker kept a house in Inglewood, California, and a 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) Tudor-style mansion in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles.

Dan's home in L.A.

On the 2010 PBS special, Pioneers of Television: Westerns, actor Mitch Vogel, who played adopted brother Jamie Cartwright on Bonanza, said Blocker, "was so easy to get to know—the kind of guy you could go and have a beer with."

Mitch Vogel.

Blocker, a performance automobile fan, once owned a 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396 "Z-16" (RPO Z16 option), as Chevrolet was the commercial sponsor of the show. He also owned a 1965 Huffaker Genie MK10 race car, nicknamed the "Vinegaroon". The car was run by Nickey Chevrolet in the 1965 and 1966 U.S. Road Racing Championship series, as well as the 1966 Can-Am championship.

Dan's race car on the Virginia City set of Bonanza.

Death ~

On May 13, 1972, Blocker died in Los Angeles, at age 43, of a pulmonary embolism, following gallbladder surgery at Daniel Freeman hospital. A news item provides these specifics: "Blocker went into the hospital for gall bladder surgery, developed a blood clot in his lung, and died".

The writers of Bonanza took the unusual step of referencing a major character's death in the show's storyline that autumn. A 2011 report added that "this was to be the first time in television history that a show had dealt with, or even mentioned, the death of one of its characters". Specifics as to the death were not discussed in the series, but some years later, in the sequel series Bonanza: The Next Generation, one character stated that "Hoss drowned trying to save another's life".

Bonanza lasted another season without Hoss, and the 14th and final season ended on January 16, 1973. That season was "by far the least popular and least requested season in the show's rerun package". Bonanza co-star Michael Landon said years later that whenever he needed to cry for a scene, he would think of Dan Blocker's death.

Michael Landon.

Blocker's remains were interred in a family plot in Woodman Cemetery, in De Kalb, Texas. The common grave site is marked by a plain stone with the name "B. Dan D. Blocker" engraved. Three family members are buried beside him – his father, mother, and sister.

The Blocker family plot. Dan's is the gravestone on the right.

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Namings ~

The following are named after Blocker:

The Dan Blocker Room is on the second floor of the O'Donnell Heritage Museum in O'Donnell, Texas, where he was brought up.

Dan Blocker Beach is in Malibu, California.

Dan Blocker Avenue is a street in the Boulder Ranch development in Henderson, Nevada.

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Hoss Cartwright.

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Dirk Blocker. Dan's son all grown up.

A young Dirk Blocker in a guest part on Little House on the Prairie with Dan's old buddy, Michael Landon.

Dan and his sons having a ball with Bonanza co-star, Lorne Greene.

Dan Blocker in Korea.

Dan, (far right), with buddies in Korea.

45th Infantry Division (United States).

179th Infantry Regiment (United States).

179th Infantry Regiment Distinctive Unit Insignia.

Combat Infantryman Badge.

Dan Blocker's birthplace.

Dan's L.A. mansion.

Dan Blocker with his 1963 Corvette Stingray.

Dan's 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396 'Z-16'.

Dan at the auto races.

Another of Dan's race cars. As can be seen here, it wasn't easy for Dan to fit into this one.

Dan in his Genie MK-10.

Dan and the car on the Bonanza set.

Dan in his early '60s Corvette.

Dan during his Bonanza days with a 1965 Chevy truck.

In Dan's earlier days, he drove this Chrysler Windsor.

Dan with his 1965 Huffaker Genie MK10 Roadster.

Dan at the track with his driver.

The car today after restoration.

In parades, Dan always sat on the lowered convertible tops of cars to wave to the crowds. In many he damaged the tops because of his size. I wonder if any of these cars are still around today.

At the time, many actors had golf carts to get them around the studio sets. Dan had a mini bike that he used on the Bonanza set.

The show's cast and crew loved snapping photos of Dan tooling around on his mini bike.

When not in a car or on his mini bike, Dan's favorite mode of transportation was his horse.

Dan with co-stars Lorne Greene and Michael Landon.

Frank Sinatra.

Jeff Richards in Jefferson Drum.

Michael Landon in Bonanza (1960).

Dan poses with cast and crew.

Nanette Fabray.

Natalie Trundy and Dan Blocker.

Nick Adams as Johnny Yuma from the television program The Rebel.

Richard Nixon.

Slim Pickens.

Stanley Kubrick.

Terry Southern.

A fan gets to wear Dan's hat.

Dan was billed in the film as "Don" Blocker.

Dan played the monster in the 1957 Columbia short film with the Three Stooges. Here he is with More Howard, Larry Fine and Joe Besser.

Moe when seeing the monster.

Cheyenne; Noose at Noon, 1958.

Cimarron City, 1958.

Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County cast photo.

Dan with Johnny Cash.

With Frank Senatra in The Lady In Cement.

Dan with Jack Benny on the Jack Benny Show.

The Restless Gun; Mercyday ,1958.

The Restless Gun; The Child, 1957.

Wagon Train, The Dora Gray Story 1957.

Zane Grey Theatre; Man Unforgiving 1957.

A few of Dan's films.

Dan Blocker, Lorne Greene and Michael Landon.

Dan and Michael Landon giving the horse laugh.

Dan in the part of Hoss Cartwright.

Dan and Michael Landon would become best friends off the set.

The guys on break between scenes.

Hoss pondering a problem.

Cast photo with co-star, Mitch Vogel.

Bonanza was sponsored by Chevrolet. The cast would sometimes star in the commercials in costume.

Clowning for the camera.

On a break during filming. The actor is holding a cigarette.

Dan Blocker and Pernell Roberts who played Adam Cartwright.

Landon, Blocker and Michael Dunn.

Behind the scenes look at the cast filming on the Ponderosa living room set.

Hoss rides off into the sunset.

All of the main cast members of Bonanza are now deceased. When did they die and of what?

Dan Blocker and co-star, Michael Landon became good friends on and off the Bonanza set. It was common that the two would clown around and play pranks and practical jokes on each other. Landon stated in later years that, had Dan lived on, he would have used him in starring roles in his later TV shows such as Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven. Landon also remarked in an interview when asked how he managed to cry in a scene, he answered, "Simple, I just think of Dan Blocker's death."

There was always good times on the show's sets.

Dan and Mike play Chess on a break while Lorne Greene watches.

Mike Landon was the cast clown.

At one point, Landon fell asleep while on break. Dan got an idea.

He picked Landon up gently, chair and all and set him on top of a large wooden prop box.

But Landon got the last laugh as Dan returned to the area and Mike pounced onto his back.

Mike and Dan were best friends.

Dan Blocker's death certificate.

Abandoned grocery store formerly run by Blocker's parents in downtown O'Donnell, Texas, 2010.

Hoss Cartwright's Colt 1873. Gun used by Dan Blocker on Bonanza.

A Bonanza steakhouse in Marquette, Michigan, in 2011. This location has since closed.

A Ponderosa Steakhouse in West Branch, Michigan (now closed).

Blocker is listed on the West Texas Walk of Fame in Lubbock.

Dan Blocker 'Hoss' from the TV show Bonanza display at the Williams House Museum.

Hoss Cartwright and Dan Blocker plaque in O'Donnell, Texas, 1973.

Dan Blocker trading card.

Wax figures of the Bonanza cast.

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My Personal Meeting With Dan Blocker Back In 1962 ~

The year was 1962. Akron, Ohio was having their annual Soap Box Derby. In the past, the Soap Box Derby Association had invited celebrities to t he race as a sponsor. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were a couple that had come to town in the 1950s. This year, 1962 it would be the cast from the then-popular television program, Bonanza. The show was a western and was centered around a ranching family. Ben Cartwright and his three sons, Adam, Hoss and Little Joe. They battled the bad guys, Indians, rustlers and the rest. The show was viewed by most of the country's population though the entire decade of the 1960s. So having the cast come to our town was a big deal.

The star who played Adam Cartwright, (Purnell Roberts) did not come. I never found out why but I would find out years later that Roberts was not the sort of guy that enjoyed being on the show. He thought it belittled his talents. Right! But we got to see Ben Cartwright, (Lorne Greene), Hoss Cartwright, (Dan Blocker) and Little Joe Cartwright, (Michael Landon).

I had heard they were coming to town and that they would be staying at the old Mayflower Hotel on South Main Street in downtown Akron. I lived on North Hill, about five miles away. So, on that important day, I boarded the bus at around 8:00 am and rode down to town. I was death determined that I was going to meet these guys.

I arrived at the hotel entrance at around 9:15 am and took up my spot at the front entrance. It never came to me that they may come and go from the rear of the building. There was no one around. No one thought in those days that they would ever get to actually meet a movie and/or TV star.

I waited and I waited and I...waited. Now it was around 1:45 in the afternoon. The day had been hot and standing on the front sidewalk was right in the sun. But I was not leaving until I got to see these guys. I( figured they had to go through the doors right here at some point.

At around 2:30 pm, I was starting to wonder if I got something wrong. Were they in town yet? Were they staying at the Mayflower after all? Did I have the date right?

I was getting hungry and thought I should go across the street to Scott's and get something to eat at the lunch counter. But what if I missed them? No! NO!!! I was staying right here. I may starve and die on this spot but, like General Custer, I wasn't moving for anything.

It was getting close to 3:00 pm when a big Oldsmobile sedan pulled up to the curb. A guy got out of the front and opened the rear door. It was just some bozo I had never seen before, then, from the front seat came Lorne Greene, from the back seat came Michael Landon and Dan Blocker. OH MY GOD! To make matters better, they were dressed in their Bonanza outfits right down to their guns and holsters. They got out of t he cr and the "bozo" talked to the driver a few minutes. The "Cartwrights" came my way to go into the hotel. I guess I was smiling as Michael Landon came over to me and said, "Hello there! Are you waiting for us?" I nodded my head and then Dan Blocker walked up. I was 11-years old and had to look up to both of them. I remember my first thought was, "Good God, are they tall or what?" Lorne Greene came over and his voice was just like it was in the show. He was talking to t he "bozo" as I talked to Landon and Blocker. They were great! I remember that Dan Blocker was huge. He had the biggest hands I had ever seen. And the cowboy hat he was wearing I could use to hide in. I got to shake their hands and tell them how much I enjoyed the show. I made sure that I told them that my father was a big fan also.

We talked for around 10 to 12 minutes. Michael Landon was hungry and asked if there was anywhere around that he could get a sandwich. I pointed out Scott's across the street. He and I walked over there. We passed three young girls on the way who had to get his autograph. One had no paper and she asked him to sign here purse...he did.

At Scott's, Mike got a sandwich and Coke. I was so excited that I forgot to get anything for myself. He took the food to go and we returned to the hotel door. When we got there, Dan Blocker and Lorne Greene were gone. Before parting, Mike asked me if I was coming to the parade tomorrow. They would all be in it. I said, "Sure!" He told me that when his car passed by, to yell at him and he would wave.

The Parade was the next day. Dad had to work at Firestone so mom said she would go with me to downtown. She brought her old 1930s Kodak camera and we waited on the crowded street during the parade. After awhile, here came to new Chevy convertibles that a local auto dealership always loaned to the Soap Box Derby. On three of them was Dan Blocker, Michael Landon and Lorne Greene. All three car's tops were down and the guys sat on the lowered tops with their feet on the back seats.

All of a sudden, mom said, "Here they come!" I asked if the camera was ready. She assured me it was. Michael's car came closer and closer. They were going around 5-miles per hour. His car got right in front of us and I yelled, "HEY MICHAEL! OVER HERE!" But wouldn't you know it, he didn't hear me because of all the yelling on the street and someone waved from the other side and he turned to see them, just as mom clicked the shutter. I got a picture of him, or, at least his back.

Over the years of my youth, I managed to meet several stars, George Reeves, (Superman), Richard Boone, (Have Gun, Will Travel), Clayton Moore, (The Lone Ranger) and Jay Silverheels, (Tonto). As an adult I met Bob May, (the robot on Lost In Space), Mark Goddard, (also from Lost In Space), Ben Chapman (The Creature From The Black Lagoon), Gene Carroll, (Cleveland Talent Scout), Heather Kozar, (Playboy Centerfold), and Julia Roberts. I also got to see The Beatles in concert in Cleveland and later on Charlie Daniels in Concert in Akron. Bob May and I even became friends.

But I will never forget my day in Akron talking to the Cartwrights. I remember that it hit me hard when I heard the news a few years later that Dan Blocker had died.

A footnote: I remember a newspaper article after t he Bonanza guys had left town. The auto dealer who had supplied the cars for the parade laughed about the car Hoss, (Dan Blocker) had used. It seemed that the brackets to the convertible top had been badly bent from him sitting on them and the entire top and supports had to be replaced. He was a really big fellow.