Pernell Roberts(1928-2010)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Best recalled as the eldest son and first member of the "Bonanza"
Cartwright clan to permanently leave the Ponderosa in the hopes of
greener acting pastures, dark, deep-voiced and durably handsome Pernell
Roberts' native roots lay in Georgia. Born Pernell Elvin Roberts, Jr.
on May 18, 1928, in North Carolina and moved to Waycross as an infant,
he was singing in local USO shows while still in high school (where he
appeared in plays and played the horn). He attended both Georgia Tech
and the University of Maryland but flunked out of both colleges, with a
two-year stint as a Marine stuck somewhere in between. He eventually
decided to give acting a chance and supported himself as a butcher,
forest ranger, and railroad riveter during the lean years while
pursuing his craft.
On stage from the early 1950s, he gained experience in such productions
as "The Adding Machine," "The Firebrand" and "Faith of Our Fathers"
before spending a couple of years performing the classics with the
renowned Arena Stage Company in Washington, DC. Productions there
included "The Taming of the Shrew" (as Petruchio), "The Playboy of the
Western Word," "The Glass Menagerie," "The Importance of Being
Earnest," and "Twelfth Night." He made his Broadway debut in 1955 with
"Tonight in Samarkind" and that same year won the "Best Actor" Drama
Desk Award for his off-Broadway performance as "Macbeth," which was
immediately followed by "Romeo and Juliet" as Mercutio. Other Broadway
plays include "The Lovers" (1956) with
Joanne Woodward, "A Clearing in
the Woods" (1957) with Kim Stanley,
a return to Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" (1957) and "The
Duchess of Malfi" (1957). He returned to Broadway fifteen years later
as the title role opposite
Ingrid Bergman in "Captain
Brassbound's Conversion" (1972).
Pernell then headed for Hollywood and found minor roles in films before
landing the pivotal role of Ben Cartwright's oldest and best-educated
son Adam in the Bonanza (1959) series
in 1959. The series made Roberts a bona fide TV star, while the program
itself became the second longest-running TV western (after "Gunsmoke")
and first to be filmed in color. At the peak of his and the TV show's
popularity, Pernell, displeased with the writing and direction of the
show, suddenly elected not to renew his contract and left at the end of
the 1964-1965 season to the utter dismay of his fans. The show
continued successfully without him, but a gap was always felt in the
Cartwright family by this abrupt departure. The story line continued to
leave open the possibility of a return if desired, but Pernell never
did.
With his newfound freedom, Roberts focused on singing and the musical
stage. One solo album was filled with folks songs entitled "Come All Ye
Fair and Tender Ladies." Besides such standard roles in "Camelot" and
"The King and I," he starred as Rhett Butler to
Lesley Ann Warren's Scarlett O'Hara in
a musical version of "Gone with the Wind" that did not fare well, and
appeared in another misguided musical production based on the life of
"Mata Hari." During this period he became an avid civil rights activist
and joined other stalwarts such as
Dick Gregory,
Joan Baez and
Harry Belafonte who took part in civil
rights demonstrations during the 60s, including the Selma March.
The following years were rocky. He never found a solid footing in films
with roles in rugged, foreign films such as
Tibetana (1970) [The Kashmiri Run],
Four Rode Out (1969), making little
impression. He maintained a viable presence in TV, however, with parts
in large-scale mini-series and guest shots on TV helping to keep some
momentum. In 1979 he finally won another long-running series role (and
an Emmy nomination) as
Trapper John, M.D. (1979)
in which he recreated the
Wayne Rogers TV
M*A*S*H (1972) role. Pernell was now
heavier, bearded and pretty close to bald at this juncture (he was
already wearing a toupee during his early "Bonanza" years), but still
quite virile and attractive. The medical drama co-starring
Gregory Harrison ran seven
seasons.
The natural-born Georgia rebel was a heavily principled man and spent a
life-time of work fighting racism, segregation, and sexism, notably on
TV. He was constantly at odds with the "Bonanza" series writers of his
concerns regarding equality. He also kept his private life private.
Married and divorced three times, he had one son, Jonathan Christopher,
by first wife Vera. Jonathan was killed in a motorcycle crash in 1989.
In the 1990s, Pernell starred in his last series as host of
FBI: The Untold Stories (1991).
It had a short life-span.
Retiring in the late 1990s, Roberts was diagnosed with cancer in 2007
and died about two years later at age 81 on January 24, 2010, survived
by fourth wife Eleanor Criswell. As such, the rugged actor, who never
regretted leaving the "Bonanza" series, managed to outlive the entire
Cartwright clan (Dan Blocker died in 1972;
Lorne Greene in 1987); and
Michael Landon in 1991).
Cartwright clan to permanently leave the Ponderosa in the hopes of
greener acting pastures, dark, deep-voiced and durably handsome Pernell
Roberts' native roots lay in Georgia. Born Pernell Elvin Roberts, Jr.
on May 18, 1928, in North Carolina and moved to Waycross as an infant,
he was singing in local USO shows while still in high school (where he
appeared in plays and played the horn). He attended both Georgia Tech
and the University of Maryland but flunked out of both colleges, with a
two-year stint as a Marine stuck somewhere in between. He eventually
decided to give acting a chance and supported himself as a butcher,
forest ranger, and railroad riveter during the lean years while
pursuing his craft.
On stage from the early 1950s, he gained experience in such productions
as "The Adding Machine," "The Firebrand" and "Faith of Our Fathers"
before spending a couple of years performing the classics with the
renowned Arena Stage Company in Washington, DC. Productions there
included "The Taming of the Shrew" (as Petruchio), "The Playboy of the
Western Word," "The Glass Menagerie," "The Importance of Being
Earnest," and "Twelfth Night." He made his Broadway debut in 1955 with
"Tonight in Samarkind" and that same year won the "Best Actor" Drama
Desk Award for his off-Broadway performance as "Macbeth," which was
immediately followed by "Romeo and Juliet" as Mercutio. Other Broadway
plays include "The Lovers" (1956) with
Joanne Woodward, "A Clearing in
the Woods" (1957) with Kim Stanley,
a return to Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" (1957) and "The
Duchess of Malfi" (1957). He returned to Broadway fifteen years later
as the title role opposite
Ingrid Bergman in "Captain
Brassbound's Conversion" (1972).
Pernell then headed for Hollywood and found minor roles in films before
landing the pivotal role of Ben Cartwright's oldest and best-educated
son Adam in the Bonanza (1959) series
in 1959. The series made Roberts a bona fide TV star, while the program
itself became the second longest-running TV western (after "Gunsmoke")
and first to be filmed in color. At the peak of his and the TV show's
popularity, Pernell, displeased with the writing and direction of the
show, suddenly elected not to renew his contract and left at the end of
the 1964-1965 season to the utter dismay of his fans. The show
continued successfully without him, but a gap was always felt in the
Cartwright family by this abrupt departure. The story line continued to
leave open the possibility of a return if desired, but Pernell never
did.
With his newfound freedom, Roberts focused on singing and the musical
stage. One solo album was filled with folks songs entitled "Come All Ye
Fair and Tender Ladies." Besides such standard roles in "Camelot" and
"The King and I," he starred as Rhett Butler to
Lesley Ann Warren's Scarlett O'Hara in
a musical version of "Gone with the Wind" that did not fare well, and
appeared in another misguided musical production based on the life of
"Mata Hari." During this period he became an avid civil rights activist
and joined other stalwarts such as
Dick Gregory,
Joan Baez and
Harry Belafonte who took part in civil
rights demonstrations during the 60s, including the Selma March.
The following years were rocky. He never found a solid footing in films
with roles in rugged, foreign films such as
Tibetana (1970) [The Kashmiri Run],
Four Rode Out (1969), making little
impression. He maintained a viable presence in TV, however, with parts
in large-scale mini-series and guest shots on TV helping to keep some
momentum. In 1979 he finally won another long-running series role (and
an Emmy nomination) as
Trapper John, M.D. (1979)
in which he recreated the
Wayne Rogers TV
M*A*S*H (1972) role. Pernell was now
heavier, bearded and pretty close to bald at this juncture (he was
already wearing a toupee during his early "Bonanza" years), but still
quite virile and attractive. The medical drama co-starring
Gregory Harrison ran seven
seasons.
The natural-born Georgia rebel was a heavily principled man and spent a
life-time of work fighting racism, segregation, and sexism, notably on
TV. He was constantly at odds with the "Bonanza" series writers of his
concerns regarding equality. He also kept his private life private.
Married and divorced three times, he had one son, Jonathan Christopher,
by first wife Vera. Jonathan was killed in a motorcycle crash in 1989.
In the 1990s, Pernell starred in his last series as host of
FBI: The Untold Stories (1991).
It had a short life-span.
Retiring in the late 1990s, Roberts was diagnosed with cancer in 2007
and died about two years later at age 81 on January 24, 2010, survived
by fourth wife Eleanor Criswell. As such, the rugged actor, who never
regretted leaving the "Bonanza" series, managed to outlive the entire
Cartwright clan (Dan Blocker died in 1972;
Lorne Greene in 1987); and
Michael Landon in 1991).