Febuary 12th 1915 - September 11th 1987

Lorne Greene, known to so many as the voice of Canada, Battlestar Galatica's Commander Adama and probably the most prolific, the Ponderosa's beloved father figure, Ben 'Pa' Cartwright. With a commanding presence and voice to match he will be forever remembered and loved as the perfect father to many new and old generations of fans alike.

Memorial Site - Under Construction

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December 10th 1928 - May 13th 1972

Dan Blocker was probably the only one of the four Carwright whose actor was a very contrasting difference to his character persona. Dan and Hoss shared the same easy smile, generous heart and kind spirit. But where Hoss was simple and at a loss when it came to business, Dan Blocker was extraordinarily intelligent and renowned as a shrewd businessman and reputedly the wealthiest of the four stars. To his fans he will be remembered as the 'gentle giant' and the heart of the Ponderosa.

Memorial Site - Under Construction

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October 31st 1936 - July 1st 1991

Actor, writer, director, and producer;  Michael's talents were as plentiful as his generosity, energy and boundless spirit. A man of remarkable intelligence and determination he will forever be remembered for his roles as angelic Jonathan in 'Highway to Heaven', Pa Ingalls in 'Little House on the Prairie' and of course, the cheeky, handsome and adorably reckless 'Joseph Francis Cartwight', youngest of the Cartwright brothers.

Memorial Site - Under Construction

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June 3rd 1911 - April 14th 1999

Ellen Corby was born Ellen Hansen in Racine, Wisconsin. She began her career as a bit player in the film Speed Limited (1935) in 1940. Ellen would not be seen on the big screen again until 1945 in Cornered. In 1946, Ellen appeared in 14 motion pictures although mostly in small minor roles. One of the small parts was in the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life (1946). One of the motion picture highlights of her career came about in 1948 in I Remember Mama (1948) in the role of Aunt Trina. As a result of this role, Ellen garnered a nomination for Best Supporting Actress which was ultimately won by Claire Trevor in Key Largo (1948). It was television where she would garner the acclaim that had eluded her on the silver screen. Her real fame came in the highly watched and highly acclaimed "The Walton's" from 1972-1979 as Esther "Grandma" Walton. The role resulted in the prestigious Emmy award for 1973, 74, & 75.

Biography sourced from www.imdb.com

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Bonanza Episodes:-

- "Cora Milford" Season 4 Ep 121: "The Hayburner" 17 February 1963
- "Lorna Doone Mayberry" Season 1 Ep 19 "The Gunmen" 23 January 1960

September 19th 1899 - April 28th 1977

Born in Austria, Jacob emigrated with his family to New York. There he worked a number of jobs while he trained as an actor. When Jacob arrived in Hollywood to work in movies in 1922, the Valentino mania was in full swing. Never shy about changing a name and a background, the studio transformed Jacob Krantz from Austria into Latin Lover Ricardo Cortez from Spain. Such was life in Hollywood. Starting with small parts, the tall, dark Cortez was being groomed by Paramount to be the successor to Rudolph Valentino. But Cortez would never be viewed, or consider himself, as the equal to the late Valentino. A popular star, he was saddled in a number of run of the mill romantic movies which would depend more on his looks than on the script. Pictures like 'Argentine Love (1924)' and 'The Cat's Pajamas (1926)' did little to extend his range as an actor. He did show that he had some range with his role in 'Pony Express (1925)', but roles like that were few.

Cortez would be the only actor to ever have his name above Greta Garbo as she appeared with him in her first American movie 'The Torrent (1926)'. When sound came, Cortez made the transition in late 1929 and he would play Sam Spade in the 1931 movie 'Dangerous Female' (aka The Maltese Falcon). Never a great actor, Cortez would often be cast as the smirking womanizer in a number of films and would soon slide down into 'B' movies. After 1937, Cortez would hit a lean patch for his work and tried his hand at directing. His career as a director ended after a half dozen movies and his screen career would soon follow. When he retired from the screen, he returned to Wall Street where he had started as a runner decades before. Only this time, he returned as a member of one of Wall Street's top brokerage firms and lived a comfortable life.

Biography sourced from www.imdb.com

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Bonanza Episodes:-

- "Don Xavier" Season 1 Ep 16 "El Toro Grande" 2 January 1960

JOHN DEHNER

November 23, 1915 - February 4, 1992 Emphysema/Diabetes.

Born John Forkum, Dehner began his career as an animator for Walt Disney Studios, then worked as a disc jockey and a professional pianist.  In 1945, at the age of 30, Dehner made his debut and has appeared in dozens of films.  He was a tall, distinguished looking man with a rich voice and somewhat flamboyant demeanor. Dehner was often cast as the outlaw leader, crooked banker or a saloon owner in westerns, although he occasionally played opposite types in several comedies, and once played a crusading newspaper reporter in the 1960’s TV series, The Roaring ‘20s.

Some of his film credits include: War and Remembrance (1988, Young Maverick (1979), and How The West Was Won (1977).

His Bonanza credits include: The Mission and The Gentleman from New Orleans

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June 28th 1928 - August 17th 1991

He was handed a film career out of nowhere by James Cagney, who took a liking to the baby-faced kid and gave him co-starring roles in a couple of his rugged features, with little prior experience. His last performance was as Willie Loman in Death of A Salesman at the Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, South Carolina.

Biography sourced from www.imdb.com

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Bonanza Episodes:

- "Todd McCarren" Season 1 Ep 29 "Bitter Water" 9 April 1960

November 24th 1913 - July 8th 1990

Once he hit the screen in 1947, this burly leading man's gruff voice was instantly recognizable: He'd spent several years playing private eye Sam Spade on a hit radio show. With acting experience dating back to pre-WW2 stage work in his native Washington, Duff made a solid impression with moviegoers portraying tough guys in Westerns and crime dramas. After an auspicious start in Brute Force (1947) and The Naked City (1948), however, he was relegated to second-tier films by the taint of left-wing affiliations during the Hollywood witch-hunt era-which also cost him his radio gig as Sam Spade. He reemerged in the 1960s as a solid character actor in leading films.

Duff was married to actress-director Ida Lupino, whose name you may recognise as the actress who played 'Annie O'Toole' in the episode 'The Saga of Annie O'Toole'.

Biography sourced from www.imdb.com

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Bonanza Episodes:-

"Samuel Clemens/Mark Twain" Season 1 Ep 5 "Enter Mark Twain" 10 October 1959

January 23, 1907 - June 8, 1968

Dan Duryea was born in Ithaca, NY and attended Cornell University.  He began his acting career in the late 1930’s appearing in stage productions on Broadway in New York City.  On stage as well as on film, Dan played low-life, malicious and sometimes psychopathic characters.  His career spanned 47 years and he appeared in 70 films.  From 1952 – 1955 Duryea starred in the TV series, China Smith.

Duryea’s western films included Black Bart (1948), Winchester 73 (1950), Al Jennings of Oklahoma (1951), He Rides Tall (1964) and Taggart (1965).

In 1932, Dan married Helen Bryan and together they had two sons, Peter and Richard.  Dan died of cancer in 1968.

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Bonanza credits -

Season 2 Ep 35 "Badge Without Honor"
Season 6 Ep 173 "Logan’s Treasure"

April 2nd 1908 - 2003

Buddy is best known for his roles as 'Pa Campett' in the 'Beverly Hill Billies' and the title character of the long running detective series 'Barnaby Jones'.  Buddy Ebsen almost became the Tin Man in the production Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland but as a result of a severe allergic reaction to the silver makeup, his part was recast.

Biography sourced from www.imdb.com

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Bonanza Episodes:-

- "Sheriff" Season 1 Ep 14 "The Sisters" 12 Dec 1959
- "Jesse Sanders" Season 13 Ep 406 "The Saddle Stiff" 16 Jan 1972

October 27th 1911 - January 29th 1986

Tall, beefy, deep-voiced character actor who'd been a band singer and trombone player before getting into movies in 1935. An inauspicious debut (as a corpse) in the Zane Grey Western Wanderer of the Wasteland (1935) was Erickson's first assignment under a Paramount contract; he was initially billed as "Glenn" Erickson. He was under contract to Universal during the early 1940s before entering the Armed Forces, and was twice wounded during World War 2. A pleasant personality translated indifferently onscreen and he never really hit it big. Erickson, who was once married to actress Frances Farmer, also appeared on stage and in many TV shows, including "The High Chaparral" as Big John Cannon the series' Patriach.

Biography sourced from www.imdb.com

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Bonanza Episodes:-

- "Tom Cain" Season 7 Ep 216 "All Ye His Saints" 19 December 1965
- "Josh Tatum" Season 2 Ep 55 "The Rescue" 25 February 1961

March 9th 1902 - April 22nd 1978

Will Geer admired his grandfather, a man who said hello to trees by their Latin names and who had used what he brought back to Indiana from the California gold rush to build Frankfort's first opera house. Will pursued a college major in botany, from Chicago through a Master's degree at Columbia, but ultimately gave in to his need to perform. Starting with touring company tent shows and river boats, his six-decade career included Broadway, movies, television; many Shakespeare roles; one-man performances as Walt Whitman and Mark Twain. His best know role was his last, Zebulon Walton, Grandpa in the long-running television series "The Waltons." Less well known was his life-long role as a political agitator and radical ("Someone who goes to the roots, which is the Latin derivation of radical") and folklorist/folksinger - he toured U.S. government work camps in the 1930s, singing with Woody Guthrie and Burl Ives. He was blacklisted during the McCarthy era for refusing to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Affairs. In 1951 he formed the "Theatricum Botanicum," a repertory theater in Topanga Canyon, CA, where he not only coached actors but also encouraged outdoor philsophical discussion and, of course, folksinging. At his deathbed his family sang "This Land Is Your Land" and recited Robert Frost poems. His ashes lie in a corner of the Shakespearean garden on the grounds of his Theatricum Botanicum.

Biography sourced from www.imdb.com

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Bonanza Episodes:-

- "Ferris Callahan" Season 13 Ep 402 "A Home for Jamie" 19 December 1971
- "Zach" Season 12 Ep 370 "The Love Child" 8 November 1970
- "Calvin Butler" Season 10 Ep 329 "The Running Man" 30 March 1969

September 9th 1924 - August 24th 2001

As a baby she was winning beauty contests; as a teenager, with good looks and an attractive contralto voice, she was singing with big bands (most notably Enric Madriguera's orchestra in Latin Club Del Rio in Washington, D.C.. She met Rudy Valle, her first husband, on the radio where she also enjoyed a brief stint as a singer. At age 15 an attack of palsy left her face partially paralyzed. She claimed that it was through facial exercises to overcome the paralysis that she learned the efficacy of facial expression in conveying human emotion, a skill she was renowned for using in her acting.

Biography sourced from www.imdb.com

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Bonanza Episodes:-

- "Julia Bulette" Season 1 Ep 6 "The Julia Bulette Story" 17 October 1959

March 8th 1918 - January 2nd 1990

The son of the great character actor (and Erroll Flynn sidekick) Alan Hale Sr., Alan Hale Jr. (he dropped the Jr. after his father passed away) was literally born into the movies. Hale did his first movie as a baby and continued to act until his death. Unlike other child actors, Hale made a smooth transition in the movies and starred in several classics like "Up Periscope, " "The Lady Takes a Flyer, " and "The West Point Story, " as well as many westerns. He did a lot of television guest appearances as well before getting his role as The Skipper on the cult comedy "Gilligan's Island." After the show went off the air, Hale continued to act and even teamed up with Gilligan co-star Bob Denver in the "The Good Guys, " a CBS-TV comedy that lasted only two years. After that ended, Hale kept busy acting in guest shots and maintained his business interests which included a restaurant and travel agency.

Biography sourced from www.imdb.com

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Bonanza Episodes:-

- "Swede Lundberg" Season 1 Ep 7 "The Saga of Annie O'Toole" 24 October 1959

February 18th 1901 - December 1st 1968

A grubby, portly, manic-looking character star, Hugo Haas was one of the most celebrated Czech actors back in the 30s, a comic star who only grew in stature as he delved creatively into writing, directing and producing. The Nazi invasion forced him to leave his beloved country and come to the United States. Like a fish out of water, he had to start small. Beginning as an announcer on US broadcasts to the Eastern Europe underground, he also offered his talents as a narrator of propaganda films. After the war, he revitalized his acting career with flashy, thick-accented support roles, often as a slick, seedy villain in lavish costumers. With the money he made, he began financing his own independent films in the 50s, taking total creative control.

Biography sourced from www.imdb.com

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Bonanza Episodes:-

- "Zirko" Season 1 Ep 31 "Dark Star" 23 April 1960

HENRY HULL

October 3, 1890 - March 8, 1977

Henry Hull began his career in 1909. His most successful role was on Broadway portraying "Jeeter Lester" in Tobacco Road (1933). He was a master of character roles, and did much of his own make-up on the stage.

Hull appeared in several silent films, including the murder mystery One Exciting Night, directed by film legend D.W. Griffith. When sound was brought into film making, Hull appeared in many acclaimed productions, namely, Great Expectations  (1934), Jesse James  (1939), The Chase (1966) and many others. One of his favorites was Lifeboat  (1944), working with director Alfred Hitchcock. He also enjoyed acting with Vincent Price in Master of the World  (1961), based on the Jules Verne novel. Hull’s best-remembered role came in 1935. He was cast as the tormented Dr. Wilfred Glendon, in the now classic "Werewolf of London" with Universal Studios.  Henry saw Glendon's personality as being similar to Sherlock Holmes. In his words: "Glendon, being a botanist, or scientist, was not open to belief in the supernatural, as it interfered with his work".

Hull stared in films such as The Great Gatsby (1949), Inferno (1953), Buccaneer (1958) also starring Lorne Greene. 

Bonanza Episodes:

- "Sheriff B. Banneman Brown" Season 1 Ep 19 "The Gunmen"
-"Charlie Trent" Season  2 Ep 34 "The Mission"

I

J

P

Q

January 21st 1924 - January 22nd 1994

American actor Telly Savalas was born into a transplanted Greek family in Garden City, New York. After dropping out of Columbia University, Savalas served in World War II, from which he was discharged with a Purple Heart. Though not a performer himself, Savalas was active in show business with the Information Services of the State Department, which led to a news director post at the ABC network.

In 1959, Savalas attended an audition for the CBS anthology series "Armstrong Circle Theatre," intending to prompt an actor friend who was up for a role. Instead, the casting director took Savalas' sinister demeanor (and bald head) into account and cast him in a character part, which led to other TV assignments. The 1960 television anthology "Witness," though not a ratings success, brought the novice actor a great deal of acclaim for his portrayal of racketeer Lucky Luciano, gaining attention from audiences, producers, and even a few of Luciano's old associates. More TV and movie roles of a slimy-villain nature followed, and then Savalas was cast as Burt Lancaster's fellow Alcatraz inmate in The Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) -- a performance that earned an Oscar nomination.

Many in the industry felt that Savalas had what it took to be a leading man and was quoted as being "one of the funniest men she'd ever met" by Imogene Coca. Still, producers continued to use Savalas as a supporting bad guy. Even in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Savalas incurred audience hisses as Pontius Pilate. But the role everyone will remember him for is the charismatic, wisecracking police lieutenant, Theo Kojak a character which first appeared in the TV movie The Marcus-Nelson Murders based on a real-life homicide. The actor's fully rounded interpretation of the sarcastic, incorruptible, lollipop-sucking New York detective earned him a full time TV job as the star of the CBS series "Kojak."

Biography sourced from www.blockbuster.com

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Bonanza Episode:-

"Charles Hackett" Season 6 Episode 29 "To Own the World" 18 April 1965

October 1st 1909 - August 6th 1965

After more than a decade as a stage performer and radio actor (one of the medium's finest, appearing on an estimated 15,000 broadcasts), Sloane went to Hollywood with Orson Welles' Mercury Theater group and made his movie debut in Citizen Kane (1941), playing the excitable Mr. Bernstein. An extremely capable and talented supporting player, Sloane also appeared with Welles in Journey Into Fear (1942), The Lady From Shanghai (1948, as Rita Hayworth's husband), and Prince of Foxes (1949). Perhaps his best part was in Patterns (1956), in which he recreated his performance from the Rod Serling teleplay as a ruthlessly pragmatic business executive. He was active on television, and provided the voice of Dick Tracy for a series of early 1960s TV cartoons.

Biography sourced from www.imdb.com

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Bonanza Episodes:-

- Season 6 Ep 196 "A Good Night's Rest" 11 April 1965
- "Colonel Scott" Season 6 Ep 192 "Right Is the Fourth R" 7 March 1965
- "Jeb Drummond" Season 1 Ep 22 "Blood on the Land" 13 February 1960

October 6th 1932 - May 6th 1983

In the mid-Fifties, starlight Fay appeared on in YOU BET YOUR LIFE with Groucho Marx. She also guest starred along side Pernell Roberts in an episode of 'The Detectives', 'House Call'.

Biography sourced from www.imdb.com

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Bonanza Episodes:-

- "Sue Ellen Terry" Season 1 Ep 14 "The Sisters" 12 December 1959

March 29th 1902 - January 5th 1977

Son of character actor Houseley Stevenson, brother of costume designer Edward Stevenson and actor Houseley Stevenson Jr. Highly active from mid-1920s at Pasadena Community Playhouse, where his entire family worked frequently as performers, directors, and teachers. Scored a major success on Broadway in "Stage Door" in 1936. Played many leading roles and even more character parts over the years. Although at first a stalwart and reliable figure in films, in later years his career was adversely affected by alcohol. Nevertheless, he was a familiar and respected performer for many years.

Biography sourced from www.imdb.com

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Bonanza Episodes:-

- "Flint Johnson" Season 1 Ep 12 "The Hanging Posse" 28 November 1959

August 29th 1912 - June 6th 1994

No Biography available at this time

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Bonanza Episodes:-

- "Dayton Fuller" Season 9 Ep 273 "Judgment at Olympus" 8 October 1967
- "Mark Burdette" Season 1 Ep 2 "Death on Sun Mountain" 19 September 1959

February 26th 1907 - October 3rd 1994

Veteran character actor who was famed for his thick Southern drawl and squat, grizzled appearance. His film career began with an audition for director Frank Capra, who was casting the nutty family in You Can't Take It With You (1938). Capra later described him as "a merry oaf wearing a perpetual infectious grin as big as a sunburst." Taylor played "Dinah" on the xylophone, and Capra cast him on the spot as Ann Miller's husband-keeping the xylophone as part of his "business." He was a semi-regular on "Little House on the Prairie," and a frequent guest star on "Gunsmoke," which featured his son, the Western artist and actor Buck Taylor, as a regular cast member.

Biography sourced from www.imdb & "Great Character Actors"

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Bonanza Episodes:-

- "Luke Calhoun" Season 13 Ep 401 "Easy Come, Easy Go" 12 December 1971
- "Otto" Season 12 Ep 389 "An Earthquake Called Callahan" 11 April 1971
- "Luke Calhoun" Season 11 Ep 359 "The Horse Traders" 5 April 1970
- "Luke Calhoun" Season 11 Ep 342 "Meena" 9 November 1969
- "Simon" Season 9 Ep 283 "The Gold Detector" 24 December 1967
- "Barlow" Season 8 Ep 251 "Ponderosa Explosion" 1 January 1967

PETER WHITNEY

May 24, 1916

March 30, 1972

Peter Whitney, a burly character actor, worked under contract to Warner Bros from 1941 to 1945. During those years, Whitney spent much of the time loaned out, playing a variety of rolls as a half-wit thugs and henchmen.  His greatest success came when he was cast as twins, Mert and Bert Fleagle in the 1944 film classic, Murder He Says.

Partial film credits include: Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), Savage Wilderness (1956), The Big Heat (1953) and Living Christ Series, The Boyhood and Baptism – Volume 3 (1951)

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Bonanza Credits Include:

- Season 2 Ep 34 "The Mission"
- Season 9 Ep 294  "Commitment at Angelus"

- Season 13 Ep 399 "The Iron Butterfly"

August 18th 1930 - July 28th 1985

As a child, Williams acted in summer stock productions. After graduation from high school he joined the Air Force for a four-year stint. Then returning to New York, he took acting classes with Lee Strasberg. A few minor Broadway roles followed in parts on some live TV dramas. One of these parts caught the eye of a talent agent and Williams signed with Universal in 1956. Universal put him into several supporting roles most notably as the gas-station stud in "Written on the Wind" (1956) but the high point of his career came when he played the title role in "The Incredible Shrinking Man" (1957). Director Jack Arnold said that Williams gave an Oscar-worthy performance because, in many special-effects scenes, he could only imagine his surroundings and his fellow actors. In 1959 Williams moved over to Warner Brothers which cast him in the "Hawaiian Eye" TV series.

Biography sourced from www.imdb.com

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Bonanza Episodes:-

- "Albert 'Patch' Saunders" Season 6 Ep 202 "Patchwork Man" 23 May 1965
- "Tyler" Season 1 Ep 25 "Escape to the Ponderosa" 5 March 1960

April 17th 1909 - May 30th 2003

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Click here to read Andy Klyde's biography page about Haskell "Buzzy" Boggs.

LEWIS ALLEN, Director

December 25, 1905

January 1, 1986

Lewis Allen moved to Hollywood during World War II after spending several years as a London stage actor and director.  Once in Hollywood, Allen apprenticed at Paramount Pictures. His first directorial effort at Paramount was The Uninvited (1943).  It was one of the best and most plausible ghost stories ever to come out of an American studio.

Allen directed several Bonanza episodes, including The Witness, Riot, One Ace Too Many, Second Sight, Frenzy, and many more.

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November 29th 1919 - January 1st 1996

Virgil W. Vogel began his career at Universal in 1940, as an assistant editor. He worked as an editor for many years, although by the mid-50s he had begun to tire of the job and pressed Universal executive Ed Muhl for a shot at directing. Vogel was handed "The Mole People" (1956) with John Agar, and his capable handling of that film led to other assignments at the studio. Vogel later directed many made-for-television movies as well as episodes of TV's "Bonanza, " "Wagon Train, " "M Squad, " "The Six Million Dollar Man, " "Mission: Impossible", "Quantum Leap", "Spenser: For Hire" and many others.

(Biography source: www.imdb.com)

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Bonanza Credits Include:-

"Devil on Her Shoulder", "The Return", "Right Is the Fourth R" and "To Own the World"