ACTOR
Pernell Roberts
- Known for
- Bonanza (1959), Trapper John, M.D. (1979)
65 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Pernell Roberts is an actor best known for Bonanza and Trapper John, M.D..
All facts (65)
- #001
Pernell Roberts served two years in the United States Marine Corps, during which he joined the Marine Corps Band.
- #002
Pernell Roberts died on January 24, 2010. He was the longest-lived member of the Bonanza (1959) cast, followed by Lorne Greene, who played his father on the series.
- #003
Pernell Roberts met Lee Majors on one of the two episodes of The Big Valley (1965) they worked on together, and the pair remained friends until Roberts's death in 2010.
- #004
Pernell Roberts's son, Jonathan Christopher Roberts, died in a motorcycle accident in 1989.
- #005
Pernell Roberts reunited with former Bonanza (1959) co-star Lorne Greene for two episodes of Vega$ (1978).
- #006
Pernell Roberts left his role on Bonanza (1959) at the end of the sixth season in 1965 for two reasons: he was deeply unhappy with the direction of his character, and he refused to renegotiate his contract for the following eight seasons.
- #007
Pernell Roberts attended Michael Landon's funeral in 1991.
- #008
Before becoming a successful actor, Pernell Roberts was a Sunday School teacher at a church in his hometown of Waycross, Georgia.
- #009
Pernell Roberts (born May 18, 1928) was only 13 years, 3 months and 6 days younger than Lorne Greene (born February 12, 1915), who played his father, Ben Cartwright, on Bonanza (1959).
- #010
After a guest-starring role on Diagnosis Murder (1993), Pernell Roberts retired from acting at the age of 66.
- #011
Former Bonanza (1959) co-star Michael Landon died years later of pancreatic cancer, the same disease that Roberts also succumbed to.
- #012
After happily leaving his role on Bonanza (1959), Pernell Roberts turned his back on Hollywood wisdom and well-meaning advice and returned to stage acting. It would take him 14 years to revive his career with a return to television on Trapper John, M. D. (1979).
- #013
Pernell Roberts had a passion for martial arts and was known for performing in the annual Circus of the Stars (1977) from the 1970s into the 1980s.
- #014
Pernell Roberts sang in various episodes of Bonanza (1959) and appeared on two record albums with the Bonanza (1959) cast and one solo album.
- #015
Pernell Roberts had a son, Jonathan Christopher Roberts (born October 1951, died 1989), with his first wife, Vera Mowry.
- #016
Pernell Roberts's first wife, Dr. Vera Mowry, was a professor at Washington State University.
- #017
Pernell Roberts always hated his role on Bonanza (1959). He hated only his part on the show, not the series itself. He gave up arguing with the producers that the boys should be called sons, that at least one of them should marry and start his own family, and that Adam should be portrayed realistically. He loved his co-stars and did not want to leave them, but money was not that important to him at the time. He felt he could do better elsewhere.
- #018
His second ex-wife, Judith Roberts, appeared with him as a guest star in an episode of Trapper John, M.D. (1979).
- #019
After 14 years away from television, he decided to return to make Trapper John, M.D. (1979) for his financial security.
- #020
Before becoming a successful actor, he worked as a butcher, a forest ranger and a railroad riveter.
- #021
His acting mentor was Lorne Greene.
- #022
During and after Trapper John, M.D. (1979), he remained good friends with Gregory Harrison.
- #023
Roberts (born 18 May 1928) was only 6 months and 22 days older than Dan Blocker (born 10 December 1928), who played his middle brother Hoss Cartright on Bonanza (1959).
- #024
Before retiring, he updated the character George Fallon in an episode of Diagnosis Murder (1993), decades after playing him in Mannix (1967).
- #025
He was a longtime friend of James Drury.
- #026
He was the only original cast member of Bonanza (1959) who was a successful singer, although David Canary, who joined the series in 1967, had a vocal background and performed on Broadway.
- #027
Like former Bonanza (1959) star Michael Landon, Roberts himself resided in Malibu, California, where he died.
- #028
When he was interviewed about Trapper John, M.D. (1979) after his career revival in the early 1980s, Roberts described himself as quite liberal.
- #029
He played the character of Trapper John, M.D. (1979) longer than Wayne Rogers did.
- #030
He appeared in every episode of Trapper John, M.D. (1979) except one.
- #031
Roberts appeared in the film Donor (1990) alongside Melissa Gilbert, the former television daughter of his former Bonanza (1959) co-star Michael Landon.
- #032
In the 1980s he was a spokesman for the National Kidney Foundation.
- #033
In 1991 he won the Western Heritage Award for his guest starring role in The Young Riders (1989).
- #034
Before becoming a successful actor, he briefly worked as an apprentice on the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad after graduating from high school.
- #035
He guest starred in the first episode of Hotel (1983).
- #036
In 1950 he moved to Washington, D.C., where he took odd jobs while performing at the Arena Stage Theatre for two years.
- #037
He appeared as a guest actor in more than 40 television productions.
- #038
He was a mentor and friend of Gregory Harrison.
- #039
He made his professional stage debut in 1949 in 'The Man Who Came To Dinner' alongside Moss Hart and Kitty Carlisle.
- #040
In 1972 Roberts returned to Broadway and toured in Captain Brassbound's Conversion, in which he played the lead opposite Ingrid Bergman.
- #041
When he won the role of Adam Cartwright on Bonanza (1959), he had difficulty adjusting to working on a television series.
- #042
His friends included James Drury, Doug McClure, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, David Wayne, Robert Young, Charles Siebert, Mary McCarty, Madge Sinclair, Sarah Cunningham, Barbara Stanwyck, Lee Majors, Linda Evans, James Best, Larry Hagman, Dick Van Dyke, Brian Keith, Aaron Spelling, Simon Scott, James Arness, Peter Graves, Peter Lupus, Jack Klugman, Rod Serling, Robert Stack, Raymond Burr, Henry Darrow, Robert Conrad, Connie Stevens, Ruta Lee, Stefanie Powers, Will Hutchins, Bart Braverman, Clifton James, Janis Page, R. G. Armstrong, Burl Ives, Quinn Martin, Frank Price and Robert Vaughn.
- #043
After the G. I. Bill, he attended the University of Maryland, where he became interested in acting, and eventually dropped out to work on the stage.
- #044
His parents were his father, Pernell Elvin Sr., and his mother, Betty Roberts.
- #045
Early in his career, the singer appeared in one-act operas and ballets with the North American Lyric Theatre.
- #046
He began his career in 1957 as a contract player at Columbia.
- #047
He began acting as a young man.
- #048
Roberts was the childhood television hero of the future actor Gregory Harrison, who watched Bonanza (1959). He later appeared alongside him in Trapper John, M. D. (1979).
- #049
His parents were Pernell Elvin Roberts Sr., a Dr. Pepper salesman who died in 1980, and Minnie 'Betty' Myrtle Morgan, a housewife who died eight years later in 1988.
- #050
About a year after marrying his first wife, Vera Mowry, he had a son named Jonathan Christopher.
- #051
In 1955 he won a Drama Desk Award for his performance in an off-Broadway version of Macbeth, which was followed by the role of Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet.
- #052
He once spoke about his young rebellious co-star Gregory Harrison on Trapper John, M. D. (1979) when the series began.
- #053
He was a spokesman for Ecotrin Tablets from 1982 to 1990.
- #054
Pernell Roberts had a talent for singing and particularly enjoyed performing folk music.
- #055
In 1962, RCA Victor recorded a solo album of folk songs, "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies."
- #056
He reprised the character George Fallon in an episode of Diagnosis Murder (1993), decades after playing him in Mannix (1967).
- #057
His first wife, Vera Mowry, was a professor of theater history at Washington State University.
- #058
He was nominated for the 1973 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Guest Artist for his performance in the play "Welcome Home" at the Ivanhoe Theater in Chicago, Illinois.
- #059
Before turning to acting, Roberts toured college campuses giving seminars or staging acting and poetry productions.
- #060
He began acting in classical theater while still at university.
- #061
While attending Waycross High School, he was a member of the boys' basketball team.
- #062
He attended the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta but did not graduate.
- #063
His mother was only 17 years old when she gave birth to him.
- #064
He graduated from Waycross High School in Waycross, Georgia, in 1945.
- #065
After his family held a private funeral for him, he was cremated at Ascension Cemetery in Lake Forest, California; his urn was buried in a traditional grave.
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