Dan Blocker: Hoss on Bonanza

Dan Blocker (full name B. Dan D. Blocker) is best known for playing the role of Eric "Hoss" Cartwright on Bonanza. He was born December 10, 1928 to Ora Shack Blocker and Mary Davis Blocker, in DeKalb, Texas.

He attended Texas Military Institute and was a graduate of Sul Ross State Teacher's College, with a masters degree in dramatic arts.

Dan had many jobs before turning to acting. He was a high school teacher, rodeo performer, and bouncer.

After serving in the Korean War he married his college sweetheart, Dolphia Parker. They had four children, Dirk, David, and twin daughters, Debra Lee and Danna Lynn. (All their children's names began with the letter 'D'.)

In 1955 he got a role in the movie Hook a Crook. He also had guest roles in several television series such as Gunsmoke, The Rifleman, Cheyenne, and several others.

In 1957 he was in two movies, The Girl in Black Stockings, and Outer Space Jitters. Neither movie did well at the box office.

His big break came when he got the role of Hoss on Bonanza, playing the some-what slow, gentle middle son.

In the 1960s, disgruntled with the war in Vietnam, he moved his family to Europe, although he still kept a house in Inglewood, California. The current owner of that house, Rob Zombie, jokes that he has had encounters with Dan's ghost.

In 1968 Dan started to lose his hair and began to wear a toupee for the filming of Bonanza. (Co-stars Lorne Green and Pernell Roberts also wore hair pieces.)

Dan got partial ownership of the chain of Ponderosa/Bonanza restaurants in exchange for making appearances at the restaurants as the character Hoss Cartwright.

He once owned a 1965 Chevrolet Malibu SS396 with the Z16 option. The car, now part of a private collection, is sometimes shown at car shows.

In 1972 Dan went into the hospital to have routine gallbladder surgery. It turned out to be not so routine as Dan died from a pulmonary embolism as a result of the surgery.

After his death Bonanza ratings plummeted. Bonanza lasted for one more season before it was canceled.

Dan Blocker is buried at the Woodmen Cemetery in Bowie County, Texas.