| Coordinates | 27°04′″N152°58′″N |
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| Name | Pernell Roberts |
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| Birthname | Pernell Elvin Roberts, Jr. |
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| Birth date | May 18, 1928 |
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| Birth place | Waycross, Georgia, U.S. |
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| Death date | January 24, 2010 |
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| Death place | Malibu, California, U.S. |
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| Occupation | Actor |
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| Yearsactive | 1950–2001 |
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| Spouse | Vera Mowry (1951–1959)Judith Anna LeBreque (1962–1971)Kara Knack (1972–1996)Eleanor Criswell (1996–2010)}} |
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Pernell Elvin Roberts, Jr. (May 18, 1928 – January 24, 2010) was an American stage, movie and television actor as well as singer. In addition to guest starring in over 60 television series, he was widely known for his roles as Ben Cartwright's eldest son, Adam Cartwright, on the western series Bonanza, a role he played from 1959 to 1965 — and as chief surgeon Dr. John McIntyre, the title character on Trapper John, M.D. (1979–1986).
He was also widely known for his life-long activism, which included participation in the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965 and pressuring NBC to refrain from hiring whites to portray minority characters.
Early life
Roberts was born in 1928 in
Waycross, Georgia, the only child of Pernell Elvin Roberts, Sr. (1907–1980, a
Dr Pepper salesman) and Minnie (Betty) Myrtle Morgan Roberts (1910–1988).
During his high school years, he played the horn, acted in school and church plays and sang in local USO shows. He attended, but did not graduate from, Georgia Tech. While serving for two years in the United States Marine Corps, he played the tuba and horn in the Marine Corps Band, although he was also skilled in the sousaphone and percussion (New York Times, January 26, 2010). He later attended, but also without graduating, the University of Maryland, where he had his his first exposure to acting in classical theater. He appeared in four productions while a student, including Othello and Antigone, but left school to act in summer stock.
In 1949, he made his professional stage debut with Moss Hart and Kitty Carlysle in The Man Who Came to Dinner, at the Olney Theatre in Olney, Maryland.
Roberts moved to Washington D.C. in 1950, supporting himself in a variety of jobs while performing with the Arena Stage Theater. Here, he performed in numerous productions, including Steinbeck's Burning Bright, The Adding Machine, The Firebrand, The Deletable Judge, The Taming of the Shrew ("Petruchio"), Playboy of the Western World, Children of Darkness, School for Wives, The Inspector General, The Glass Menagerie, Mr. Arcularis, Twelfth Night, The Scarecrow, The Importance of Being Earnest, Julius Caesar, She Stoops to Conquer, School for Scandal, Three Men on a Horse, Faith of Our Fathers (Sesquicentennial Amphitheatre) and Dark of the Moon. In 1952 he relocated to New York City, where he appeared first off-Broadway in one-act operas and ballets with the North American Lyric Theater, with the Shakespearewrights, at the Equity Library Theater, and later on Broadway with performances in Tonight in Samarkand, The Lovers opposite Joanne Woodward, and A Clearing in the Woods with Robert Culp and Kim Stanley. He won a Drama Desk Award in 1955 for his performance in an off-Broadway rendition of Macbeth, which was followed by the role of Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. He performed in Twelfth Night, Merchant of Venice, Dr. Faustus, The Taming of the Shrew (at the American Shakespeare Festival, and later on Broadway), St. Joan, Down in the Valley (at the Provincetown Playhouse), The Duchess of Malfi, Measure for Measure, King John, and Guys and Dolls.
Roberts then moved to Los Angeles and made his television debut in 1956 in the "Shadow of Suspicion" episode of Kraft Television Theater, followed by guest starring roles in The Whirlybirds, Gunsmoke, Sugarfoot, and Cheyenne.
He signed a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1957 and made his film debut a year later as one of Burl Ives' contentious sons in Desire Under the Elms (1958). The film was nominated for a Best Cinematography Academy Award. He also landed character roles in such features as The Sheepman.
He continued to guest star on television shows such as, episodes of Shirley Temple Storybook Theater (The Emperor's New Clothes, Rumplestiltskin, The Sleeping Beauty, and Hiawatha), the live-broadcast Matinee Theater, where he starred in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, and later The Heart's Desire, Trackdown, Buckskin, and episodes of Zane Grey Theater. Roberts guest-starred as Captain Jacques Chavez on the NBC adventure series Northwest Passage (1958), based on the life of Major Robert Rogers in the French and Indian War. He appeared with fellow guest star Fay Spain in the 1958 episode "Pick up the Gun" of Tombstone Territory and played the lead villain in the 31st episode ("Hey Boy's Revenge") of Have Gun - Will Travel, portraying a killer boss exploiter of Chinese Coolie laborers. The episode drew critical acclaim for shedding some light on the contribution of indentured Chinese workers in building the U.S. west. (Bonanza Dcanary.com/Pernell)
In 1959 Roberts guest starred in General Electric Theater, Cimarron City, Sugarfoot, Lawman, One Step Beyond, Bronco, 77 Sunset Strip, and The Detectives, "House Call." He also appeared in Naked City and Route 66 (Bonanza Dcanary.com/Pernell, InMemorium.com/Pernell Roberts).
Also in 1959, he co-starred with James Coburn in the film Ride Lonesome. If Roberts felt typecast by Westerns, they also provided his finest role in this film, arguably the greatest of the B-movies, starring Randolph Scott and directed by Budd Boetticher. Roberts recognised the film's classic structure; his engaging outlaw, Sam Boone, counterpoints Scott's granite-faced Ben Brigade, maintaining the tension of whether they will work together or clash. He similarly played off James Coburn, who was making his film debut as Boone's quiet sidekick, Whit." (Independent.Co.U.K.news.February 1, 2010).
The same year he was cast in Bonanza.
Bonanza
Roberts played Ben Cartwright's eldest son, Adam, in the Western television series
Bonanza — an architectural engineer with a university education, unlike his brothers. Adam has been variously described as urbane, intense, introspective, quiet, sullen and serious.
Roberts, having largely been a stage actor, "accustomed as he was to a rigorous diet of the classics," found the adjustment to a television series difficult."
With respect to Bonanza, it particularly distressed him that his character, a man in his 30's had to continually defer to the wishes of his widowed father and he reportedly disliked the series itself, calling it — "junk" television and accused NBC of "perpetuating banality and contributing to the dehumanization of the industry." The album, released by RCA Victor and arranged by Dick Rosmini, is available on compact disc only as part of the fourth disc of the Bonanza 4-CD boxed set on Bear Family Records.
On the Bonanza box set albums, Roberts also sings "Early One Morning", "In the Pines", "The New Born King", "The Bold Soldier", "Mary Ann", "They Call the Wind Mariah", "Sylvie", "Lily of the West", "The Water is Wide", "Rake and a Ramblin Boy", "A Quiet Girl", "Shady Grove", "Alberta", and "Empty Pocket Blues".
After Bonanza
After
Bonanza, Roberts played the
straw hat circuit, regional theaters, and episodic TV, which gave him the opportunity to play a wide variety of roles. He toured with musicals such as
The King and I, "Kiss me Kate,"
Camelot and
The Music Man, and dramatic plays, such as
Tiny Alice, played Jigger in an ABC television presentation of
Carousel and was featured in a CBS Playhouse production,
Dear Friends. He starred in a David Merrick production of
Mata Hari, as
Rhett Butler in the Los Angeles stage production of
Gone with the Wind, and as
Captain Von Trapp in the
Sound of Music . Roberts later returned to Broadway and toured with Ingrid Bergman in
Captain Brassbound's Conversion, in which he played the title role.
Additional stage credits include Two for the Seesaw, A Thousand Clowns, Night of the Iguana (1963), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Any Wednesday.
He guest starred in TV shows such as, The Virginian, The Big Valley, , Marcus Welby, The Wild Wild West, Ironside, The Rockford Files, Gunsmoke, Mannix, Vega$, The Odd Couple, Hawaii Five-O, The Love Boat, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, San Francisco International, Nakia, Night Gallery, The Bold Ones, The Quest, Most Wanted, Westside Medical, Man From Atlantis, Jigsaw John, Sixth Sense, Quincy, M.E, Feather and Father Gang, Hawkins, Men from Shiloh, Perry Mason, Wide World of Mystery, Six Million Dollar Man, and appeared in mini-series, including "Captain and the Kings," "Centennial," "Hotel," "The Immigrants," and "Around the World in Eighty Days." He starred in two cult films, Four Rode Out and Kashmiri Run, directed by the veteran TV director John Peyser and made some feature films, including The Magic of Lassie. He co-starred or was featured in several TV movies, including, The Adventures of Nick Carter, Dead Man on the Run, The Night Rider, The Silent Gun, The Lives of Jenny Dolan, The Deadly Tower, Hot Rod, Desperado, Paco, The Bravos, High Noon, Part II, and Assignment Munich.
Roberts was nominated for a 1973 Joseph Jefferson Award for his performance in Welcome Home, at the Ivanhoe Theatre in Chicago.
In the 1980s and 1990s, playing off his Trapper John M.D. persona, Roberts acted as TV spokesman for Ecotrin, a brand of analgesic tablets. Recent roles included Donor (thriller, 1990) with Melissa Gilbert and Checkered Flag (action, 1990). He hosted the TV anthology series "" from 1991–1993 and narrated an episode from the History Channel and episodes of National Geographic. He made his last TV appearance in 2001 on an episode of , updating a Mannix character he had portrayed decades before.
Roberts described television as a director's medium, but in a 1982 interview, he himself was described as a "born television actor........low key" (TV Guide, 1982).
In his later life, and after the death of his former Bonanza co-stars, Roberts "jokingly referred to himself as, "Pernell--The--Last--One--Roberts," (New York Times, January 26, 2010; Cowboydirectory.com). He read Bonanza Gold Magazine which was like looking at an old family album he said, and watched reruns of Bonanza when he wanted to see old friends (Bonanza Gold Magazine, 2005).
Personal life and death
Roberts married four times, — with whom he had his only child (Jonathan Christopher "Chris" Roberts, b. October 1951). Pernell and his first wife later divorced. Chris Roberts, who lived variously in California and New York, attended Franconia College and died in a motorcycle accident in 1989 at age 38,sometimes reported as age 37.
Roberts married Judith Anna LeBreque on October 15, 1962; they divorced in 1971. He subsequently married Kara Knack in 1972, divorcing in 1996.
Roberts was married to Eleanor Criswell at the time of his death
Roberts loved to cook, read literature, play tennis, swim and run. He appeared as captain of the CBS teams for Battle of the Network Stars 11 and 12.
References
Henry Darrow Archives of American Television Interview (web)
Bonanza Season I DVD, Volumes 1 & 2, 2009 Paramount/Feature David Dortort Archive Interview
Pernell Roberts Biography http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0731490/bio (web)
David Frost Television Interview 1972 (In Pernellroberts.net website)
InMemorium.com-Pernell Roberts
David Dortort Archives Of American Television Interview Interview (web)
Pernell Roberts: Versatile actor best known as Adam Cartwright of 'Bonanza', Michael Carlson,
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/pernell-roberts-versatile-actor-best-known-as-adam-
cartwright-of-bonanza-1885193.html
TV Guide (1982), "Why Is Pernell Roberts So Angry?", Dwight Whitney.
USA Today (January 25, 2010) Pernell Roberts, Last Star of TV's Bonanza, Dies, Associated Press.
External links
Pernell Roberts at PernellRoberts.net
At Bonanza World, a 1963 article on Pernell Roberts secretly marrying during a lunch break
Pernell Roberts (pending) listing at findagrave.com
http://www.darrenmcgavin.net/bonanza.html article
David Dortort Archive Interview (web)
Mike Douglas Interview (web)
Henry Darrow Television Archives Interview (web)
Bonanzaworld.net articles about Pernell Roberts
Category:1928 births
Category:2010 deaths
Category:Actors from Georgia (U.S. state)
Category:American television actors
Category:American stage actors
Category:American musical theatre actors
Category:Cancer deaths in California
Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer
Category:People from Waycross, Georgia
Category:United States Marines
Category:Western (genre) film actors
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