One of the best-liked characters in the long history of TV westerns was Eric "Hoss" Cartwright, played by hulking but kindly Dan Blocker.
Texas-born Blocker, born Bobby Don Blocker, was around 6'3" and weighed around 300 pounds. He had played football and worked as a bouncer in his younger days, then was an English and theater teacher in Los Angeles before getting into show biz in the late 1950s.
His celebrity-earning role on the "family western" "Bonanza" was as the middle of three sons on the Ponderosa Ranch in 1800s Nevada. The show's immense popularity resulted in heaven only knows how many farms and even some actual ranches scattered in no doubt every U.S. state that even today sport a big sign proclaiming themselves "The Ponderosa," a sincere if remarkably unoriginal tribute.
People always like a gentle giant, and Blocker's "Bonanza" character was nice as pie till riled, then lowered the boom on the bad guys most convincingly.
Blocker served in the Army in Korea but became a highly vocal critic of America's involvement in Vietnam.
The big guy died unexpectedly following surgery in 1972.
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