Bonanza is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, Bonanza is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on U.S. network television, and one of the longest-running, live-action American series. The show continues to air in syndication. The show is set in the 1860s and centers on the wealthy Cartwright family, who live in the vicinity of Virginia City, Nevada, bordering Lake Tahoe. The series initially starred Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker and Michael Landon and later featured Guy Williams, David Canary, Mitch Vogel and Tim Matheson. The show is known for presenting pressing moral dilemmas.
Michael Landon was an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie (1974–1983), and Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven (1984–1989). Landon appeared on the cover of TV Guide 22 times, second only to Lucille Ball.
John Saxon was an American actor who worked on more than 200 film and television projects during a span of 60 years. He was known for his work in Westerns and horror films, often playing police officers and detectives.
Joan Ann Hackett was an American actress of film, stage, and television. She starred in the 1967 western Will Penny. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1981 film Only When I Laugh. She also starred as Christine Mannon in the 1978 PBS miniseries version of Mourning Becomes Electra.
Joyce Audrey Botterill, known professionally as Judy Carne, was an English actress best remembered for the phrase "Sock it to me!" on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.
Stella Stevens was an American actress and model. She is also the mother of actor Andrew Stevens.
Pernell Elven Roberts Jr. was an American stage, film, and television actor, activist, and singer. In addition to guest-starring in over 60 television series, he was best known for his roles as Ben Cartwright's eldest son Adam Cartwright on the Western television series Bonanza (1959–1965), and as chief surgeon Dr. John McIntyre, the title character on Trapper John, M.D. (1979–1986).
Ina Balin was an American stage, film, and television actress. She is best known for her role in the film From the Terrace (1960), for which she received two Golden Globe Award nominations and won one for Most Promising Newcomer – Female.
Louis Antonio is an American actor and TV director best known for performing in the films Cool Hand Luke and America America. He also starred in two short-lived TV series, Dog and Cat, and Makin' It.
Emily Jordan Osment is an American actress, singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Osment began her career as a child actress, appearing in numerous television shows and films, before co-starring as Gerti Giggles in Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams (2002) and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003). She played Lilly Truscott on the Disney Channel television series Hannah Montana (2006–2011) and its film spinoff Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009).
Kim Darby is an American actress best known for her roles as Mattie Ross in True Grit (1969) and Jenny Meyer in Better Off Dead (1985).
Hazel Court was an English actress. She is known for her roles in British and American horror films during the 1950s and early 1960s, including Terence Fisher's The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959) for Hammer Film Productions, and three of Roger Corman's adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe stories for American International Pictures: The Premature Burial (1962), The Raven (1963) and The Masque of the Red Death (1964).
John Beck is an American retired actor, known for his role as Mark Graison in the television series Dallas during the mid-1980s.
Eileen Ryan was an American actress. The wife of actor and director Leo Penn, she was the mother of actors Sean Penn and Chris Penn, and of singer Michael Penn.
Dennis Dirk Blocker is an American actor. He earned his first regular TV role on Baa Baa Black Sheep (1976–1978), playing pilot Jerry Bragg. From 2013–2021, he starred as Detective Michael Hitchcock on the Fox/NBC comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Born in Los Angeles, California, he is the son of actor Dan Blocker and Dolphia Lee Blocker. His brother is producer David Blocker.
Jerry Newton was the older brother of Wayne Newton. He and Wayne performed as the Rascals in Rhythm in Las Vegas as children, as well as later on The Jackie Gleason Show and Ozark Jubilee. In the 1966 Bonanza episode "Unwritten Commandment" he was the Silver Dollar Saloon's piano playing Mike, along with Wayne who played ranch hand/singer Andy. In the 1970s, he owned WBGY, an FM radio station in Tullahoma, Tennessee.
Bonanza: The Return is a 1993 American Western made-for-television film. It is a sequel to both the 1959–1973 television series Bonanza and the 1988 made-for-television film Bonanza: The Next Generation. The film was directed by Jerry Jameson and featured noted character actors Ben Johnson, Jack Elam, Dean Stockwell, Linda Gray, and Richard Roundtree.
Bonanza: Under Attack is a 1995 made-for-television Western film. It is a sequel to the 1959–1973 television series Bonanza and television films Bonanza: The Next Generation (1988) and Bonanza: The Return (1993). The film was directed by Mark Tinker and features noted character actors Ben Johnson, Jack Elam, and Richard Roundtree, as well as Leonard Nimoy and Dennis Farina.
Frank Chase was an American character actor and screenwriter. As an actor, he is probably remembered for his role as Deputy Charlie in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. As a writer, his most prolific work was in the television series Bonanza. Other television series for which he wrote scripts were The Virginian and The High Chaparral.
Melissa Newman is an American actress who, as a teen, made her Hollywood film debut in The Undefeated (1969) starring John Wayne, Rock Hudson, Lee Meriweather, and Merlin Olsen, among others.
