# Pernell Roberts
**Pernell Roberts** (Pernell Elvin Roberts Jr.; May 18, 1928 – January 2010) was an American stage and television actor best known for two long-running series roles: Adam Cartwright, the eldest son on the NBC western *Bonanza*, and the title character of the CBS medical drama *Trapper John, M.D.*[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/pernell_roberts) A classically trained stage actor with a baritone singing voice, he left *Bonanza* at the height of its popularity after six seasons, publicly criticizing the show, and did not return to series television until *Trapper John* in 1979.[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) • [3](https://www.deseret.com/2012/2/13/20392691/pernell-roberts-left-bonanza-in-65/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | May 18, 1928, Waycross, Georgia[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/pernell_roberts) |
| Signature roles | Adam Cartwright on *Bonanza* (NBC, 1959–1965, 202 episodes); Trapper John McIntyre on *Trapper John, M.D.* (CBS, 1979–1986)[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) |
| Stage honors | Drama Desk Award, 1955, for *Macbeth* with the American Shakespeare Festival[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) |
| Notable film | Sam Boone in *Ride Lonesome* (1959), directed by Budd Boetticher[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) |
| *Bonanza* exit | Left at the end of the 1964–65 season, calling the show "junk TV"[4](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/bonanza) |
| Death | Pancreatic cancer, at home in Malibu; obituaries give January 24 or January 25, 2010[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) • [5](https://playbill.com/article/pernell-roberts-serious-minded-actor-of-stage-and-television-dies-at-81-com-165279) |
## Early life and stage career
Roberts was born in Waycross, Georgia, where he sang and played multiple instruments. He dropped out of college at [Georgia Tech](https://www.edgepedia.org/georgia-tech) to join the Marines, playing in the band, then attended the University of Maryland, dropped out again, and began acting professionally.[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) His professional roots were in the Washington area: he joined Arena Stage, then in its infancy, and in two years there starred in 18 productions, with additional work at the Olney, Maryland summer theater.[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1986/03/02/pernell-roberts-an-actors-roots/1b002292-cbd8-4ea7-8182-97cd793c32d8/)
Moving to New York, he appeared in one-act operas and ballets and as [Mephistopheles](https://www.edgepedia.org/mephistopheles) in *Dr. Faustus* at the Equity Library Theater. His performances in *Macbeth* and *Romeo and Juliet* won him a Drama Desk Award as Best Actor Off-Broadway in 1955, and the next year he played on Broadway in *The Lovers* with [Joanne Woodward](https://www.edgepedia.org/joanne-woodward).[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) • [6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1986/03/02/pernell-roberts-an-actors-roots/1b002292-cbd8-4ea7-8182-97cd793c32d8/)
## Bonanza
After three starring roles in 1957, Roberts moved to Hollywood, made his television debut in *Whirlybirds*, and became a popular guest star in westerns such as *Sugarfoot*, *Tombstone Territory*, and *Have Gun – Will Travel*.[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) Producer David Dortort had watched him in *Cimarron City* and decided he could carry the role of Adam, the eldest of Ben Cartwright's three sons, when *Bonanza* launched on NBC in September 1959.[7](https://travelnevada.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1966-Summer.pdf) • [4](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/bonanza) The series, set on the [Ponderosa Ranch](https://www.edgepedia.org/ponderosa-ranch) near [Virginia City, Nevada](https://www.edgepedia.org/virginia-city-nevada), ran until January 1973 and produced 440 episodes.[4](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/bonanza)
**Discontent and departure.** A talented stage actor, Roberts grew frustrated after six seasons of battling producers and writers over his character, chafing at having to call [Lorne Greene](https://www.edgepedia.org/lorne-greene), only 13 years his senior, "Pa". He left in 1965 after 202 episodes, the first of the original cast to go.[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) On leaving he called the show "junk TV" and said NBC was "perpetuating banality".[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) His stated objections were creative: he disliked the writing, the show's sentimentality, and its portrayal of wealthy ranchers.[4](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/bonanza) • [8](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/arts-and-entertainment/bonanza-becomes-american-television-classic) The *Encyclopedia of American Television*, by contrast, attributes the exit to a salary dispute with the producers, and notes that his career then came to a sudden halt.[9](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/Radio-Programming/The-Encyclopedia-of-American-Television-Lackman-2002.pdf) The writers left open the possibility of Adam's return, sending the character east to study, but Roberts never came back to the series.[8](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/arts-and-entertainment/bonanza-becomes-american-television-classic) • [10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052451/faq/) Many years later he expressed regret, feeling that media coverage of his departure had left fans with a negative impression of him.[10](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052451/faq/)
**Civil rights.** A southerner with a strong commitment to civil rights who took part in the Selma march, Roberts argued against the show's practice of casting white actors as Indians or Orientals, and objected that [Victor Sen Yung](https://www.edgepedia.org/victor-sen-yung), the show's one Asian American regular as the cook Hop Sing, was pushed toward stereotype.[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html)
## Film and guest work, 1965–1979
His finest film role came just before *Bonanza*: the engaging outlaw Sam Boone in *Ride Lonesome* (1959), opposite [Randolph Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/randolph-scott) and [James Coburn](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-coburn), in Budd Boetticher's cycle of westerns.[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) His film debut had been in the 1958 adaptation of [Eugene O'Neill](https://www.edgepedia.org/eugene-oneill)'s *Desire Under the Elms*, with Burl Ives, Sophia Loren, and Anthony Perkins.[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html)
After leaving *Bonanza*, his first role was in *The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.*, followed by steady guest appearances across television, including *Gunsmoke*, *The Big Valley*, *Hawaii Five-O*, *Ironside*, *Mission: Impossible*, *The Rockford Files*, and *The Love Boat*.[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) • [11](https://www.metacritic.com/person/pernell-roberts/) His film career foundered with a series of low-budget movies directed by John Peyser, including *Four Rode Out* (1970) and *The Centerfold Girls* (1974).[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) He also recorded an album of folk songs in 1962, and made another with the *Bonanza* cast.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/pernell_roberts) • [1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html)
Theater remained a constant. He played [Rhett Butler](https://www.edgepedia.org/rhett-butler) in the short-lived musical *Scarlett*, had more success in a 1972 revival of *Captain Brassbound's Conversion* with [Ingrid Bergman](https://www.edgepedia.org/ingrid-bergman), and toured in musicals such as *The King and I* and *Camelot*.[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html)
## Trapper John, M.D. and later career
In 1979 Roberts began a seven-year run starring in *Trapper John, M.D.* on CBS, playing the [Korean War](https://www.edgepedia.org/korean-war) doctor character previously portrayed by [Elliott Gould](https://www.edgepedia.org/elliott-gould) in the film *M*A*SH* and [Wayne Rogers](https://www.edgepedia.org/wayne-rogers) in the television series.[14](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/elliott-gould-10-essential-films) The role let him use his dramatic range and address social issues, and he was nominated for an Emmy after the show's second season.[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) • [6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1986/03/02/pernell-roberts-an-actors-roots/1b002292-cbd8-4ea7-8182-97cd793c32d8/)
After *Trapper John* ended in 1986 he hosted the short-lived *FBI: The Untold Story*, made an elegiac return to the western in *The Young Riders* in 1991, and played his last television role in a 1997 episode of *Diagnosis Murder*.[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) • [12](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0731490/)
## Personal life and death
Roberts was a private person who disdained interviews; CBS reported that his publicity files were empty.[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1986/03/02/pernell-roberts-an-actors-roots/1b002292-cbd8-4ea7-8182-97cd793c32d8/) He died of pancreatic cancer at his home in Malibu in January 2010, aged 81. The Irish Independent obituary gives the date as January 24, while Playbill reports January 25.[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) • [5](https://playbill.com/article/pernell-roberts-serious-minded-actor-of-stage-and-television-dies-at-81-com-165279) He was survived by his fourth wife, Eleanor Criswell; three previous marriages ended in divorce. His son Jonathan, from his first marriage to Vera Mowry, died in a motorcycle crash in 1989.[1](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html) He outlived the other original *Bonanza* leads: Dan Blocker died in 1972, Lorne Greene in 1987, and Michael Landon in 1991.[13](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0731490/bio/)
## References
1. [Pernell Roberts obituary by Michael Carlson, Irish Independent (2010)](https://www.independent.ie/news/pernell-roberts/26630088.html)
2. [Pernell Roberts, Rotten Tomatoes celebrity profile](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/pernell_roberts)
3. [Pernell Roberts left 'Bonanza' in '65, Deseret News](https://www.deseret.com/2012/2/13/20392691/pernell-roberts-left-bonanza-in-65/)
4. [Bonanza, Television Academy Interviews](https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/bonanza)
5. [Pernell Roberts, Serious-Minded Actor of Stage and Television, Dies at 81, Playbill (2010)](https://playbill.com/article/pernell-roberts-serious-minded-actor-of-stage-and-television-dies-at-81-com-165279)
6. [Pernell Roberts: An Actor's Roots, The Washington Post (1986)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1986/03/02/pernell-roberts-an-actors-roots/1b002292-cbd8-4ea7-8182-97cd793c32d8/)
7. [Interview with David Dortort, Nevada travel publication (1966)](https://travelnevada.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1966-Summer.pdf)
8. [Bonanza Becomes an American Television Classic, EBSCO Research Starters](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/arts-and-entertainment/bonanza-becomes-american-television-classic)
9. [ROBERTS, PERNELL, The Encyclopedia of American Television (2002)](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/Radio-Programming/The-Encyclopedia-of-American-Television-Lackman-2002.pdf)
10. [Bonanza FAQ, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052451/faq/)
11. [Pernell Roberts, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/pernell-roberts/)
12. [Pernell Roberts, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0731490/)
13. [Pernell Roberts Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0731490/bio/)
14. [Elliott Gould: 10 essential films](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/elliott-gould-10-essential-films)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1940s to 1960s › Surnames Q to St*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license