With Lorne Green as its lovable lead, the Western television series Bonanza premiered in 1959
and went on to last for 14 seasons before its cancellation towards the beginning of 1973.
When all was said and done, Lorne appeared in 430 episodes of the classic series,
and he was all set to reprise the role of patriarch Ben Cartwright for the
made-for-television feature Bonanza: The Next Generation before his death. Despite
Lorne’s apparent fondness for the series and his beloved role on it by the end of his life, there
was a time early on during Bonanza’s run when Lorne thought that he had no future
on it. Join Facts Verse as we explore why Lorne Greene almost quit Bonanza after 16 episodes.
Lorne Green Initially Hated the Character of Ben Cartwright
Any fan of the beloved Western television series Bonanza is likely well aware of just
how integral a part Lorne Greene and his character of patriarch Ben
Cartwright were to the show. Without Lorne, there would’ve been no series, and it’s impossible to
imagine what the show would’ve ended up being like if it didn’t have the actor’s presence
to coast off of for all of its 14 seasons. However, there was actually a moment early
on in Bonanza’s production when a future without Lorne portraying Ben seemed like a possibility.
According to legend, Lorne Greene almost quit Bonanza after filming only 14 episodes of
the classic Western television series. Lorne was apparently incredibly dissatisfied with
his character and felt that he might have more fun on another series. Thankfully,
Lorne’s intention to quit the series didn’t come to fruition. Instead, when the actor expressed
to the series’ producers that he wasn’t keen on his character, the creative staff ended up making
some fairly notable and important changes to Ben Cartwright that bettered the show.
Apparently, Lorne Green wasn’t all that fond of how high and mighty the
character of patriarch Ben Cartwright was written on the series during its earliest
episodes. Bonanza revolved around the Cartwright family and its Ponderosa Ranch, with Ben as the
figurehead and his three sons as the supporting players. Amongst these sons could be found Michael
Landon as the youngest Little Joe Cartwright, Dan Blocker as Eric “Hoss” Cartwright,
known colloquially as Hoss, and Pernell Roberts as the third and eldest Cartwright son, Adam.
Lorne’s Input Changed the Show for the Better Lorne Greene and Michael Landon were the only
two Cartwright actors to stay on Bonanza for the entirety of its memorable run,
with Pernell Roberts leaving halfway through the series’ production and Dan Blocker dying
just prior to the filming of the show’s 14th and final season. If Lorne Greene had made good
on his promise to quit the show after only 16 episodes, it likely wouldn’t have made
it past its first season! The show remains the second-longest-running Western televisions series
of all time. The longest-running Western series is still Gunsmoke, which lasted for 20 seasons.
It’s a good thing that Lorne Greene voiced his concerns about the character of Ben
Cartwright to producers instead of simply turning in his resignation,
as Lorne’s input helped Bonanza blossom into the classic series that it’s known as today.
According to Lorne, all the character of Ben Cartwright did during the series’ earliest
episodes was a quote from the Holy Bible, point his gun at people, and tell them to
get off of his property. Lorne grew tired of his character’s stagnation, and he pleaded
with the producers to make the character of Ben Cartwright at least a little bit deeper.
The producers took the challenge of making Ben Cartwright deeper in stride,
and ended up coming up with a script that was good enough to ensure that Lorne Greene
wasn’t going to quit the series before his time. Lorne was satisfied with his character’s new
depth, and he ended up staying on Bonanza to portray the character of Ben Cartwright
for many, many more years. In fact, Lorne Green was all set to be the only original
Bonanza actor that was going to return for the 1988 made-for-television feature Bonanza:
The Next Generation. However, tragedy struck before he could film his part.
Bonanza Made Lorne Green a Wealthy Star Lorne Greene’s role as patriarch Ben
Cartwright on Bonanza made him a household name, and also made him incredibly wealthy! The actor
was probably glad that he hadn’t quit the series after only 16 episodes by the time it had become
one of the most popular series on all of television. Lorne persevered with the program,
and it paid off immensely. According to the late actor, he hadn’t expected much to come
about from Bonanza, and he would’ve been happy even if the show had only lasted for one season.
The fact that it went on to make history and was still regarded as one of the longest-running and
most influential Western television programs ever by the time of Lorne's death was simply
icing on the cake for the actor. If you're enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit
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The Death of Dan Blocker Spelt the End for Bonanza
Bonanza ended up lasting for 14 seasons following its 1959 premiere, with its cancellation occurring
towards the beginning of 1973. The show arguably could’ve lasted a lot longer and may even have
gone on to beat Gunsmoke's recording-breaking run of 20 seasons if it weren't for the tragic
and untimely death of Dan Blocker immediately following the filming of the show's 13th season.
Throughout Bonanza’s run, Dan Blocker’s character of Eric “Hoss” Cartwright had
become a fan favorite and was arguably the reason that so many people were tuning into the show by
the time of the actor’s untimely death. Fans loved the character of Hoss, and Bonanza’s
creative staff had a heck of a time figuring out what they were gong to do with the series after
it was announced that Dan Blocker had died of surgical complications at the age of only 43.
Lorne Green and Michael Landon were the only two Cartwright actors left by the time of
Bonanza’s 14th season, and audiences weren’t all that interested in keeping up with them.
Ratings began to dwindle significantly after the death of Dan Blocker, and the network decided to
pull the plug on the series following the finish of its first season without him. By
that point in history, the show was said to have cost upwards of $200,000 per episode,
and its significantly decreasing ratings made this high budget unfeasible.
After Bonanza, Lorne Becomes Commander Adama Following Bonanza’s end in 1973, Lorne Greene
continued working in the entertainment industry consistently up until his own death just prior to
the aforementioned filming of Bonanza: The Next Generation. A year after Bonanza’s end, Lorne
could be seen on the big screen thanks to his role in the blockbuster disaster film Earthquake.
However, the actor’s second-most iconic role after that of patriarch Ben Cartwright on Bonanza has
to be that of Commander Adama on the classic science-fiction series Battlestar Galactica.
In this day and age, Battlestar Galactica may have an even bigger following than Bonanza,
and this means that Lorne Greene is almost as well-remembered for the role of Commander
Adama as he is for the role of Ben Cartwright. Lorne made his debut as Commander Adama in the
1978 feature film Battlestar Galactica, which functioned as a theatrical pilot for the ensuing
television series of the same name. The series lasted from 1978 to 1979, and Lorne appeared
in 21 episodes. He went on to reprise the role of Commander Adama on the 1980 series Galactica 1980.
Galactica 1980 wasn’t quite as successful as the cult series that birthed it,
and Lorne found himself seeking out new roles after filming only 10 episodes.
The actor appeared on several episodes of The Love Boat as a guest star before finding a more
stable television role on the series Code Red. On Code Red, Lorne Greene once again was given the
opportunity to play a lead character. He played the character of Battalion Chief Joe Rorchek,
though the series only lasted for a single season before coming to an end in 1982.
Lorne Greene Wanted to Reprise His Bonanza Role Lorne’s career began to slow down after the end
of Code Red, as the failure of the series made it clear that the star didn’t have
enough drawing power to lead his own new series. Because of this, Lorne was arguably very excited
when he was given the opportunity to reprise the role of Ben Cartwright in a planned Bonanza
reunion film. That film ended up being Bonanza: The Next Generation. By the time that production
was about to be underway, Lorne was the only actor from the original series that was set to return.
Sadly, tragedy ended up striking before Lorne Green could get
the chance to reprise the character of patriarch Ben Cartwright in the made-for-television feature
Bonanza: The Next Generation. The actor passed away from surgical complications,
just as Dan Blocker had done before him.
Lorne Green passed away on September 11, 1987, and Bonanza: The Next Generation premiered on
television the next year. Though Lorne was set to star in the feature, he wasn’t able to film a
single scene as result of his untimely death. The script for the feature then had to be reworked,
and the character of Ben Cartwright was replaced with a new character by the name of Aaron
Cartwright, who was supposed to be Ben’s brother. While Lorne Green
wasn’t able to appear in the made-for-television feature, his daughter, Gillian Greene,
had a small role in it. Gillian was born in 1968, just a little under a decade into
Bonanza’s run. Though not much came of the woman’s acting career, she directed her own feature film
in 2014 by the name of Murder of a Cat, and she is the wife of famed director Sam Raimi.
Though lead actor Lorne Greene considered quitting the classic Western series Bonanza
after filming only 16 episodes, he thankfully persevered after producers heeded the star’s
creative input and added more depth to his character. Now it’s time to hear from you:
did you know that Lorne Greene passed away just as he was set to reprise the role of patriarch
Ben Cartwright in the made-for-television feature Bonanza: The Next Generation,
and that his daughter is married to famed director Sam Raimi? As always, like this video
to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like
to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!