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Date Posted: 23:20:36 02/15/13 Fri
Author: Kayleetara
Subject: Quote from Pernell Roberts
I've alway heard Pernell had no regrets in leaving Bonanza. But this quote, if it's true, indicates something else. I found it when looking for something else. Thougt I had read everything about PR, but a lot of this I've never read before:
"I [the poster] read an interview with him back when TRAPPER JOHN was on and had replenished his coffers to a degree and he's one of the few actors ever to admit regret on letting his political convictions and conscience get the better of him.
Many of the things he did back in the 60s were admirable, and especially from a guy with a solid flyover fanbase and born and raised in Waycross Georgia: he was a major supporter (in presence and with money) of the civil rights movement, marched with MLK, and spoke out against the lack of minorities in show biz (particularly when Mexican actors were used to play Indians), but being an actor it didn't end there. He became, by his own admission, a jerk to the writers for not pushing the envelope more (on BONANZA of all shows) and to the co-stars who were less vocal in their support of liberal causes, he wanted Adam to marry an American Indian played by an A.I. actress (Sasheen Littlefeather?) and episodes about slavery and the KKK. (Bonanza was in a time warp- sometimes Lincoln was president, sometimes the Civil War happened long before, sometimes it was the 1870s and sometimes the 1860s, and it didn't really matter which season it was.)
Ultimately he left by mutual decision: he was fed up with the show and they were fed up with him.
Then he did next to nothing other than the occasional guest appearance for a long time. He did regional theater (including the 70s abomination- dinner theater) and lost his house and money due to divorce and not working as often or as lucratively and by the late 1970s he was considering leaving the business altogether when he got TRAPPER JOHN.
So, he actually said something to the effect of (my words, not his, but the Lorne Greene quote was at least that blunt) "This is an insane business and the money is as crazy as the business itself. I told Lorne I was quitting the show and he told me I was insane. I said "the writing was dreadful' and he said "I agree, I wouldn't wipe my ass with most of the scripts they give me, but they're also giving me $40,000 a week, and when this show is over I'll have residuals and money in the bank and can sit on my ass or become a rabbi or go perform King Lear in a fish cannery if that's what I want to do and not have to worry about how to keep my kids in college or the pool heated!"
Roberts said "I should have listened, you have no idea how much I should have listened. So my advice to actors, if you're raking in the big money, keep raking it in til it's gone. When it's gone go shoot your mouth off about anything you want to talk about. And don't have a lifestyle you can't support if your income nosedives."
Back to me, Kayleetara: But the poster gives no reference, but he or she seems like an intelligent person. What do you guys think? See original link below.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=549556
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Re: Quote from Pernell Roberts -- C.J. (flumoxed), 09:19:10 02/17/13 Sun [1]
I think there's a reason this is something you've never read before about Pernell Roberts when you think you've read it all......it's FICTION. It's made up! He NEVER said this. He ALWAYS felt that if one was extremely unhappy with a job, it was pointless to stay. And he never waivered. Geez. And he NEVER lost a house.
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Re: Quote from Pernell Roberts -- Rick, 17:11:22 02/17/13 Sun [1]
I could have told you that w/ my eyes closed, CJ. Just more BS about him that's untrue.
Rick
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Re: Quote from Pernell Roberts -- Kayleetara, 23:01:17 02/20/13 Wed [1]
It's interesting that we are all talking about it aftter all these years. Even if he regretted leaving, I'm sure he would never talk about it in public.
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Sacheen Littlefeather -- SWC, 09:59:42 02/17/13 Sun [1]
She was born in 1946 and her acting career didn't begin until after Marlon Brando sent her to turn down the Oscar in 1973:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0514693/
Pernell Robert's idea was to have Adam's wife be a Native American played by an African American actress, to acknowledge the wrongs done by both groups. This is sated in both the Greenland, (page 65) and Shapiro (page 14) books.
So your source seems to have garbled some second hand information.
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Re: Quote from Pernell Roberts -- Tim, 11:02:21 02/17/13 Sun [1]
A TV Guide article from January 18, 1964 also reports on Roberts' idea about the casting of Adam's potential bride. He wrote a letter to NBC, and they rejected the idea.
The only time I know of Pernell Roberts speaking on the record about Bonanza after leaving the show was in the August 6, 1966 TV Guide article, Fugitive From The Ponderosa. Of his time on the series he states, "It's amazing how I managed to survive six years of utter frustration. It really was a crusher for me, mentally. I even went to a doctor for help. I had to get out."
Of course people will always wonder if he regretted leaving later on, but apparently he did not. Still, the continued interest and curiosity about the issue is evident from the number of viewers and comments generated by this brief clip featuring actor Henry Darrow.
Did Pernell Roberts regret leaving Bonanza?
Uploaded January 27, 2010
330,486 Viewers, 148 comments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6XgA385-A4
Tim
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What I would like to have seen -- SWC, 12:58:23 02/17/13 Sun [1]
- Pernell was clearly leaving and thus, so was Adam. Some sort of explanation was needed for his absence. Casting another actor in the role would not have worked at that stage of the show.
- The show was by then the most popular TV show in the world , #1 in the American market and being shown in something like 170 countries, translated into every major language. They had a loyal audience, which meant that they could have experimented with getting more continuity in the show- allowing things to evolve more, with the action from one episode being built on previous episodes, multi-parters, story arcs that run through much of a season, sometimes being in the foreground, sometimes in the background.
- The show was supposed to be a drama but also a history lesson. the original concept was that the action of each new episode took place 100 years before it was broadcast. The show started in 1959 and the early episodes are supposed to be taking place in 1859. Episodes broadcast in 1964 were supposed to be taking place in 1864.
- The Civil War was supposed to be taking place during the early years of the 60's. This fact should have been more prominent, with episodes along the line of the Errol Flynn film Virginia City, where Confederate and Yankee agents do battle for shipments from the Comstock Lode:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_City_(film)
There were even battles of the Civil War fought out west, such as Glorietta Pass:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Glorieta_Pass
Why not depict conflicts like as part of Bonanza?
- Plans were already being made to build the great western railroads. The history of this is a very colorful story involving a combination of dreamers, ruthless bosses, greedy investors and corrupt politicians:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Pacific_Railroad
This would have gone right through the area on the famous Ponderosa map. The Cartwrights would have been right in the middle of this, both because the railroad would have gone through some of their land but also because they would have seen the need for a railroad across the continent. They would have been involved with protecting their interests while aiding the dreamers and fighting the crooks. Hop Sing might also have gotten involved, (you might recall Pernell's role in the Have Gun Will Travel episode "Hey Boy's Revenge" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=envDze_IsF8
Hop Sing could also have relatives working on the railroad, some of them imported to do so from China.
- The west was full of displaced people looking to start a new life. Ex-slaves were a big party of that. I've read that 40% of cowboys may have been African-American, or partly so. There were also many "half-breeds" from interactions between whites and Indians. And plenty of prejudice to go with it.
- In 1864, Nevada was entered into the union as a new state, even though it didn't have the population the law required. An exception was made because Lincoln wanted to keep the Comstock Lode in the Union. The new status as a state required that the State elect Senators and Congressmen.
My proposed scenario:
Adam meets and befriends an ex-slave and arranges for him to have a job on the Pondersoa so he can work toward his goal of owning his own price of land. But his friend faces prejudice from bigots and pro-slavery Confederate sympathizers who want him returned to his owner, not accepting Lincoln's right to emancipate them.
Adam is injured and found by an Indian tribe who nurse him back to health. He falls in love with one of their women, who is the victim of prejudice in her own tribe because she's a half-breed. he wants to marry her and takes her back to the Pondersoa with him.
There she encounters his black friend and a love triangle develops. There's also opposition to Adam marrying a half-breed. The young woman finally decides to go off with the ex-slave because she will understand, even more than the sympathetic Adam, what it is to be an outsider. Adams becomes depressed and angry at the world. He wants to leave the Ponderosa and find ways to combat prejudice in the world.
Meanwhile the Cartwrights have been with the railroad company. They decided to invest in it and work from within to prevent the destruction of the Ponderosa and prompt honest and responsible business practices. But it's a constant battle against ruthless and greedy people, (similar to the ones in the early episodes of Bonanza), whom Adam also becomes disgusted with.
When statehood is announced, it's obvious that whoever becomes senator will be in a position to control what happens with both the Comstock Lode and the Railroad and a political battle ensues that will determine the future of the territory. Who will stand up to the monied interests? Adam Cartwright, that's who. The season ends with the Catrwrights beating all the various bad guys and getting Adam elected Senator. He then goes off to Washington to continue his personal war on prejudice and corruption.
In the next six years, we'll hear a lot about him but never see him. Then, he'll come back to the Pondersoa, (a guest shot for Pernell: after all, he was guesting on every other series on TV at the time), to run for re-election and fight the battles all over again.
It didn't happen but I like it a lot better than what actually did.
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Re: Quote from Pernell Roberts -- Kayleetara, 22:59:18 02/19/13 Tue [1]
Interesting concept. I like it. I think they might have had trouble convincing PR to agree to it. I believe that they kept the story of Adam open-ended for awhile, in case he agreed to come back for a guest shot. But supposedly he never wanted to.
A few minor details: Nevada was originally part of the Utah territory, and the Comstock Lode did have a role in creating the Nevada Territory. Nevada's entry as a state in 1864 actually was political.
http://www.nevadaweb.com/nevadaca/rocha-2.html
And the Central Pacific Rail Road did not run through the Ponderosa, althoug the Virginia and Truckee RR did, and the VTRR did connect to the Central Pacific in Reno.
http://www.visitcarsoncity.com/history/vt_railroad.php
Adam fell in love with the "White Buffalo Woman" who lived with Indians and returned to them. I wonder if it was prejudice that made her into a white woman instead of an Indian or half-Indian.
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