Today would have been Dan Blockers 82 birthday

[fordwannabe]

One of my all time favorites!, as a kid I was the biggest in my class always and have a true love of animals as well as a cowboy fan(sometimes not too bright and a little guilable also) and for a little kid with those attributes it was a no brainer that Hoss was the man. I remember when I learned Dan Blocker had died and was really sad. My aunt lived in CA and worked for an advertising agency which worked with the cast of Bonanza and got me an autograph, as well as tales of meeting the actors. She says Dan Blocker wasn't much of an actor hewas just Hoss in real life, but smarter. She said he was a gentle giant and the size of a small house. Happy Birthday Dan you gave me many many hours of enjoyment and really did kinda guide me toward a certain way of life. He was as much a part of my childhood as Gene, Roy, and the lone ranger but I could relate to him better than most of them.Tom

[Tycer]

Yep. He added a lot of character to me too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSWuVka2Iwc

[gamekeeper]

Old Tucson Studio have one of Dan Blockers shirts in a glass frame, it's huge.
I always liked the character he played in Bonanza, a good guy through and through.

[piller]

Some folks like Dan Blocker just bring a lot of happiness with them. We are a society much poorer for his passing these many years ago.

[RIHMFIRE]

great show....
Hoss was the kind of guy you would want for a friend.....
Little Joe was the kind of guy to back you up in a fight!
and Ben was the guy you would go to get advise!
That show is an icon...just like the andy griffith show

Hoss's son was pretty good in Black Sheep Squadron!

[vancelw]

Anybody going to the Leverguns hog hunt in January can go visit Dan's grave. It's in DeKalb, TX in Woodmen's cemetery. My grandmother always clipped all the local news stories about Dan and Dirk coming home to visit. Everybody that knows the says they are the nicest folks.
I was in 3rd grade when I learned he died of a blood clot. Bonanza was never the same without him. I dig out those old DVD episodes and watch them occasionally. I like looking at the firearms in each episode.

Dan Blocker.jpg

That's my mom and dad standing at the Blocker family gravesite. My ggrandparents are buried in the foreground.

[Pisgah]

I guess I was about 8 or 9 ('61-'62) when I met Dan Blocker and got his autograph at an attraction called Ghost Town in the Sky in Maggie Valley, NC. He was great to the throng of excited kids that were there that day.

[ChuteTheMall]

44 is way too young to die.

[kimwcook]

He did seem to be a very nice guy and 44 is definitely to young.

[Blaine]

One of the good guys....his son didnt' go very far, but he was pretty good in Black Sheep Squad.

[Birdman]

He was a good ol boy.

[Sixgun]

Hoss, eeerrr Tom
Old Hoss was the most likeable in the bunch, then came Paw. Yep, growing up, that was the big thing on Sunday night.

44? That sucks. Should be another reason not to worry about tomorrow. Ya just never know when the light switch gets turned off.------------Sixgun

[FWiedner]

Some folks like Dan Blocker just bring a lot of happiness with them. We are a society much poorer for his passing these many years ago.

My sentiment exactly.

Thanks for putting it into words, piller.

[GoatGuy]

I too was a great fan of Dan Blocker. Just a plain old boy from West Texas. Played college football and earned a masters degree in Theater Arts at Sul Ross Univ. Served and saw combat in Korea and always maintained his roots with family and friends from his growing up years. Buried in the town where he was born in a family plot. Only disappointment I have is that he was a well know liberal democrat, very supportive of liberal causes/agendas and was an anti Viet Nam War activist.