Dan Blocker of O’Donnell, Texas, was Hoss Cartwright. The gentle-giant character of the television show Bonanza lives on through reruns and in a museum and small park in his hometown in the Panhandle, ...

LOS ANGELES | When Dirk Blocker was a child, his dad – actor Dan Blocker – would bring him to the set of “Bonanza” where the two of them could spend time together.

Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, Dan Blocker and Michael Landon as Ben, Adam, Hoss, and Joe Cartwright, riding horses and looking at the sky in Bonanza. Image via NBC When it comes to classic television ...