Pernell Roberts Leaving Bonanza

I ADORE AN LUV PERNELL ROBERTS/ ADAM CARTWRIGHT THEY R BOTH 1 AN THE SAME .. .BONANZA IS A GREAT SHOW .... I WATCH IT EVERYDAY AN CANT GET ENOUGH OF IT ..... PERNELL IS MY HEART ON THE SHOW AND OFF THE SHOW .... I ADORE ALL THE ACTORS ON THE SHOW .... BUT PERNELL STEALS MY HEART !!!! I KNOW WHAT IT IS 2 B A PRIVATE QUIET PERSON .... I CAN IDENTIFY W/ PERNELL .... BUT HE GIVES US HIS ALL ON BONANZA U GOTTA REPECT HIM 4 THIS ..... HE IS SO ADORABLE HOW CAN U NOT CHERISH AN ADORE HIM ? W/O PERNELL ON BONANZA ..... BONANZA COULDA NEVA BEEN .... HE MADE THE ROLE ADAM CARTWRIGHT ..... NO OTHER COULD HAVE FILLED HIS SHOES IN THAT ROLE FACT !!!!! I MISS PERNELL ON TV .HE WAS AN ALWAYS WILL B THE BEST !!!! LUV YA PERNELL UR MY HEART THROB ALWAYS AN 4 EVA MUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH LUV AN STRENGTH PERNELL UR A SHINING LIGHT !!!!

I never was a fan of his and didn't really miss him on Bonanza.  I heard he left because he wanted the shows to be more politically correct.  Gunsmoke was always a much better show, in my opinion.

I wish Pernell had stayed with the TV series until it was permanently cancelled. Although an actor may play a role in a tv series, both always are thought of as one. Both the character and the actor are thought of as having the same personality, and reacting the same way on the screen as in real life. When I was younger, I used to dislike watching old shows like Bonanza, and Gun Smoke. One day recently, I was flipping through the tv channels and decided to watch a few episodes of Bonanza. Ever since, I have been watching an episode a day on the weekdays. The more I have watched, more I have fallen in love with Adam Cartwright, in addition to Lorne Greene as the father. The thing I hate about tv series and movies is that you fall in love with a character and/or the actor/actress playing the role, and then whoosh, they are gone because of a dispute or other matter. I believe that when a tv series is planned to begin, the lead characters(actors/actresses) should be set into stone so that ... Read more

While I agreed that it was a bad career move, there were things that had more weight for Mr. Roberts. He might not done a lot from the point of view of many (socially or professionally) but he kept himself busy working. I admire his honesty to himeself. How many actors would decline to have a star in the Hollywood hall of fame? Not many. While I am not a fan of Bonanza, I admire mr. Roberts Integrity as an actor.

Pernell left Bonanza for his own personal reasons not because he didn't get along with the other actors on the show. He was not concerned with fame and fortune as so many actors are. If he had been maybe he would have stayed with Bonanza. His passion was the stage. Which he gives a rivoting performance. His being in Bonanza as Adam Cartwright was a treat for all his devoted fans, as was all his roles that he played in there after. As a Pernell fan and a Adam fan second. I "DO" know the difference between the two. Pernell left Bonanza because he personally wanted to do stage and theater, he did not care about money. If you have ever seen him on stage, you would know where his true talent lies. He is absolutely stunning on stage. Did it hurt his career after he left Bonanza, maybe. Did he care, no. He truly wanted more out of Bonanza but the powers at be did not see it the same way as he did. Which happens with all actors/actresses and directors and writers. If you talk to anyone that... Read more

Bonanza rules and so does Pernell!

I don't blame him for leaving if that's what he felt he needed to do, but I wish he had stayed. I was only 6 yrs old when he left the show and although I didn't remember many of storylines, I did remember two things: his gentle eyes and his calming voice (especially when he sang). I started watching Bonanza again when my world came crashing down a year ago, and for one hour a day he brought back the sense of security and stability that I once felt in my childhood days. (However, viewing him from an adult female perspective, that wasn't the only thing I felt - and this time it wasn't just his eyes I was looking at!) But seriously, isn't that what this is all about? Actors perform to give us a relief from reality, a chance to escape when the real world becomes to much. Our fantasy is actually their reality. This is what they do, this is their job, they work for a company to make money to support their families. If we could leave a job we didn't like, why would it be any different for him... Read more

pernell is greatly missed in bananza it was never the same again ,as adam cartwright he,s sexy, handsome,what a man .i have watched pernell in many programes since he was still a great actor and always will be .

Bonanza was and is an all time favorite, making American history. Adam Cartwright made his own type of history, he was certainly one of my heartthrobs, the most handsome man ever on television!!! It was better he left the series the way he did than the way Dan Blocker did. Pernell Roberts is a Southern gentleman. I own many videos and DVD's and catch his Southern accent a lot. Leave the man alone, like all great people, he did what he had to do for his own life. The Ponderosa was never the same but as in real life, we must go on with or without. On 9/11 many years ago, my daughter called and told me she just heard Lorne Greene had passed away. I told her that must have been why I had been in a depressed mood all day...that was a real attachment....I will be saddened again when they are all gone. God bless them all for what they brought into our lives.

one of the all-time bad career moves. Pernell compounded this folly by giving lack-lustre performances in the Bonanza, publically boasting he only needed to give 10% to satisfy his fans. That comment would haunt him for years to come. A series of guest-star roles in shows such as The Love Boat only served to undermine his position, for they were hardly the choices of an actor seeking something new and challenging. Didn't Johnny Carson use this dumb choice as a running gag for years?

Pernell Roberts had been led to believe that this series would be groundbreaking in areas that were personally noble to him. When he found that the show was lacking, he chose to go on to do things that he believed in. He was trapped in a contract and unhappy, but he was not known to be crude, just very unhappy with the role. He could not have known the future, but stage work was something that he had won acclaim for in the past and he did so again. Let the ladies like Adam.

Pernell Roberts made his bed and who really knows if he is happy lying in it. His leaving Bonanza was suicidal to his career as an actor. With exception to the Selma Alabama march, he did very little social reform that he always claimed to be important in his life. Individually, people seem to get along with him,but not all that well. He was not a team player. Lorene Greene suggested to him to stay on the series, take his millions and form his own production company to suite his needs for a series which addressed social reform issues. He did not. Roberts was often at odds with Michael Landon, often dengrating him. Michael Landon followed Greene's advice and created such shows as Little House on the Prairie etc which contained the essence of what Roberts stated was missing from the Bonanza series. In fact, Landon directed many episodes of Bonanza and focused more on the indivdual character with a social justice theme in mind. Pernell Roberts never had the fortitude to follow thro... Read more

I would like to say something in defence of poor Pernell (my heart throb). It was only four years ago that I discovered that he left Bonanza and I found out the whole sad story. In our rerun, Adam suddenly disappeared with no warning and no goodbye, and I was devastated and would not watch any more. I have only just finished grieving for the loss of Adam. I am as unhappy about it as many, but at the same time I recognise that Pernell was desperately unhappy and had to quit the show for the sake of his sanity and happiness. He could not act a role his heart was not in, and his criticisms of the show were ignored. He was also wanting to return to stage work. I am very unhappy that he felt the way he did, but I accept that he did what he had to do. Please don't scorn him for walking away from big money, he did not want or need millions to live happily. Money cannot buy happiness. It takes a very special person to turn down a fortune on principle, and I admire him very muc... Read more

This really was a pretty dopey move on his part. He managed a short comeback many years later in Trapper John, MD. But by this time he was being upstaged by younger co-stars on the show like Gregory Harrison.