Early life Blocker was born on December 10, 1928, in
De Kalb, Texas to Ora "Shack" Blocker and Mary Arizona (Davis) Blocker. , 2010 As a boy, Blocker attended
Texas Military Institute. He enrolled in a San Antonio school in 1940. In 1946, Blocker played football at
Southern Baptist-affiliated
Hardin–Simmons University in
Abilene, Texas. In 1947, he transferred to
Sul Ross State Teacher's College in
Alpine, Texas, where he was a star football player, and graduated in 1950 with a degree in speech and drama. After two years of military service, he earned a master's degree in the
dramatic arts. Blocker worked as a
rodeo performer and a
bouncer in a bar while a student. He is remembered from his school days for his height of and weight of , and for being good-natured despite his intimidating size. Blocker was a high-school English and drama teacher in
Sonora, Texas, from 1953 to 1954. He was a sixth-grade teacher and coach at Eddy Elementary School in
Carlsbad, New Mexico, and then a teacher in California. Blocker and his wife Dolphia moved to Los Angeles, where he secured some acting roles. In addition to the Purple Heart, Blocker received the
National Defense Service Medal,
Korean Service Medal with two bronze campaign stars,
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation,
United Nations Service Medal,
Korean War Service Medal, and
Combat Infantryman Badge.
Acting career ,
Susie Scott, and Dan Blocker dance in
Bonanza, 1962 In 1957, Blocker appeared in a
Three Stooges short,
Outer Space Jitters, playing the Goon, billed as "Don Blocker". He made two appearances on
Gunsmoke. First as a cavalry lieutenant on August 24, 1956, in "Alarm at Pleasant Valley" (S1E39) and on October 18, 1958, in "Thoroughbreds". He appeared in 1957 as Will in the episode "A Time to Die" of the
ABC/
Warner Bros. Western series
Colt .45. In 1957, Blocker was cast in episodes of
David Dortort's NBC series
The Restless Gun as a
blacksmith and as a cattleman planning to take his hard-earned profit to return to his family land in his native
Minnesota. In 1957, he had at least two roles as a
bartender in an episode of the
syndicated Western-themed
crime drama Sheriff of Cochise, starring
John Bromfield, and in the film
Gunsight Ridge. Also in 1957, he appeared in the
Cheyenne episode "Land Beyond the Law", playing one of the outlaw minions (Pete). He also appeared in
The Rifleman. In 1958, he played a prison guard and later had a recurring role as Tiny Budinger in the NBC Western series
Cimarron City, starring
George Montgomery,
John Smith and
Audrey Totter. He was seen in "The Señorita Makes a Choice", a 1958 episode of
Walt Disney's
Zorro series, as well as an episode, "Underground Ambush", of
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, playing Mule Conklin. In 1958, Blocker had a supporting role as Sergeant Broderick in "
The Dora Gray Story" on NBC's
Wagon Train. That same year, he appeared in "Stagecoach Episode" of the NBC Western
Jefferson Drum, starring
Jeff Richards. In March 1958, he appeared as Joe, a thief, in season one of
Have Gun – Will Travel, in the episode "
Gun Shy". Blocker was cast as bearded poker-playing rodeo performer Cloudy Sims in the 1958 episode "Rodeo" on the
David Janssen crime drama,
Richard Diamond, Private Detective. In the storyline, a rodeo performer named Ed Murdock, portrayed by
Lee Van Cleef, is murdered before he can make his final performance at the annual event in
Madison Square Garden. Another 1959 role was as Del Pierce in "Johnny Yuma", the first episode of the ABC Western series
The Rebel, starring
Nick Adams.
Bonanza (1959–1972) and Blocker, 1969 Blocker's big break came in 1959, when he was cast as Eric "Hoss" Cartwright In 1963, Blocker starred with
Frank Sinatra in the comedy
Come Blow Your Horn. He worked with Sinatra again in 1968 in the
Tony Rome film sequel
Lady in Cement, playing a menacing tough guy.
Stanley Kubrick attempted to cast Blocker in his film
Dr. Strangelove, after
Peter Sellers elected not to add the role of Major T.J. "King" Kong to his multiple other roles, but according to the film's co-writer,
Terry Southern, Blocker's agent rejected the script. The role went to
Slim Pickens, who played the iconic scene of riding an atomic bomb down while waving his cowboy hat. In 1968, Blocker starred as John Killibrew, a blacksmith, who had convinced a number of settlers to follow him to California and founded the town of Arkana. This TV film,
Something for a Lonely Man, also featured
Susan Clark,
John Dehner,
Warren Oates, and
Don Stroud. In 1970, Blocker portrayed a love-shy
galoot in
The Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County, with
Nanette Fabray as a love prospect and a supporting cast featuring
Jim Backus,
Jack Elam,
Noah Beery Jr., and
Mickey Rooney. Blocker also appeared on NBC's
The Flip Wilson Show comedy hour. Director
Robert Altman befriended Blocker while directing episodes of
Bonanza. Years later, he cast Blocker as Roger Wade in
The Long Goodbye, but Blocker died before filming began. The role then went to
Sterling Hayden, and the film was dedicated to Blocker. Also in 1963, Blocker started and received partial ownership in a successful chain of
Bonanza Steakhouse restaurants, in exchange for serving, in character as Hoss, as their commercial spokesman, and making personal appearances at franchises.
Personal life in
Lubbock Originally from Bowie County, Texas, Blocker arrived in Los Angeles in 1958 planning to do post-grad work at
UCLA but began getting acting roles. Previously, while attending Sul Ross State College, he had a non-speaking part in a stage play and found that he was attracted to acting. He played in Summer Stock in Boston in 1950 after getting his degree at the college. Blocker was a
Free Methodist. He married Dolphia Parker, who he had met while a student at
Sul Ross State University. Their children are Hollywood actor
Dirk Blocker,
Hollywood producer David Blocker, and twin daughters Debra Lee (artist) and Danna Lynn. David Blocker won a 1998 Emmy for producing
Don King: Only in America. Blocker, a
liberal Democrat, was among Hollywood celebrities who supported
Pat Brown's re-election in 1966 as
governor of California against
Ronald Reagan. In 1968, Blocker backed then-
U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota for the
Democratic presidential nomination. Blocker, a performance automobile fan, once owned a 1965
Chevrolet Chevelle SS396 "Z-16" (RPO Z16 option), as
Chevrolet was the commercial
sponsor of the show. He also owned a 1965 Huffaker Genie MK10 race car, nicknamed the "
Vinegaroon". The car was run by Nickey Chevrolet in the 1965 and 1966 U.S. Road Racing Championship series, as well as the 1966 Can-Am championship.
Death On May 13, 1972, Blocker died in Inglewood, California, at age 43, of a
pulmonary embolism, following gallbladder surgery at Daniel Freeman hospital. A news item provides these specifics: "Blocker went into the hospital for gall bladder surgery, developed a blood clot in his lung, and died".
Bonanza lasted another season without Hoss, and the 14th and final season ended on January 16, 1973. That season was "by far the least popular and least requested season in the show's rerun package". Blocker's remains were interred in a family plot in Woodmen Cemetery, in De Kalb, Texas. The common grave site is marked by a plain stone with the name "B. Dan D. Blocker" engraved. Three family members are buried beside him – his father, mother, and sister. ==Filmography==