| # | Fact |
|---|
| 1 | He was known to be a very private man. |
| 2 | While attending Waycross High School, he was a member of the boys basketball team. |
| 3 | In 1972, Roberts returned to Broadway and toured with Ingrid Bergman in Captain Brassbound's Conversion, in which he played the title role. |
| 4 | Won a Drama Desk Award in 1955 for his performance in an off-Broadway rendition of Macbeth, which was followed by the role of Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. |
| 5 | Started acting in classical theater, since college. |
| 6 | Lived in Los Angeles, California, from 1957 to 1991. |
| 7 | Lived in Maryland, from 1946 to 1949. |
| 8 | Was named after his father. |
| 9 | Began acting as a teenager. |
| 10 | Roberts appeared with his ex-Bonanza (1959) co-star's, Michael Landon's, former television daughter, Melissa Gilbert, in Donor (1990). |
| 11 | Flunked out of both Georgia Tech. University and University of Maryland, twice. |
| 12 | His first wife, Vera Mowry, was a professor theater history at Washington St. University. |
| 13 | Began his career as a contract player for Columbia in 1957. |
| 14 | Won a Western Heritage Award for his guest-starring role on The Young Riders (1989) in 1991. |
| 15 | Attended Michael Landon's funeral in 1991. |
| 16 | Prior to acting, Roberts also toured university campus conducting seminars or play productions acting and poetry. |
| 17 | Longtime friend of James Drury. |
| 18 | Made his professional stage debut in 1949 with Moss Hart and Kitty Carlisle in 'The Man Who Came To Dinner'. |
| 19 | Met Lee Majors on one of the two episodes of The Big Valley (1965), where the two became friends until Roberts' own death in 2010. |
| 20 | Had guest-starred on the first episode of Hotel (1983). |
| 21 | Acting mentor was Lorne Greene. |
| 22 | Acting mentor and friend of Gregory Harrison. |
| 23 | After a 14 year absence from television, he decided to comeback to do Trapper John, M.D. (1979) for financial security. |
| 24 | With his G.I. bill, he attended the University of Maryland, where he was drawn to acting, eventually leaving school to work for the stage. |
| 25 | Had made over 40 guest appearances on television. |
| 26 | Second-only to Robert Fuller, Roberts ranked second for guest-starring in a number of Western shows. |
| 27 | Was a spokesperson for the National Kidney Foundation in the 1980s. |
| 28 | Upon his death, he was cremated. |
| 29 | His ex-Bonanza (1959) co-star, Michael Landon, died of pancreatic cancer, the same disease Roberts succumbed to, years after. |
| 30 | Pernell Roberts died on January 24, 2010. He was the longest living Bonanza (1959) cast member, followed by Lorne Greene, who played his TV father in the series. |
| 31 | Had a son, Jonathan Christopher, nearly a year after he wed Vera Mowry, his first wife. |
| 32 | Before he was a successful actor, he was a Sunday School teacher in church in his hometown of Waycross, Georgia. |
| 33 | Prior to his retirement, he updated the George Fallon character on an episode of Diagnosis Murder (1993), he played decades after Mannix (1967). |
| 34 | Future actor Gregory Harrison was Roberts' childhood television hero, watching Bonanza (1959). He co-starred alongside him in Trapper John, M.D. (1979). |
| 35 | Like his ex-Bonanza (1959) co-star, Michael Landon, Roberts himself had also resided in Malibu, California, where he died. |
| 36 | His second ex-wife Judith Roberts guest-starred with him on an episode of Trapper John, M.D. (1979). |
| 37 | Was reunited with his ex-Bonanza (1959) co-star, Lorne Greene, for 2 episodes of Vega$ (1978). |
| 38 | Moved to Washington, D.C., in 1950, taking some odd jobs while performing with the Arena Stage Theater for two years. |
| 39 | When he won the role as Adam Cartwright on Bonanza (1959), he found the adjustment to a television show difficult. |
| 40 | Had always detested his role on Bonanza (1959), .He did not detest the show itself. just his role on it. He left over an argument with the producers that the boys, should be called son's and at least one of them get married and have their own family. Realalisticly, Adam. He loved his co-stars and didn't want to leave them but the money just wasn't that important to him at the time. He felt he could do better elsewhere. |
| 41 | After he happily left his role on Bonanza (1959), he turned his back on Hollywood wisdom and well-meant advice, hence, he returned to stage acting. It would take 14 years for Roberts to revitalize his career with a comeback to television with Trapper John, M.D. (1979). |
| 42 | Was the only original cast member of Bonanza (1959) to have become an accomplished singer, though David Canary, who joined the show in 1967, had a background in voice and performed on Broadway. |
| 43 | Played the character of Trapper John, M.D. (1979) longer than Wayne Rogers would. |
| 44 | Beat out 2 other actors, Wayne Rogers and John Forsythe, for the lead role of the title character in Trapper John, M.D. (1979). |
| 45 | Was also a lifelong activist, which included participation in the Selma to Montgomery Marches in 1965, and pressuring NBC to refrain from hiring whites to portray minority characters. |
| 46 | His son, Jonathan Christopher Roberts died in 1989 in a motorcycle accident. |
| 47 | His parents, Pernell Elvin Roberts Sr., was a Dr. Pepper salesman; died in 1980, and Minnie 'Betty' Myrtle Morgan, was a housewife; died 8 years later in 1988. |
| 48 | After his guest-starring role on Diagnosis Murder (1993), he retired from acting at age 66. |
| 49 | Updated his George Fallon character on an episode of Diagnosis Murder (1993), he played decades after Mannix (1967). |
| 50 | Once referred to his Trapper John, M.D. (1979) co-star, Gregory Harrison, a young rebel, when the show started. |
| 51 | Had appeared in each and every episode of Trapper John, M.D. (1979), with the exception of 1. |
| 52 | Friends with: James Drury, Doug McClure, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, David Wayne, Robert Young, Charles Siebert, Mary McCarty, Madge Sinclair, Sarah Cunningham, Barbara Stanwyck, Lee Majors, Linda Evans, James Best, Larry Hagman, Dick Van Dyke, Brian Keith, Aaron Spelling, Simon Scott, James Arness, Peter Graves, Peter Lupus, Jack Klugman, Rod Serling, Robert Stack, Raymond Burr, Henry Darrow, Robert Conrad, Connie Stevens, Ruta Lee, Stefanie Powers, Will Hutchins, Bart Braverman, Clifton James, Janis Page, R.G. Armstrong, Burl Ives, Quinn Martin, Frank Price and Robert Vaughn. |
| 53 | Had left his role on Bonanza (1959), at the end of the sixth season in 1965, were because of two things: He was very unhappy with the way his character was going and for refusing to renegotiate his contract, for the following eight seasons. |
| 54 | Before he was a successful actor, he also worked briefly as an apprentice with the Atlantic Coastline Railroad after graduating from high school. |
| 55 | He had seven hobbies: golfing, swimming, reading literature, playing tennis, cooking and running. He also enjoyed singing in his spare time. |
| 56 | Before he was a successful actor, he was a butcher, a forest ranger, and a railroad riveter. |
| 57 | Graduated from Waycross High School in Waycross, Georgia, in 1945. |
| 58 | During his high school years, he played the horn, acted in school and church plays, and sang in local USO shows - pursuing a wide range of occupations before pursuing acting. |
| 59 | Was the spokesperson for Ecotrin Tablets between 1982 to 1990. |
| 60 | Had attended but did not graduate from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. |
| 61 | Remained good friends with Gregory Harrison, during and after Trapper John, M.D. (1979). |
| 62 | While serving for two years in the United States Marine Corps, he participated in the Marine Corps Band. |
| 63 | An avid political liberal, Roberts often complained about the mostly white complexion of the "Bonanza" cast, and the stereotypical ethnic roles that were displayed (in particularly, "Hop Sing", the house servant, played by Victor Sen Yung). |
| 64 | The singer appeared in one-act operas and ballets with the North American Lyric Theatre early in his career. |
| 65 | Had a penchant for martial arts; was known for giving demonstrations at the annual Circus of the Stars (1977), from the 1970s through the 1980s. |
| 66 | Roberts (born May 18, 1928) was only 6 months, 22 days older than Dan Blocker (born December 10, 1928), who played his television middle brother, Hoss Cartright, on Bonanza (1959). |
| 67 | Roberts (born May 18, 1928) was only 13 years, 3 months, 6 days younger than Lorne Greene (born February 12, 1915), who played his television father, Ben Cartwright, on Bonanza (1959). |
| 68 | His fine baritone was put to use frequently on stage in a number of musicals including "The King and I," "The Music Man," 'Kiss Me Kate," "Camelot" and "The Sound of Music". He played Rhett Butler in a short-lived 1973 musical version of "Gone With the Wind". |
| 69 | He was nominated for a 1973 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Guest Artist for his performance in the play, "Welcome Home", at the Ivanhoe Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. |
| 70 | Best known by the public for his role as Adam Cartwright on Bonanza (1959), and for his starring role as the title character in Trapper John, M.D. (1979). |
| 71 | When he was interviewed after his career resurgence with Trapper John, M.D. (1979) in the early 1980s, Roberts identified himself as very much a liberal. |
| 72 | Recorded a solo album of folk songs on RCA Victor, "Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies," in 1962. |
| 73 | He sang in several episodes of Bonanza (1959) and appeared on 2 record albums with the Bonanza (1959) cast as well as 1 solo album. |
| 74 | Had a talent for singing, and was especially fond of performing folk music. |
| 75 | First wife Dr. Vera Mowry was a professor at Washington State University. |
| 76 | Had one son, Jonathan Christopher Roberts (b. October 1951, d. 1989), with 1st wife Vera Mowry. |
| 77 | Parents: father, Pernell Elvin Sr.; mother, Betty Roberts. |
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