Yahoo Web Search

Search results

  1. A native of New York City, Dortort was married for 67 years to the former Rose Seldin, who died September 30, 2007, at age 92. They had two children, Wendy Dortort Czarnecki and Fred Dortort.

  2. Mini Bio. David Dortort was born on October 23, 1916 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for Bonanza (1959), The High Chaparral (1967) and The Lusty Men (1952). He was married to Rose Seldin. He died on September 5, 2010 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

    • October 23, 1916
    • September 5, 2010
    • Color Wasn’T Cheap
    • Top 5 For 9
    • That Darn Gunsmoke
    • The Theme Song Had Lyrics
    • There Was A Cap on Cartwrights
    • Ladies Didn’T Live Long
    • Blocker’s Death Hastened The End of The Show
    • Michael Landon Jr. Led A TV Movie Revival
    • Landon Jr. Wasn’T The only Legacy Cast Member
    • There Was A Prequel Series

    Bonanzaalmost got cancelled early on because of its larger budget. However, it was the first show shot and broadcast in color, and RCA (which owned NBC at the time) used the show to drive interest in color televisions. A move from a Saturday time-slot to a Sunday spot allowed the series to flourish.

    The ongoing saga of rancher Ben Cartwright, his sons, and the action and drama surrounding their Ponderosa ranch, clicked with audiences. Bonanza broke through as the first show to stay in the Nielsen top five for nine consecutive seasons.

    At 14 seasons that spanned from 1959 to 1972, Bonanza remains one of the longest-running primetime shows of all time. It’s the second longest-running western, behind only Gunsmoke in the genre. The longest-running scripted primetime series of all-time is The Simpsons, which at this writing is still going.

    You wouldn’t know if from the opening credits or the version shown in syndication, but the theme song did have lyrics. In fact, it had multiple sets of lyrics, one even penned by series star Lorne Greene. Johnny Cash played a version containing words of his own. A sequence was actually filmedfor the pilot episode that had the cast singing the song,...

    When the show launched, the focus was on Ben Cartwright (Lorne Greene), and his three sons: Adam (Pernell Roberts), Hoss (Dan Blocker), and Little Joe (Michael Landon). Roberts wasn’t happy with the grind of network TV (at the time, the show was on a 34 episode-per-season model, as opposed to the 22-episode model that broadcast would settle into in...

    It wasn’t safe to be a woman around the Ponderosa. Ben Cartwright was widowed three times; hence his three sons by three different mothers. The Cartwright men had various love interests, but none stuck around and many died or left town. In a fit of irony, Roberts’s Adam character had originally been slated to leave with a new wife and daughter; whe...

    Blocker passed away suddenly in May of 1972; following gall bladder surgery, Blocker developed a pulmonary embolism and died. Going into the 14th season, efforts were made to try to adjust for the genial giant’s absence. Canary was brought back and a new character, Griff, played by Tim Matheson, was added for some youth appeal. With ratings dwindli...

    After years of successful syndication, Bonanza returned to TV in the form of three TV movies. The first, 1988’s Bonanza: The Next Generation, saw Michael Landon Jr. play Benjamin Cartwright, the son of his father’s character. Since Lorne Greene had recently passed away, the creators introduced the character of Aaron Cartwright, Ben’s brother (playe...

    Lorne Greene’s daughter, Gillian, played Jennifer Sills, Benjamin’s love interest, in the first TV movie. She also continued her film career as a director, and is married to Spider-Man and Army of Darkness director Sam Raimi. Dan Blocker’s son, Dirk, also appeared in the TV movies, playing Fenster; he is presently a regular cast member on Brooklyn ...

    Dortort, who was still working into the 2000s, developed a prequel for the PAX-TV network (now ION). He hired Beth Sullivan, best known as the creator and executive producer of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, to oversee the series as showrunner and writer. The series was set 10 years before the original and featured a younger Ben Cartwright with teen ve...

  3. Sep 9, 2010 · He met his future wife, Rose Seldin, an accountant, after he graduated. They married in 1940. It was she who persuaded him to change his name back to his father’s original one.

  4. David Solomon Katz (David Dortort), writer and producer: born New York City 23 October 1916; married 1940 Rose Seldin (one son, one daughter; died 2007); died Los Angeles 5 September 2010....

  5. David Dortort was born on 23 October 1916 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was a producer and writer, known for Bonanza (1959), The High Chaparral (1967) and The Lusty Men (1952). He was married to Rose Seldin. He died on 5 September 2010 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

  6. Sep 8, 2010 · Sept. 8, 2010 12 AM PT. David Dortort, the creator and producer of “Bonanza,” the long-running television western that was untraditional in its emphasis on relationships over violence and that...

  7. People also ask

  1. People also search for