Biography
Primarily recognized for his acting, especially during a six-year run portraying Adam Cartwright on Bonanza, Pernell Roberts channeled his musical efforts mainly as an extension of that long-running series. He hailed from Waycross, GA, the same town that later gained renown in music circles as Gram Parsons’s birthplace and on screen as the locale for Jean Renoir’s debut English-language feature, the atmospheric 1941 rural morality tale Swamp Water.
After abandoning college and holding an assortment of jobs that included work as a butcher and a forest ranger, Roberts reached New York, where he built a stage career throughout the middle and later years of the 1950s. He arrived in Hollywood in 1958 for a prominent part in Desire Under the Elms and joined the Bonanza cast the next year. Although singing was never his principal pursuit, Roberts contributed to several folk and Western collections tied directly to the show, recording the three tracks “In the Pines,” “Early One Morning,” and “Abilene” for its companion album, which featured accompaniment from Joe Maphis, Billy Strange, and Earl Palmer.
In 1963 he released the folk set Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies on RCA-Victor—the label arm of NBC, the network that produced Bonanza—showcasing his gentle baritone on material such as “Shady Grove,” “They Call the Wind Mariah,” and the Leadbelly staple “Sylvie.” Though commercial returns proved modest, the album has endured more successfully than most other recordings spawned by the series. Lorne Greene, another cast member, achieved the greatest commercial breakthrough with the chart-topping single “Ringo” in early 1964 and multiple accompanying albums.
Once Roberts departed Bonanza, his musical work narrowed to dinner-theater stagings of Camelot and similar productions that called for a rich baritone. He also took on dramatic and comedic guest roles in programs such as The Name of the Game and The Odd Couple before headlining the series Trapper John, M.D. for seven seasons during the 1980s.
After abandoning college and holding an assortment of jobs that included work as a butcher and a forest ranger, Roberts reached New York, where he built a stage career throughout the middle and later years of the 1950s. He arrived in Hollywood in 1958 for a prominent part in Desire Under the Elms and joined the Bonanza cast the next year. Although singing was never his principal pursuit, Roberts contributed to several folk and Western collections tied directly to the show, recording the three tracks “In the Pines,” “Early One Morning,” and “Abilene” for its companion album, which featured accompaniment from Joe Maphis, Billy Strange, and Earl Palmer.
In 1963 he released the folk set Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies on RCA-Victor—the label arm of NBC, the network that produced Bonanza—showcasing his gentle baritone on material such as “Shady Grove,” “They Call the Wind Mariah,” and the Leadbelly staple “Sylvie.” Though commercial returns proved modest, the album has endured more successfully than most other recordings spawned by the series. Lorne Greene, another cast member, achieved the greatest commercial breakthrough with the chart-topping single “Ringo” in early 1964 and multiple accompanying albums.
Once Roberts departed Bonanza, his musical work narrowed to dinner-theater stagings of Camelot and similar productions that called for a rich baritone. He also took on dramatic and comedic guest roles in programs such as The Name of the Game and The Odd Couple before headlining the series Trapper John, M.D. for seven seasons during the 1980s.