Matinee Classics - Pernell Roberts Biography & Filmography

Pernell Roberts ACTOR

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PERNELL ROBERTS BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Pernell Roberts was born on May 18th, 1928 in Waycross, Georgia with the birth name Pernell Elvin Roberts Jr. born to Pernell Elvin Sr. and Betty Roberts. While attending high school he also sang part time in USO shows and also appeared in a number of school productions playing the horns. After graduating from Waycross High in Georgia in 1945, he went on to study at both Georgia Tech and the university of Maryland, however he flunked out of both schools and then decided on a career in acting.

While beginning to get involved in the entertainment industry he also supported himself with part time work as a butcher and forest ranger. He began with finding work as a stage actor appearing in such productions as, "The Adding Machine", "Playboy of the Western world", "School for Scandal", "Three Men on a Horse" "The Firebird", "Faith of Our Fathers", "The Taming of the Shrew", "The Glass Menagerie" and "Twelfth Night".

Soon Pernell had enough experience to attempt to audition for Broadway appearing in such plays as, "Tonight in Samarkind", "The Lovers" and "The Duchess of Malfi" among others.

Now that he had gained quite a bit of experience on Broadway he felt ready to audition for film roles and relocated west. He first appeared on television on, "Kraft Television Theater", "Whirlybirds", "Gunsmoke", "Sugarfoot" and "Cheyenne".

One of his most well known roles was when he was cast on the television series, "Bonanza" (1959) which brought him up to star status. Other television credits he added to his resume were appearances on, "Bronco", "77 Sunset Strip", "Cimarron City", "Lawman", "One Step Beyond", "Hawaii Five-O", "Nakia", "The Bold Ones", "Six Million Dollar Man", "The Odd Couple" and "Mannix" among many others.

When Roberts did finally leave the "Bonanza" series he continued to work in entertainment focusing on singing and a number of musical stage productions. He also toured with a number of musical productions such as, "The King and I", "Kiss Me Kate", "Camelot and the Music Man" and "Tiny Alice".

He did also appear in a number of films over the course of his career such as, "Desire under the Elms" (1958), "The Sheepman" (1958), "Ride Lonesome" (1959) starring Randolph Scott, "The Kashmiri Run" (1970), "Four Rode Out" (1970) and "The Magic of Lassie" (1978), although his roles in film were never as successful as his television credits.

In 1979 he was cast in, "Trapper John, M.D" (1979) which ran for seven seasons and for which he received an Emmy nomination for his performance. Other television credits he added to his resume over the course of his career were appearances on, "Ironside", "Mission: Impossible", "Marcus Welby, M.D", Quincy, M.E.", "The Rockford Files", "Police Story", "Vega$", "Perry Mason" and his final role was in 1994 in "Diagnosis Murder".

In the late 90's he decided to retire from the industry at the age of sixty six, and in 2007 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He passed away just two years later at the age of eighty one on January 24th, 2010 in Malibu, California and his remains were cremated.

Pernell Roberts was survived by his fourth wife, Eleanor Criswell. He had three previous marriages. First to Vera Mowry in 1951 and they had one child together, Jonathan who passed away in 1989 in a motorcycle accident. This marriage ended in divorce in 1949. He then married Judith Roberts in 1962 however by 1971 this marriage also ended in divorce. His third wife was Kara Knack from 1972 through 1996.