Wife of ‘Bonanza’ Star Dan Blocker Was 93
Dolphia Blocker, the wife of late Bonanza star Dan Blocker, died April 19 of a stroke in a hospital near her longtime home in Santa Barbara, her elder son, producer David Blocker, told The Hollywood Reporter. She was 93. She first met her future husband when both were attending Sul Ross State Teacher’s College in Alpine, Texas. The college sweethearts were married in September 1952 after he returned from a stint in the U.S. Army in the Korean War, during which he received a Purple Heart. Dan was an elementary school teacher in New Mexico when he moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting in late 1956 or early 1957 with Dolphia and their three young kids, twin girls Danna and Debbie (born in 1953) and David (born in 1955). The couple’s second son, Dirk, was born in Hollywood soon after they arrived. All four children would take karate lessons from Chuck Norris. On NBC’s Bonanza, the extremely likable Blocker portrayed the gentle giant Hoss Cartwright on more than 400 episodes over 13 seasons, from …
