Bonanza: The Story Behind The Cartwrights

Canadian Lorne Greene played Ben Cartwright, the patriarch of the clan.

Generally serious and reasonable, Ben kept the ranch running.  Thrice widowed, he raised his three boys on his own, with a little help from the cook, Hop Sing.  There were no women on the Ponderosa.

Before starring on Bonanza (just one of the classic TV Westerns of the 1950s and 1960s), Greene was best known as a reporter and was the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s main announcer, during World War Two.  His deep, booming voice, coupled with the gloomy news, earned him the nickname, “The Voice Of Doom”.