The first time I caught a glimpse of Little Joe Cartwright, in the western TV series, “Bonanza”, he became my all-time favorite actor. The youngest of three brothers, he lived on a huge ranch near Virginia City, Nevada called the Ponderosa.
I was about nine years old, and at the time, the series ran on Saturday nights at 7pm, Pacific time. I never missed an episode. Not willingly, anyway.
When the series moved to Sunday nights at 9—or was it 10?—I wasn’t allowed to stay up late enough to watch it. It was a ‘school night’, as Mom put it, and the rules about getting enough sleep were firm.
How did I adapt?
I stood behind the open door to my room and watched through the crack.
Over the years, I bought movie magazines with his picture in them, and I even framed one.
While I was pretty wild about the Beatles, I never got over Little Joe.
And I think I learned a lot about writing, watching so many episodes of “Bonanza”—at the end of a scene, there was always a reason to come back after the Chevrolet commercial. ☺
I’m posting a painting done by actor/artist Buck Taylor; he and his lovely wife, Goldie, are old friends.
Check it out.
