Dan Blocker

Bobby Dan Davis Blocker (December 10, 1928 – May 13, 1972) was an American television actor and Korean War veteran. He is best remembered for his role as Hoss Cartwright in the NBC Western television series Bonanza. 2Biography 3Early life Blocker was born Bobby Dan Davis Blocker in De Kalb, Bowie County, Texas, son of Ora "Shack" Blocker (1895–1960) and his wife Mary Arizona Blocker, née Davis (1901–1998). The family moved to O'Donnell, south of Lubbock in West Texas, where they operated a store. As a boy, he attended Texas Military Institute and in 1946 played football at Southern Baptist-affiliated Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. In 1947, he transferred to Sul Ross State Teacher's College in Alpine, Texas, where he was a star football player and graduated in 1950. After two years of military service, he went on to earn a master's degree in the dramatic arts. He had worked as a rodeo performer and as a bouncer in a bar while a student. He is remembered from his school days for his size of 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) and weight of 300 pounds (140 kilograms; 21 stone 6 pounds), and for being good-natured despite his intimidating size. Blocker was a high school English and drama teacher in Sonora, Texas, from 1953 to 1958; a sixth-grade teacher and coach at Eddy Elementary School in Carlsbad, New Mexico, and then a teacher in Californi