Bobby Dan Davis Blocker was born December 10, 1928, in DeKalb, Texas, weighing in at 14 pounds at birth. Dan has been heralded as the largest baby ever born in Bowie County. He grew to be a large man, standing six feet, four inches and weighing close to 300 pounds.
Dan graduated from Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech and drama. He participated in a production of Arsenic and Old Lace, for which he was recruited because of his ability to carry the heavy “dead” bodies. Finding he enjoyed this experience, Dan changed his major from physical education to drama.
He refused offers of professional careers in both football and boxing to act in summer stock in Boston. While in Boston, he was drafted for combat duty in Korea, where he served as an infantry sergeant with the 45th Division. He received eight medals for his service. After his service he went back and got his Masters of Arts degree in dramatic arts at Sul Ross State University.
Dan taught high school English and drama in Sonora, Texas, for a year, then was a sixth-grade teacher and coach in Carlsbad, New Mexico. He moved his family to California in 1956 and began work on a Ph.D. degree at the University of California at Los Angeles. During this time, he also worked as a substitute teacher and began his career as a professional actor in Los Angeles.
From 1957 to 1959, Dan appeared in numerous TV roles, including Gunsmoke, Colt 45, and Wagon Train. He also performed in a Three Stooges short, Outer Space Jitters. In 1959, Dan was cast in the role that would define him the remainder of his life. As the beloved middle brother and prankster Hoss Cartwright on the NBC network television production, Bonanza, he won the hearts of viewers for 13 seasons.
In addition to being a popular actor, Dan was a successful businessman. He was co-owner of Bonanza, a nationwide chain of steak houses. He received the Texan of the Year Award in 1963 from the Texas Press Association, and in 1966, he served as honorary chairman of the Texas Cancer Crusade. Dan quietly helped others, and never turned away a friend in need. He only asked those he helped one favor, “Please don’t tell anyone that I am involved.” After his death, it was revealed that he was the anonymous founder of the Guyot Foundation Home for Girls in Los Angeles.
Dan died on May 13, 1972, at age 43, after a blood clot developed following gall bladder surgery, causing a massive pulmonary embolism. He was quietly buried in a small cemetery in DeKalb, Texas, beside his father. The town memorialized him with a bust which was installed in 1973 in a park across from the museum in DeKalb.