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 1959 until 1972. He died at age 43 in an Inglewood hospital on May 13, 1972, of a pulmonary embolism following gall bladder surgery.
One of the most popular shows in TV history, Bonanza lasted just one more season of 15 episodes without him, with Cartwright family members Ben (Lorne Greene) and Little Joe (Michael Landon) mourning Hoss (the writers had Blocker’s character die in an unspecified accident).
Dolphia and Dan Blocker at their Northridge home in 1964 with their kids (from left) Dirk, Debbie, David and Danna.
Carl Frith/TV Guide/Courtesy Everett Collection
Dolphia Lee Parker was born on July 29, 1932, in Shattuck, Oklahoma. She and her five siblings grew up living what her family called an idyllic, rural ranching life in Texas.
In order to afford the children more opportunities, their mother, Gladys, had them spend the school year in Alpine, where Dolphia graduated high school and then attended Sul Ross. Just 39 when her husband died, she “managed to keep the family close through the kids’ teenage years,” her family noted.
“Despite the popularity of Dan’s role in Bonanza making normal life difficult, he and Dolphia remained true to the core of their lives: devotion to family and to each other and to causes like civil rights, peace and justice, which were inextricably part of their household’s culture,” they added.
When the children were grown, she moved to Santa Barbara and lived there for nearly 40 years, traveling, writing poetry, supporting causes, keeping her grandchildren for long stays and hosting holidays.
“Her children remained close to her, most living in Santa Barbara, drawn there by the truly ineffable, numinous presence she emanated and that was felt by all who met her,” the family said. “While she loved her family unconditionally, she was also a remarkable example of tolerance and acceptance, patience and love for others.”
David Blocker is a producer with credits including Alan Rudolph’s Trouble in Mind (1985) and The Moderns (1988), Michael Apted’s Blink (1994) and Sean Penn’s Into the Wild (2007), while Dirk Blocker is an actor known for his turn as the clueless detective Michael Hitchcock on the 2013-21 Fox-NBC sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
In addition to her kids, survivors include five grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and her sisters, Shirley and Janice.