There was something about Adam Cartwright that always appealed to me. He was the oldest Cartwright son and the most interesting of the three men. The youngest son Little Joe, played by Michael Landon, was probably the most handsome of the male leads but Pernell Roberts as Adam was the most enigmatic.
Adam Cartwright seemed a little more urbane than his rough-and-tumble little brothers. He was college educated, an engineer of some sort. He never got caught up in the various get rich quick schemes that foiled his brothers and he didn’t participate in their frequent barroom brawls. Adam was also rather musically inclined. He had a beautiful singing voice and many episodes featured him serenading various frontier beauties.
While his younger brothers Hoss and Little Joe were macho and boisterous Adam Cartwright was refined and sensitive. It may have been his dark brooding looks, his all-black western attire or the mischievous twinkle in his eye but there was something mysterious about Adam. Some credit the fact that Pernell Roberts had been a stage actor before appearing on Bonanza for his imposing presence.
Though the Bonanza series ran from 1959 through 1973 Pernell Roberts left after the sixth season. There was never a solid explanation for his departure.