Born as Pernell Elven Roberts, Jr on 18 May 1928 in Waycross, Georgia USA to Pernell Elven Roberts, Sr and Minnie Myrtle Morgan Roberts, Pernell Roberts was an American actor who worked on projects such as ‘’Bonanza’’ and ‘’Trapper John, M.D.’’. He passed away in 2010.
So just how rich was Pernell Roberts? According to authoritative sources, this American actor had a net worth of $10 million, accumulated from his over five decades-long career in the entertainment industry. In addition to that, Roberts was a singer.
Pernell Roberts Net Worth $10 million
Pernell was interested in acting and performing from an early age, and during his high school days appeared in church and school plays, in addition to playing the horn. Speaking about his education, Roberts attended Georgia Tech, but ended up leaving without graduating. He also spent two years in the US Marine Corps, from 1946 until 1948. As of 1949, Pernell had a role in ‘’The Man Who Came to Dinner’’, which was also his professional debut on stage, and subsequently spent some time working at the Bryn Mawr College Theatre located in Philadelphia, where he played Dan in ‘’Night Must Fall’’. Roberts took a big step towards his success as he moved to Washington D.C. where he performed in theatre. During this time, however, he had to find other jobs to support himself, not unusual for budding actors at this time.
Having spent two years in Washington D.C., he decided to move to New York, where he sang in one-act operas. Pernell eventually rose to fame when in 1959 he was cast as Adam, one of the main characters in ‘’Bonanza’’, an Emmy Award-winning western television series, in which he had a chance to work alongside Lorne Greene, Michael Landon and Dan Blocker among others. Despite the series’ success, Roberts found this transition from stage actor to a television actor difficult, and eventually ended up leaving ‘’Bonanza’’ in 1965, making negative comments about the type of show, as he was used to being flexible in both roles and locations on set.
Roberts went on to return to theatre, and sometimes acted on television but mostly in minor parts, as he wanted to be free to play diverse characters. As of 1970, he starred in ‘’Four Rode Out’’, portraying US Marshal Ross and acting alongside Sue Lyon. In the mid-70s, he continued acting mostly on television, his appearances included ‘’Bronk’’, ‘’The Quest’’ and ‘’Cannon’’. In 1979, he landed another notable role in ‘’ Trapper John, M.D.’’, playing the title character, in the a total of 151 episodes for seven seasons, and was nominated for six primetime Emmy awards, and in received a mostly positive response from the audience, so adding to his net worth.
In 1981, he starred in the movie entitled ‘’ Incident at Crestridge’’ as mayor Hill, but continued making television appearances, most notably in two episodes of ‘’Diagnosis Murder’’ as George Fallon and Dr. Elliott Valin, a recurring character he played from 1994 until 1997.
In conclusion, this American actor is mostly associated with support roles on television, but nevertheless, his talent allowed him to catch the attention of media and have an influence on the acting world. He appeared in more than 100 projects.
In his private life, Roberts was married four times, firstly with professor Vera Mowry in 1951, and from that marriage, Pernell had his only child, a son Jonathan Christopher Roberts, who died in 1989. He was then married to Judith Anna LeBrecque (1962-71), and Kara Knack (1972-96). He was then married to Dr. Eleanor Criswell from 1997 until he died of pancreatic cancer in 2010, in Malibu, California.
