O’DONNELL, Texas — Located at Heritage Plaza in O’Donnell, you can find the bust of native son Dan Blocker. Blocker played Hoss Cartwright in TV’s Bonanza.
The life size bronze bust by artist Glenna Goodacre was dedicated on July 4, 1973.
The plaque beneath the head reads “Thanks to film Hoss Cartwright will live, but all too seldom does the world get to keep a Dan Blocker.”
The location is just a stone’s throw from the old family grocery store that is shuttered but has “Blocker” painted on the brick above the building. The plywood covering the entrance features a hand painted “Hoss” hat.
The O’Donnell Museum is across the street and features a Dan Blocker Room that displays some Hoss memorabilia.
Blocker’s other claim to fame is that he was the largest baby ever born in Bowie County (14 pounds.), in the town of DeKalb in 1928. He is also buried there. While still in school, Blocker stood six-foot-three and weighed 300 pounds.
Coincidentally, Dan Blocker and Glenda Goodacre were memorialized on the same day in 1997, when they were added to the West Texas Walk of Fame around the Buddy Holly statue in Lubbock.
