A sad Bonanza of Pancreatic Cancer: actor Pernell Roberts dead at 81

We recently blogged about the curious fact that the 1960s-era TV Western Bonanza was the favorite show of the famous French surrealist Rene Magritte. Magritte died from cancer of the pancreas in 1967. One of the four stars of Bonanza (along with Lorne Green, Pernell Roberts and Dan Blocker) was Michael Landon who also died from pancreatic cancer, in 1991 at the age of 54. And now, his Bonanza co-star Pernell Roberts has also succumbed to the same disease.

Last year, there was an apparent “epidemic” of pancreatic cancer among public figures, including actor Patrick Swayze, CBS executive Don Hewitt, Dream Team coach Chuck Daly, journalist William Safire and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Although Apple CEO Steve Jobs was widely reported to have pancreatic cancer, he actually had a different disease.

Please see the following Resounding Health CaseBooks on cancer of the pancreas. Resounding Health is a place to collect, organize, personalize, store and share the results of Internet searches on health topics. Anyone can create one or more CaseBooks on health topics of interest to them. CaseBooks are private and confidential unless you choose to share them with others.