At one time “Bonanza’s” Lorne Greene was the father of fathers, one many wanted to see replicated in their own families. Via reruns, the show still claims scads of viewers both young and (nostalgically) older.
As for me, I crossed paths with Greene’s twin offspring (brother and sister) at a school in Europe during the early ‘60s. Both seemed far more mature and together than I was, and I hardly dared speak to either.
I didn’t know till recently (belatedly devouring Linda Greene Bennett’s “My Father’s Voice: The Biography of Lorne Greene”) what it meant to be that celebrity’s daughter. On this the late Linda really fills you in here, and pleasurably so.
Any horror stories? Not really. Poignancy? That for sure. It wasn’t easy for this daughter having a dad so often away at work in New York theater, on Hollywood movie sets, etc. It also wreaked havoc on Greene’s first marriage to the twins’ mother.
Linda grew up with much bittersweet love, fear and protectivity all jumbled inside. But she learned a lot from that celebrated dad, and soon after her own marriage at 20, moved to Southern Cal for good, getting much closer to him and his world.
At the school I attended, Linda was academically accomplished. But what I couldn’t see in this already lovely lady was her depth, vulnerability, and deep psychological awareness.
All this comes through in her fine account, and then some. It’s the ONE tome she was meant to pen, however difficult, and thankfully she got it published just before her early death (at 60) in the early 2000s.
Leaving behind quite a legacy! For this is the one indispensable book on her dad’s career, not least the “Bonanza” years, and on his character, too, which she truly admired.
Ms. Greene Bennett is thorough but never boring here. She did her homework so obsessively that one wonders if she wanted psychologically to finally capture that father who was so often absent during her early years.
Leaving this questionable view aside, I think it’s better simply to call “My Father’s Voice” a true labor of love. Linda had already shown that love by relocating to her dad’s star-studded neck of the woods in the mid-‘60s, and staying there her whole adult life.
“Star-studded?” For sure! She met quite a slew of them and was like a proverbial duck to water at the studios, restaurants, etc. where they were plentifully found. Of course the question remains: in such a milieu, could Mr. Greene be anything like the father he famously depicted on “Bonanza?”
In the main the answer (according to his daughter) is: yes! Was her dad ambitious? For sure. A workaholic? No question. He toiled many hours in radio, in New York and London theater, on various Hollywood films, and after his “Bonanza” fame hit, in night clubs, too. He also made records, appeared on a variety of shows (belonging to Dino, Johnny Cash, etc.), rode horses in parades, spoke at charity events, and the list goes on. But was he full of himself?
Neither his daughter nor those she interviewed who’d known Greene well thought so. To them he authentically cared about people, and on the whole, had an ego that was both pleasingly confident yet humble.
Did he simply play himself as Ben Cartwright? That would be simplistic to aver. The man was after all a polished actor, a real pro at his craft, and working with other pros like Michael Landon (“Little Joe”), producer David Dortort, and so on.
But yes, Greene put a lot of himself into the role for which he remains best known. In real life, however, he’d been sorely anguished having to leave his family so often to work in far-flung places before “Bonanza” catapulted him to fame and basically, one region of the country.
But according to Linda, there was always a truly ethical person inside that famous father. This is certainly one reason a huge audience around the world saw him as absolutely right for the Cartwright role.
Again, I’m simply astounded by his daughter’s thoroughness and depth in this absorbing book, and by her psychological honesty and acumen. Here we get both her late dad’s personality and her own, both of them well worth knowing.