July 30, 1963 - “Bonanza” stars Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, and Pernell Roberts, in that order, swept the first four places among male performers in a Western series in a popularity study recently completed by the Home Testing Institute. Completing the first ten, in order, were Dennis Weaver of “Gunsmoke,” James Arness of “Gunsmoke,” Eric Fleming of “Rawhide,” Robert Horton of “Wagon Train,” Chuck Connors of “The Rifleman,” and Clint Eastwood of “Rawhide.” The study evaluated the current popularity of 507 personalities in terms of overall public awareness and general liking for him. Each performer was rated by more than 2,000 respondents.
