David Dortort, produced long-running ‘Bonanza’ TV series, dies in LA at 93

‘Bonanza’ producer David Dortort dies at 93

LOS ANGELES — David Dortort, who produced “Bonanza,” ”The High Chaparral” and other TV Westerns, has died. He was 93.

His business manager, Mads Bjerre, tells the Los Angeles Times that Dortort died in his sleep Sunday at his West Los Angeles home.

“Bonanza” starred Lorne Green as the patriarch of a family that lived on the Ponderosa Ranch in Nevada. The show was the first prime-time Western to be broadcast in color when it debuted in 1959 and ran 14 seasons. It became one of the highest-rated and best-loved shows on television.

Dortort also was executive producer of “The High Chaparral,” which ran from 1967 to 1971, and the 1979 miniseries “The Chisolms,” along with several later “Bonanza” TV movies.

Information from: Los Angeles Times, www.latimes.com