Les Roberts

I worked with Michael literally DOZENS of times when I was the producer of The Hollywood Squares and It Takes Two, and on a social basis I had dinner with him and his then-wife Lynn on a few occasions.  This was during the time he starred on Bonanza. Of course his two subsequent shows belonged to him as a producer/owner, and he took them a lot more seriously than he did playing Little Joe Cartwright.

Once on It Takes Two, we knew Michael would be on the show, and earlier that week we sent a camera crew out on the street to see how many people we stopped at random could correctly identify the character he was playing. Most said, of course, "Little Joe." A few said they'd never seen Bonanza. And one elderly man---I'll never forget this---thought for a moment and then said, "Oh yes, Michael Landon plays SHELDON---I watch it all the time." When we played it when Michael was on the show, he laughed for ten minutes on the air. We called him "Little Sheldon" for the rest of the week, to his delight.

On a more somber note, I recall him telling me he was very excited over an episode he'd written for Bonanza called "The Wish," a story about an African American child who fervently wished that he'd been born white. As fun-loving as he was, Michael Landon was very serious about things that were important to him.

Michael had the best laugh I've ever heard, and it was easy for almost anyone to make him break up. We all knew better, however, than to mention I Was a Teenage Werewolf.

I look back on my 25 years in Hollywood without much joy, as I found most actors difficult to get along with. But Michael Landon was a thoroughly decent, lovely man, and I admired him tremendously. As a cancer survivor myself, I shed more than a few tears when he was taken from us, and always remember the good times.