Landon Ill With Cancer, Pledges to Fight Disease

Actor Michael Landon, whose ascent to stardom began with the role of Little Joe Cartwright on the television series “Bonanza,” said Monday that he has inoperable cancer of the liver and pancreas.

“I am going to fight it,” Landon, 54, told reporters during a press conference at his Malibu ranch. “Every moment gets a little more important after something like this. Live every minute, guys.”

But the actor could not resist joking about his illness.

“I want my agent to know that this shoots to hell any chance of doing a health food commercial,” he quipped.

Landon was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Thursday complaining of stomach pains.

“Initially, there was some discussion of the possibility of him having an ulcer,” hospital spokesman Ron Wise said. “Tests, however, indicated he had cancer of both the liver and pancreas.”

On Monday, Landon met with the team of physicians who will treat him to discuss “what options are available,” Wise said. “The strategy initially will be to use chemotherapy.

“His attitude is very important, and he says he’s going to beat it. He is not the kind of a guy who is going to just throw in the towel.”

Landon also joked about his role as a “dead guy” on television’s “Highway to Heaven,” but later turned serious.

“At first you just don’t believe it, especially if you are a physical kind of guy,” he said. “What I did right after I heard there was a possibility, I began doing pushups, just to make sure I was just as strong as I was the day before. And I was, so I figured I could beat it.”

Landon said he will have to cut down on work.

“I’ll be doing some writing,” he said. “I’m not sure how much acting I’ll be doing. I might be very, very difficult to insure right at this particular moment. I’m sure if someone has a movie of the week with a one-day schedule, I’m probably safe for that.”

Landon experienced severe stomach pains about six weeks ago, and he cut short a skiing vacation in Utah to enter Cedars-Sinai, said his spokesman, Harry Flynn.

Landon began his acting career in 1957 starring as the title character in what has become a cult classic film, “I Was a Teenage Werewolf.” But his name did not become a household word until “Bonanza” appeared in 1959, and his boyish good looks made him a heartthrob for young female fans.

When “Bonanza” was in danger of shutting down for lack of a script, Landon churned one out over a weekend and kept the cameras rolling. He also began directing episodes of the show chronicling the lives of the Cartwright clan.

After “Bonanza,” Landon starred as a patriarch in “Little House on the Prairie,” a series for which he wrote and directed most of the episodes. Later he was also star, writer and director of “Highway to Heaven,” the series about an angel who returns to Earth to help people in trouble.

Landon was recently informed that his fourth TV series, “US,” in which he plays a traveling columnist, had been selected by CBS for its fall lineup.

“It’s kind of a dirty trick to do to your co-stars when they finally get a break and the series sells,” he said. “There is no way for me to continue with that right now until we determine whether or not this chemo is going to help me or not.”

According to the American Cancer Society, only 3% of pancreatic cancer patients and 5% of liver cancer patients survive more than five years after diagnosis.