Richard Boone
Richard Boone | |
---|---|
Los Angeles, California, U.S. | |
Died | January 10, 1981 , U.S. | (aged 63)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1949–1981 |
Spouses | Jane H. Hopper
(m. 1937; div. 1940)Mimi Kelly
(m. 1949; div. 1950)Claire McAloon (m. 1951) |
Children | 1 |
Military career | |
Allegiance | United States of America |
Service/ | United States Navy |
Years of service | 1941–1945 |
Rank | Petty officer first class |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Richard Allen Boone (June 18, 1917 – January 10, 1981) was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns, including his starring role in the television series Have Gun – Will Travel.
Early life
Boone was born in
Richard Boone graduated from
Acting career
Early training
In his youth, Boone had attended the
After the war, Boone used the G.I. Bill to study acting at the Actors Studio in New York.
Broadway
"Serious" and "methodical", Boone debuted on the Broadway theatrical scene in 1947 with Medea, starring Judith Anderson and John Gielgud; it ran for 214 performances. He was then in a production of Macbeth (1948). Boone appeared in a short-lived TV series based on the play The Front Page (1949–50), and on anthology series such as Actors Studio and Suspense.
He returned to Broadway in The Man (1950), directed by Martin Ritt, with Dorothy Gish; it ran for 92 performances.
20th Century Fox
In 1950, Boone made his screen debut as a
In 1953, he played
Medic
During the filming of Halls of Montezuma, he befriended
Webb was preparing a series about a doctor for
While on Medic, Boone continued to appear in films and guest-star on television shows. He was cast in Westerns such as Ten Wanted Men (1955) with Randolph Scott, Man Without a Star (1955) with Kirk Douglas, Robbers' Roost (1955) with George Montgomery, Battle Stations (1955) with John Lund, Star in the Dust (1956) with John Agar, and Away All Boats (1956) with Jeff Chandler.
He also guest-starred on
Boone had one of his best roles in The Tall T (1957) with Randolph Scott. He co-starred with Eleanor Parker in Lizzie (1957) and was a villain in The Garment Jungle (1957).
Have Gun – Will Travel
Boone's next television series, Have Gun – Will Travel, made him a national star because of his role as Paladin, the intelligent and sophisticated, but tough gun-for-hire in the late 19th-century American West. The show had first been offered to actor Randolph Scott, who turned it down and gave the script to Boone while they were making Ten Wanted Men.[8] The show ran from 1957 to 1963, with Boone receiving more Emmy nominations in 1959 and 1960.
During the show's run, Boone starred in the film I Bury the Living (1958) and appeared on Broadway in 1959, starring as Abraham Lincoln in The Rivalry, which ran for 81 performances.[9][10]
He occasionally did other acting appearances such as episodes of Playhouse 90 and The United States Steel Hour and TV movie The Right Man (1960). He had a cameo as Sam Houston in The Alamo (1960), a starring role in A Thunder of Drums (1961) and narrated a TV version of John Brown's Body.[11][12]
Boone was an occasional guest panelist and also a mystery guest on
The Richard Boone Show
Boone had his own television anthology,
Hawaii
After the end of the run of his weekly show, Boone and his family moved to
He returned to the mainland to appear in films such as Rio Conchos (1964), The War Lord (1965) with Charlton Heston, Hombre (1967) with Paul Newman, and an episode of Cimarron Strip. The latter was the first time he guest-starred on someone else's show and he did it as a favor for the director, friend Lamont Johnson. "It's harder and harder to do your best work on TV," he said.[16]
In 1965, he came in third in the
While he was living on Oahu, Boone helped persuade Leonard Freeman to film Hawaii Five-O exclusively in Hawaii. Prior to that, Freeman had planned to do "establishing" location shots in Hawaii, but principal production in Southern California. Boone and others convinced Freeman that the islands could offer all necessary support for a major TV series and would provide an authenticity otherwise unobtainable.[17]
Freeman, impressed by Boone's love of Hawaii, offered him the role of Steve McGarrett; Boone turned it down, however, and the role went to Jack Lord, who shared Boone's enthusiasm for the state, which Freeman considered vital. Coincidentally, Lord had appeared alongside Boone in the first episode of Have Gun – Will Travel, titled "Three Bells to Perdido".[citation needed]
At the time, Boone had shot a pilot for CBS called Kona Coast (1968), which he hoped CBS would adopt as a series ("I really don't want to do another series," he said "but I've been battling for three years to get production going in Hawaii and if a series will do it, I'll do it."[16]), but the network went instead only with Hawaii Five-O.[18] Kona Coast – which Boone co produced – was released theatrically.[16]
Films
Boone then focused on films: The Night of the Following Day (1969) with Marlon Brando, The Arrangement (1969) with Douglas for Elia Kazan, The Kremlin Letter (1970) for John Huston, and Big Jake (1971) with John Wayne.[19][20]
Boone did some TV movies, In Broad Daylight (1971), Deadly Harvest (1972), and Goodnight, My Love (1972).[21][22] Around this time he moved to Florida.[23]
Hec Ramsey
In the early 1970s, Boone starred in the short-lived TV series Hec Ramsey, which Jack Webb produced for Mark VII Limited Productions, and which was about a turn-of-the-20th-century Western-style police detective who preferred to use his brain and criminal forensic skills instead of his gun. The character Ramsey's back story had him as a frontier lawman and gunman in his younger days. Older now, he was the deputy chief of police of a small city in Oklahoma, still a skilled shooter, and carrying a short-barreled Colt Single Action Army revolver.[24] Boone said to an interviewer in 1972, "You know, Hec Ramsey is a lot like Paladin, only fatter."[25][failed verification]
Israel
Boone starred in the 1970 film Madron (1970), the first Israeli-produced film shot outside Israel, set in the American West of the 1800s.[2] In that year, he accepted an invitation from Israel's Commerce Ministry to provide the Israeli film industry with "Hollywood know-how".[26] In 1979, he received an award from Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin "for his contribution to Israeli cinema".[2]
Final performances
He starred in The Great Niagara (1974) and
Boone did God's Gun (1976) with Leif Garrett, Lee Van Cleef, and Jack Palance. He appeared in The Last Dinosaur (1977) and The Big Sleep (1978), and provided the character voice of the dragon Smaug in the 1977 animated film version of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.[27]
Boone's last appearances were in Winter Kills (1979) and The Bushido Blade (1979).[28]
Personal life
Boone was married three times: to Jane Hopper (1937–1940), Mimi Kelly (1949–1950), and Claire McAloon (from 1951 until his death). His son with McAloon, Peter Boone, worked as a child actor in several Have Gun – Will Travel episodes.[29]
In 1963, Boone was injured in a car accident.[30]
Boone moved to
During the 1970s, he wrote a newspaper column, called "It Seems to Me", for a small, free publication called The Town and Traveler. Some paper copies are in his biographical file at the St. Augustine Historical Society. He also gave acting lectures at Flagler College in 1972–1973.[32]
Death
Boone died at his home in St. Augustine, Florida on January 10, 1981 due to complications from
Filmography
Film
- Halls of Montezuma (1951) as Lt. Col. Gilfillan
- Call Me Mister (1951) as Mess Sergeant
- The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951) as Captain Hermann Aldinger
- Red Skies of Montana (1952) as Richard "Dick" Dryer
- Return of the Texan (1952) as Rod Murray
- Kangaroo (1952) as John W. Gamble
- Way of a Gaucho (1952) as Major Salinas
- Pony Soldier (1952) (uncredited)
- Man on a Tightrope (1953) as Krofta
- Vicki (1953) as Lt. Ed Cornell
- The Robe (1953) as Pontius Pilate
- City of Bad Men (1953) as John Ringo
- Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953) as Thomas Rhys
- Siege at Red River (1954) as Brett Manning
- The Raid (1954) as Captain Lionel Foster
- Dragnet (1954) as Captain Jim Hamilton
- Ten Wanted Men (1955) as Wick Campbell
- Man Without a Star (1955) as Steve Miles
- Robbers' Roost (1955) as Hank Hays
- The Big Knife (1955) as Narrator (voice, uncredited)
- Battle Stations (1956) as The Captain
- Star in the Dust (1956) as Sam Hall
- Away All Boats (1956) as Lieutenant Fraser
- The Tall T (1957) as Frank Usher
- Lizzie (1957) as Dr. Neal Wright
- The Garment Jungle (1957) as Artie Ravidge
- I Bury the Living (1958) as Robert Kraft
- Ocean's 11(1960) as Minister (voice, uncredited)
- The Alamo (1960) as General Sam Houston
- A Thunder of Drums (1961) as Captain Stephen Maddocks
- Rio Conchos(1964) as James Lassiter
- The War Lord (1965) as Bors
- Hombre (1967) as Grimes
- Kona Coast (1968) as Captain Sam Moran
- The Night of the Following Day (1968) as Leer
- The Arrangement(1969) as Sam Arness
- The Kremlin Letter (1970) as Ward
- Madron (1970) as Madron
- Big Jake (1971) as John Fain
- The Singing Filipina (1971) as Himself
- Against a Crooked Sky (1975) as Russian
- Diamante Lobo(1976) as The Sheriff
- The Shootist (1976) as Mike Sweeney
- The Last Dinosaur (1977) as Maston Thrust Jr.
- The Big Sleep (1978) as Lash Canino
- Winter Kills (1979) as Keifitz
- The Bushido Blade (1981) as Commodore Matthew C. Perry (final film role)
TV
- Actors Studio: 3 episodes (1949–1950)
- The Front Page: 10 episodes (CBS, 1949–1950)
- Suspense: episode "Photo Finish", as Mercer (1950)
- Medic: 59 episodes, as Dr. Konrad Styner (1954–1956)
- Climax!: 4 episodes, various roles (1955–1957)
- Matinee Theatre: episode "Wuthering Height", Heathcliff (1955)
- General Electric Theater: episode "Love Is Eternal", Abraham Lincoln (1955)
- Lux Video Theatre: episode "The Hunted", Saxon (1955)
- The Ford Television Theatre, Catch at Straws, local press man (1956)
- Lux Video Theatre: episode "A House of His Own", Vincent Giel (1956)
- Frontier: episode "The Salt War", Everett Brayer (1956)
- Studio One in Hollywood: episode "Dead of Noon", as John Wesley Hardin(1957)
- Have Gun – Will Travel: all 225 episodes, as Paladin, and Smoke, (1957–1963)
- Playhouse 90: 3 episodes, in various roles, (1958–1960)
- The United States Steel Hour: 2 episodes in various roles, (1959–1960)
- The Right Man (TV movie): as Abraham Lincoln (1960)
- The Richard Boone Show: 25 episodes, in various roles, (1963–1964)
- Cimarron Strip: episode "The Roarer", as Sergeant Bill Disher (1967)
- The Mark Waters Story (1969)
- In Broad Daylight: as Tony Chappel (1971)
- Deadly Harvest: as Anton Solca (1972)
- Hec Ramsey: all 10 episodes, as Deputy Police Chief Hec Ramsey, (1972–1974)
- Goodnight, My Love: as Francis Hogan (1972)
- The Great Niagara (TV movie): as Aaron Grant (1974)
- The Last Dinosaur (1977)
- The Hobbit: as Smaug (voice) (1977)
References
- ^ The Kelsay Family from the Ancestry website; accessed April 11, 2017.
- ^ a b c Bloom, Nate (March 6, 2012). "Interfaith Celebrities: On and Off the Screens, Today and Yesteryear". InterfaithFamily. Retrieved January 3, 2016.
- ^ Rothel, David (2001). Richard Boone: A Knight Without Armor in a Savage Land. Madison, NC: Empire Publishing.
- ^ "Shadow box". navy.togetherweserved.com.
- ^ Rothel, p. 14
- ^ a b Rothel, p. 15
- ^ "Richard Boone dies; played Paladin on TV", Chicago Tribune, January 11, 1981, p. B15.
- ^ Rothel, p. 48
- ^ "The Rivalry Broadway @ Bijou Theatre – Tickets and Discounts". Playbill.
- ^ Hopper, Heda (1958). "Richard Boone in Role of Lincoln," Los Angeles Times, December 22, 1958, p. C8.
- ISBN 978-0786432523.
- ^ Smith, Cecil (1962). "'Never on Sunday' – Richard Boone", Los Angeles Times (June 18, 1962), p. C14.
- ^ "What's My Line?". CBS. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
- ^ "Richard Boone Show, The". goldenglobes.com. Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
- ^ Saldana, Lupi (1964). "Richard Boone Blasts at TV From Hawaii Haven", Los Angeles Times, August 10, 1964, p. E7
- ^ a b c "Richard Boone: a Different Time", Los Angeles Times, May 11, 1967, p. D26.
- ISBN 978-1579583941. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
- ^ Rothel p. 58
- ^ Thomas, Kevin (1970). "Richard Boone Enacts 'Madron' Title Role", Los Angeles Times, December 19, 1970, p. C5.
- ^ Alpert, Don (1968). "Movies: Richard Boone – Booster for Paradise", Los Angeles Times, May 26, 1968, p. D29.
- ^ "Richard Boone in Dramatic Return", Los Angeles Times, October 10, 1971, p. R31d.
- ^ Smith, Cecil (1972). "Richard Boone: have microscope, will travel", Los Angeles Times, October 8, 1972, p. O1.
- ^ Lindgren, Kristina (1981). "Richard Boone, TV's 'Paladin,' Dies at 63", Los Angeles Times, January 11, 1981, p. A3.
- ^ "Richard Boone Set in Western", Los Angeles Times, July 23, 1971, p. E22.
- ^ "Quotes from and about Richard Boone".
- ^ "Gettysburg Times – Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- ISBN 978-0786446360. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
- ^ "Richard Boone, Played Paladin In TV Western", The Washington Post, January 11, 1981, p. F5.
- ^ "Mosey Down to Western Film Festival". The Baltimore Sun. February 20, 2000. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
- ^ "TV'S Richard Boone Hurt in Car Crash", The New York Times, September 21, 1963, p. 49.
- ^ "Richard Boone:Biography". MSN. September 13, 2007. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
- ^ Thomas, Nick (August 31, 2017). "When Richard Boone Came to Florida". Greensburg Daily News. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
- ^ "Richard Boone, Actor, Dies at 63; Star of 'Have Gun Will Travel'", obituary, digital archives of The New York Times, January 12, 1981. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
- ^ "Richard Boone", biography, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Time Warner, Inc., New York. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
Bibliography
- Rothel, David (2001). Richard Boone: A Knight Without Armor in a Savage Land. Madison, NC: Empire Publishing, ISBN 978-0944019368
External links
- Richard Boone at IMDb
- Richard Boone at AllMovie
- Richard Boone at the Internet Broadway Database
- Richard Boone discography at Discogs
- Richard Boone at Virtual History
- Remembering Richard Boone, the teacher, greensburgdailynews.com; accessed September 1, 2017.