Richard Boone - Paladin | Western TV Hero |
| Richard Boone starred in over 50 films and was a notable western actor, but it was his second western TV series, Have Gun-Will Travel, where his role as Paladin made him a national western star. |
| Richard Boone's Biography |
Richard Boone as
"Paladin" |
Richard Allen Boone was born to Kirk and Cecile Boone on June 18, 1917 in Los Angeles, California. He was a descendant of Daniel Boone and a cousin to singer-actor Pat Boone.
Richard Boone attended high school in Glendale, California and began his college work at Stanford but left prior to graduation and worked in the oil business, bartended, painted and was a writer.
He joined the United States Navy in 1941 and saw combat on three ships in the South Pacific during World War II. |
| After the war, Boone used his G. I. Bill to study acting and debuted on Broadway in 1947. In 1950, Richard Boone made his film debut in the move "Halls of Montezuma". He later starred with John Wayne in "The Alamo", "Big Jake", and "The Shootist". |
Richard Boone in TV medical drama
Medic. |
In 1954, Richard Boone became a familiar face when he appeared on the weekly medical drama "Medic", which ran until 1956.
Richard Boone starred in over 50 films and was a notable western actor, but it was his second TV series, "Have Gun-Will Travel", where his role as "Paladin" made him a national star. "Have Gun-Will Travel" ran from 1957 to 1963. |
|
Richard Boone as Gen. Sam Houston in
The Alamo.
|
After his appearance on several weekly television series in the 1960s, Boone moved his family to Hawaii. While living on Oahu, he convinced the creator of the TV series "Hawaii Five-O" to film
the show exclusively in Hawaii. The original plans were to film the majority of the show in Southern California. Leonard Freeman was so impressed by Richard Boone's love of Hawaii that he offered him the lead role of "Steve McGarret", but Boone turned it down and the role went to Jack Lord. |
Richard Boone continued to appear on television and in movies and in 1970 he moved to St. Augustine, Florida where he continued his acting career and even gave acting lectures at local universities.
Richard Boone's final acting role was "Commodore Matthew Perry" in the movie "Bushido Blade". He died on January 10, 1981 of throat cancer and his ashes were scattered in the ocean off Hawaii. |
Richard Boone as Sweeny in
The Shootist. |
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