"The Richard Boone Show" also won favor with the critics and it reflected Mr. Boone's view that good programs would draw good audiences. Boone was married three times: to Jane Hopper (1937–1940), Mimi Kelly (1949–1950), and Claire McAloon (from 1951 until his death). Of course, he was on the side of widows and orphans and other unfortunates. He looked like he could use a bath and a shave. Boone said to an interviewer in 1972, "You know, Hec Ramsey is a lot like Paladin, only fatter. Guardian of birth, healer of the sick, and comforter of the aged." © 2018 Found a Grave, All rights reserved. He co-starred with Eleanor Parker in Lizzie (1957) and was a villain in The Garment Jungle (1957). "Richard Boone, Played Paladin In TV Western", "Interfaith Celebrities: On and Off the Screens, Today and Yesteryear", https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApps?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=468459, http://www.playbill.com/production/the-rivalry-bijou-theatre-vault-0000001393, "Richard Boone, Actor, Dies at 63; Star of 'Have Gun Will Travel'", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Boone&oldid=984432890, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 20 October 2020, at 02:11. Moreover, he said, the program made him rich. When the war was over, he went to New York and enrolled at the Neighborhood Playhouse, where he studied acting with Sanford Meisner. He starred in The Great Niagara (1974) and Against a Crooked Sky (1975) and supported John Wayne a third time, in Wayne's final film, The Shootist (1976). Richard Allen Boone was born in Los Angeles, California, to Cecile Lillian (Beckerman) and Kirk Etna Boone, a wealthy corporate lawyer. He was then in a production of Macbeth (1948). Milestone was not impressed with the actress, but he was impressed enough with Boone's voice to summon him to Hollywood, where he was given a seven-year contract with Fox.[5]. Smith, Cecil (1972). He joined the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York and studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. [29], Richard Boone moved to St. Augustine, Florida, from Hawaii in 1970 and worked with the annual local production of Cross and Sword, when he was not acting on television or in movies, until shortly before his death in 1981. [8] The show ran from 1957–63, with Boone receiving two more Emmy nominations, in 1959 and 1960. In 1965, he came in third in the Laurel Award for Rio Conchos in Best Action Performance; Sean Connery won first place with Goldfinger and Burt Lancaster won second place with The Train. His standard introduction was a description of doctors, which said ". Richard Boone was born on June 18, 1917 and died on January 10, 1981. His ”Rio Conchos” was released in 1964, the same year he began his repertory television series, ”The Richard Boone Show.” Mr. Boone was proudest of his work in that pioneering series, which used the same actors in different roles in a new play each week. Styner also played in some episodes. His father was a prosperous attorney and the young Boone went to private schools and then to Stanford University. "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 married the first of his three wives, Jane Hopper, an artist, and joined the artists colony in Carmel, Calif. In the role of Dr. Styner, Mr. Boone was so appealing to women he got masses of fan mail from them, many asking his advice on medical questions. "Richard Boone, TV's 'Paladin,' Dies at 63". [4], In his youth, Boone had attended the San Diego Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad, California, where he was introduced to theatre under the tutelage of Virginia Atkinson. He studied at the Actors Studio with Elia Kazan and modern dance with Martha Graham. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. "It was a ridiculous thing, but I don't ever have to worry about money. From 1954–56, Boone became a familiar face in the lead role of that medical drama, titled Medic,[6] and in 1955 received an Emmy nomination for Best Actor Starring in a Regular Series. In 1950, Boone made his screen debut as a Marine officer in Milestone's Halls of Montezuma (1951). Boone also appeared in the second Cinemascope film, Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953).[6]. [18], 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 region, which Freeman considered vital. Desktop notifications are on | Turn off, Get breaking news alerts from The Washington Post. [24], 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. 3 on the airwaves. ”As a result of playing Paladin, I have what is known to actors as a lot of go-to-hell money.” Lived in Hawaii. The noted playwright Clifford Odets was to have been the story editor and the writer of occasional scripts, but he died before the series went on the air. "[2], Boone's last appearances were in Winter Kills (1979) and The Bushido Blade (1979).[28]. Have Gun - Will Travel, replete with literary references by Paladin, may have been the most literate and sophisticated western in television history. Richard Allen Boone was born in Los Angeles on June 18, 1917. He then signed a long-term contract at 20th Century-Fox, where he made 10 films, including ”The Robe” in 1953. Thomas, Kevin (1970). During the filming of Halls of Montezuma he befriended Jack Webb, who was then producing and starring in Dragnet. Some paper copies are in his biographical file at the St. Augustine Historical Society. His father was a prosperous attorney and the young Boone went to private schools and then to Stanford University. Click here to submit your listings. He was cast in Westerns like 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. "Richard Boone in Role of Lincoln,". His second wife, to whom he was married only briefly, was Mimi Kelly, a singer. "Richard Boone Blasts at TV From Hawaii Haven". The Styner character was the host and narrator of the program, which was based on real medical cases and often shot on location in hospitals. So ethical was the TV Paladin that occasionally he would turn on the people who hired him if he discovered they were the bad guys. I believe that unless I achieved it I would be a pretty miserable beast. Boone appeared in a short lived TV series based on the play The Front Page (1949–50), and on anthology series’ such as Actor's Studio and Suspense. His calling card provided the title of the series, which appeared on CBS-TV from 1957 to 1961. The playwright Clifford Odets either wrote or supervised each play. [14], Boone had his own television anthology, The Richard Boone Show. Although he had a fearsome reputation as a gunfighter from his earlier days, Hec's biggest weapon as a deputy was his knowledge of the newfangled science of criminology, including fingerprinting. Richard Boone, the actor best known for his role as the hired gun Paladin in the ”Have Gun Will Travel” television series, is dead at the age of 63. The craggy-faced veteran actor, who retired here to paint in 1972 and was the state of Florida’s cultural ambassador, died of cancer of the throat Saturday night at his home. A spokesman at Craig Funeral Home in St. Augustine said today that Mr. Boone’s body was to be cremated and a private service held. He also appeared in "Macbeth" and other plays. In 1964, after his repertory television series was canceled, Mr. Boone left Hollywood and went to live in Hawaii for seven years. While on Medic, Boone continued to appear in films and guest-star on television shows. Alpert, Don (1968). As Paladin, Mr. Boone played a black-garbed, San Francisco-based gunslinger who carried engraved business cards that announced ”Have Gun, Will Travel. "If you give the people good, exciting shows, they will watch.". At least in appearance, Paladin was a lot more like Dr. Konrad Styner, the physician Mr. Boone played on the "Medic" television series from 1954 to 1956. 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. Later, he worked as an oilfield roustabout in Southern California and took up painting full-time. After the war, Boone used the G.I. Survivors include his wife, the former Claire McAloon, a ballerina, whom he married in 1951, of St. Augustine, and a son, Peter. Mr. Boone, who was born in Los Angeles, was a seventh-generation nephew of the pioneer Daniel Boone. Prior to that, Freeman had planned to do "establishing" location shots in Hawaii, but principal production in Southern California. [34], This article is about the American actor. It ran for 81 performances. Ramsey had been a frontier lawman and gunman in his younger days, and, 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.[25].