Richard Boone – Western Movie Star

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. He was best known as the star of the TV series Have Gun – Will Travel.

My parents knew him and he once did a fund raiser performance in Glendale for the La Canada-Flintridge Orthopedic Guild where my mother was President. He did readings from Macbeth if I remember correctly.

From Wikipedia:
“The show was rated either number three or number four in the Nielsen ratings during each year of its first four seasons. It was one of the few television shows to spawn a successful radio version. The radio series debuted November 23, 1958. Have Gun — Will Travel was created by Sam Rolfe and Herb Meadow and produced by Frank Pierson, Don Ingalls, Robert Sparks, and Julian Claman. There were 225 episodes of the TV series, of which 101 were directed by Andrew V. McLaglen.

“The title was a catchphrase used in personal advertisements in newspapers like The Times, indicating that the advertiser was ready-for-anything. It was used in this way from the early 1900s. A form common in theatrical advertising was “Have tux, will travel” and this was the inspiration for the writer Herb Meadow.

“The show followed the adventures of Paladin, a gentleman gunfighter (played by Richard Boone on television, and by John Dehner on radio), who preferred to settle problems without violence, yet, when forced to fight, excelled. Paladin lived in the Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, where he dressed in formal attire, ate gourmet food, and attended the opera. In fact, many who met him initially mistook him for a dandy from the East. When working, he dressed in black, used calling cards, wore a holster that carried a characteristic chess knight emblem, and carried a derringer under his belt. Paladin charged steep fees for his services — typically a thousand dollars a job.

“Born in Los Angeles, Boone tried his hand at oil-rigging, bartending, painting and writing, before joining the United States Navy in 1941. He served on three ships in the Pacific during World War II seeing combat. After the war, he used the G.I. Bill to study acting at the Actor’s Studio in New York. Serious and methodical, Boone debuted on Broadway in 1947 in the play Medea, and appeared in Macbeth (1948) and The Man (1950).

“In 1950, Boone made his screen debut as a Marine in Halls of Montezuma. He starred in three movies with John Wayne: The Alamo (as Sam Houston), Big Jake, and The Shootist.

“It was Boone’s second television series, Have Gun – Will Travel, which made him a national star with his role as Paladin. The show ran from 1957 to 1963, with Boone receiving two more Emmy nominations -in 1959 and 1960.

“After cancellation of his weekly show, Boone and his family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii. While living on Oahu, Boone helped persuade Leonard Freeman to film Hawaii Five-O exclusively in Hawaii….. Freeman, impressed by Boone’s love of Hawaii, offered him the role of Steve McGarrett. Boone turned it down, and the role went to Jack Lord.

“Boone was married three times: to Jane Hopper (1937 – 1940), Mimi Kelly (1949 – 1950), and Claire McAloon (1951), by whom he had a son, Peter.

“Boone moved to St. Augustine, Florida from Hawaii in 1970, and worked with the production of Cross and Sword when he wasn’t acting on television or in movies, until his death from cancer in 1981. In the last year of his life, Boone was appointed Florida’s cultural ambassador.”