Richard Boone
Biography
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 and for starring in the TV series Have Gun – Will Travel. Boone was born in Los Angeles, California, the middle child of Cecile (née Beckerman) and Kirk E. Boone, a corporate lawyer and 4th great-grandson of Squire Boone 1744–1815, a brother to frontiersman Daniel Boone. His mother was Jewish, the daughter of immigrants from Russia. Richard Boone graduated from Hoover High School in Glendale, California. He attended Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, where he was a member of Theta Xi fraternity. He dropped out of Stanford prior to graduation and then worked as an oil-rigger, bartender, painter, and writer. In 1941 Boone joined the United States Navy and served on three ships in the Pacific during World War II, seeing combat as an aviation ordnance, aircrewman and tail gunner on Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers and ended his service with the rank of petty officer first class. 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. After the war, Boone used the G.I. Bill to study acting at the Actors Studio in New York. In 1950, Boone made his screen debut as a Marine officer in Milestone's Halls of Montezuma (1951). Fox used him in military parts in Call Me Mister (1951) and The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951). He had bigger roles in Red Skies of Montana (1952), Return of the Texan (1952), Kangaroo (1952) (directed by Milestone), and Way of a Gaucho (1952). Boone was married three times: to Jane Hopper (1937–1940), Mimi Kelly (1949–1950), and Claire McAloon (from 1951 until his death). Richard Boone died at his home in St. Augustine, Florida, due to complications from throat cancer. His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean off Hawaii.
Known For
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
The Mike Douglas Show
1961
What's My Line?
1950
Have Gun, Will Travel
1957
Matinee Theater
1955
Climax!
1954
Climax!
1954
Climax!
1954
Climax!
1954
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
1957
Studio One
1948
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948
Filmography
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self · 1962
The Mike Douglas Show
as Self · 1961
What's My Line?
as Self · 1950
Have Gun, Will Travel
as Paladin · 1957
Matinee Theater
· 1955
Climax!
as Col. William Hughes · 1954
Climax!
as David Neff · 1954
Climax!
as Jarech · 1954
Climax!
as Detective Ed Brooks · 1954
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
as Self · 1957
Studio One
as John Wesley Hardin · 1948
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self · 1948
The Ford Television Theatre
as Local Press · 1952
Suspense
as Mercer · 1949
Lux Video Theatre
as Saxon · 1950
Lux Video Theatre
as Vincent Giel · 1950
Cimarron Strip
as Sergeant Bill Disher · 1967
Frontier
as Everett Brayer · 1955
Ocean's Eleven
as Voice of Minister (voice) (uncredited) · 1960
The Shootist
as Mike Sweeney · 1976
The Richard Boone Show
· 1963
The Alamo
as Gen. Sam Houston · 1960
Medic
as Dr. Konrad Styner · 1954
General Electric Theater
as Abraham Lincoln · 1953
Hombre
as Cicero Grimes · 1967
The Hobbit
as Smaug (voice) · 1977
The Robe
as Pontius Pilate · 1953
Hec Ramsey
as Hec Ramsey · 1972
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
as Capt. Hermann Aldinger · 1951
Big Jake
as John Fain · 1971
Man Without a Star
as Steve Miles · 1955
The Bushido Blade
as Matthew Perry · 1981
The War Lord
as Bors · 1965
The Arrangement
as Sam Arness · 1969
A Thunder of Drums
as Capt. Stephen Maddocks · 1961
The Tall T
as Frank Usher · 1957
Winter Kills
as Keifitz · 1979
God's Gun
as The Sheriff · 1976
Ten Wanted Men
as Wick Campbell · 1955
The Big Sleep
as Lash Cansino · 1978
Man on a Tightrope
as Krofta · 1953
Star in the Dust
as Sam Hall · 1956
City of Bad Men
as John Ringo · 1953
Beneath the 12-Mile Reef
as Thomas Rhys · 1953
Away All Boats
as Lieut. Fraser · 1956
Rio Conchos
as Lassiter · 1964
Halls of Montezuma
as Lt. Col. Gilfillan · 1951
I Bury the Living
as Robert Kraft · 1958
The Front Page
as Wilson · 1949
Way of a Gaucho
as Major Salinas · 1952
The Raid
as Capt. Lionel Foster · 1954
The Last Dinosaur
as Masten Thrust Jr. · 1977
The Garment Jungle
as Artie Ravidge · 1957
The Big Knife
as Narrator (Voice) · 1955
Kangaroo
as John W. Gamble · 1952
The Kremlin Letter
as Ward · 1970
The Night of the Following Day
as Leer · 1969
Red Skies of Montana
as Richard 'Dick' Dryer · 1952
In Broad Daylight
as Tony Chappel · 1971
The Siege at Red River
as Brett Manning · 1954
Battle Stations
as The Captain · 1956
Against a Crooked Sky
as Russian · 1975
Robbers' Roost
as Hank Hays · 1955
The Shootist: The Legend Lives On
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited) · 2001
Lizzie
as Dr. Neal Wright · 1957
Vicki
as Lt. Ed Cornell · 1953
Dragnet
as Capt .James E. Hamilton · 1954
Return of the Texan
as Rod Murray · 1952
John Wayne's 'The Alamo'
as Sam Houston · 1992
The Century Turns
as Hec Ramsey · 1972
Call Me Mister
as Mess Sergeant · 1951
Goodnight, My Love
as Francis Hogan · 1972
The Right Man
as Abraham Lincoln · 1960
Madron
as Madron · 1970
Kona Coast
as Capt. Sam Moran · 1968
Deadly Harvest
as Anton Solca · 1972
The Great Niagara
as Aaron Grant · 1974