Richard Boone
Acting • Born 1917-06-18 – Died 1981-01-10
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.
Filmography
78 credits
The Hobbit
Movie • 1977
Smaug (voice)
The Big Sleep
Movie • 1978
Lash Cansino
Big Jake
Movie • 1971
John Fain
Beneath the 12-Mile Reef
Movie • 1953
Thomas Rhys
The Garment Jungle
Movie • 1957
Artie Ravidge
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
Movie • 1951
Capt. Hermann Aldinger
Rio Conchos
Movie • 1964
Lassiter
The Shootist
Movie • 1976
Mike Sweeney
I Bury the Living
Movie • 1958
Robert Kraft
Hombre
Movie • 1967
Cicero Grimes
Winter Kills
Movie • 1979
Keifitz
The Robe
Movie • 1953
Pontius Pilate
The War Lord
Movie • 1965
Bors
The Tall T
Movie • 1957
Frank Usher
Man Without a Star
Movie • 1955
Steve Miles
Dragnet
Movie • 1954
Capt .James E. Hamilton
Vicki
Movie • 1953
Lt. Ed Cornell
The Kremlin Letter
Movie • 1970
Ward
Ten Wanted Men
Movie • 1955
Wick Campbell
Halls of Montezuma
Movie • 1951
Lt. Col. Gilfillan
The Night of the Following Day
Movie • 1969
Leer
The Big Knife
Movie • 1955
Narrator (Voice)
The Arrangement
Movie • 1969
Sam Arness
Away All Boats
Movie • 1956
Lieut. Fraser
The Last Dinosaur
Movie • 1977
Masten Thrust Jr.
The Raid
Movie • 1954
Capt. Lionel Foster
God's Gun
Movie • 1976
The Sheriff
A Thunder of Drums
Movie • 1961
Capt. Stephen Maddocks
Against a Crooked Sky
Movie • 1975
Russian
Star in the Dust
Movie • 1956
Sam Hall
Kona Coast
Movie • 1968
Capt. Sam Moran
Red Skies of Montana
Movie • 1952
Richard 'Dick' Dryer
The Bushido Blade
Movie • 1981
Matthew Perry
Lizzie
Movie • 1957
Dr. Neal Wright
Kangaroo
Movie • 1952
John W. Gamble
The Century Turns
Movie • 1972
Hec Ramsey
In Broad Daylight
Movie • 1971
Tony Chappel
Goodnight, My Love
Movie • 1972
Francis Hogan
The Siege at Red River
Movie • 1954
Brett Manning
Robbers' Roost
Movie • 1955
Hank Hays
City of Bad Men
Movie • 1953
John Ringo
Madron
Movie • 1970
Madron
The Right Man
Movie • 1960
Abraham Lincoln
Return of the Texan
Movie • 1952
Rod Murray
Way of a Gaucho
Movie • 1952
Major Salinas
The Great Niagara
Movie • 1974
Aaron Grant
Ocean's Eleven
Movie • 1960
Voice of Minister (voice) (uncredited)
The Alamo
Movie • 1960
Gen. Sam Houston
Call Me Mister
Movie • 1951
Mess Sergeant
Battle Stations
Movie • 1956
The Captain
Man on a Tightrope
Movie • 1953
Krofta
The Shootist: The Legend Lives On
Movie • 2001
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Deadly Harvest
Movie • 1972
Anton Solca
John Wayne's 'The Alamo'
Movie • 1992
Sam Houston
Studio One
TV • 1948
John Wesley Hardin
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Abraham Lincoln
Hec Ramsey
TV • 1972
Hec Ramsey
Have Gun, Will Travel
TV • 1957
Paladin
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Saxon
Climax!
TV • 1954
Col. William Hughes
Matinee Theater
TV • 1955
Medic
TV • 1954
Dr. Konrad Styner
Suspense
TV • 1949
Mercer
The Richard Boone Show
TV • 1963
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
TV • 1957
Self
The Ford Television Theatre
TV • 1952
Local Press
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Vincent Giel
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self - Mystery Guest
Climax!
TV • 1954
David Neff
Climax!
TV • 1954
Jarech
Climax!
TV • 1954
Detective Ed Brooks
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self
The Mike Douglas Show
TV • 1961
Self
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self - Panelist
Frontier
TV • 1955
Everett Brayer
The Front Page
TV • 1949
Wilson
Cimarron Strip
TV • 1967
Sergeant Bill Disher