Richard Boone
Talented actor Richard Boone was born on June 18, 1917 in Los Angeles, and was actually a seventh-generation nephew of frontiersman Daniel Boone. He attended Stanford University and Lee Strasberg's Actors' Studio. In the late 1940's, he acted in stage plays and on live TV in New York, and appeared in some feature films in the early 50's. He garnered critical acclaim for his role as Dr. Konrad Styner on the TV show Medic in 1954-56. Boone continued to appear in motion-pictures throughout his television career, and was nominated for the best-actor Emmy five times. His presence and intensity were always evident in his acting, large screen or small. He also directed various film and television productions, including episodes of HGWT. After six years of portraying Paladin, he hosted and appeared in his personal "dream project,"The Richard Boone Show, a repertory theatre featuring the same actors in different plays every week. The show quickly proved too highbrow for the ignorant masses, however, and was unfortunately canceled in mid-season. Boone then moved on to roles in assorted TV movies and feature films. In the early 70's, he played the title-character in Hec Ramsey, another western TV series, and once quipped that "Hec Ramsey is Paladin, only fatter." The two characters were vastly different, of course, and of the two, Paladin was by far the more popular. Richard Boone left us much too soon, passing away in 1981 at the age of 63.