Randy Boone
Encyclopedia
Clyde Wilson Randall Boone, Jr., known as Randy Boone (born January 17, 1942), is a former actor
who co-starred in two of the three 90-minute westerns
telecast during the 1960s on the national television
networks, NBC
's The Virginian
and CBS's Cimarron Strip
. He also guest starred three times on the third 90-minute western, Wagon Train
, at the time on ABC
.
in Cumberland County
, to Clyde Wilson Randall, Sr. (born 1917) and Rhumel E. Boone (born December 31, 1919).
Boone is the cousin
of singer-actress Debby Boone
; his uncle is her father, actor-singer Pat Boone
. Another uncle was actor Richard Boone
, star of the CBS series Have Gun, Will Travel. All four claim kinship to the American frontiersman Daniel Boone
.
In 1960, Boone entered North Carolina State University
at Raleigh
but dropped out to tour the country and play his guitar
, spending a lot of time in his early adulthood in coffeehouse
s.
/drama
It's a Man's World
, based on the activities of four young men living on a houseboat
on the Ohio River
.
After It's a Man's World, Boone's career skyrocketed. He guest starred as Pete Tanner in the episode "Last Seen Wearing Blue Jeans" on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Thereafter, came his three Wagon Train episodes, entitled "The Eli Bancroft Story" in which Boone appeared as Noah Bancroft, "The Robert Harrison Clarke Story", with Boone in the role of Private Jamie, and "The David Garner Story", with Boone as David Garner.
Boone appeared as Private Michael McCluskey in "The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms
" episode of The Twilight Zone
, which aired on CBS on December 6, 1963.
In 1963, Boone also joined The Virginian
cast in its second season with the returning costars James Drury
, Doug McClure
, Gary Clarke
and Lee J. Cobb
. Boone appeared in forty-six episodes over three seasons as the singing cowboy
Randy Benton, a romantic interest for a time for Betsy Garth, played by Roberta Shore
, the [daughter] to Cobb's character, Judge Henry Garth. Boone later appeared with Clu Gulager
and Diane Roter
as the series progressed. Among the episodes of The Virginian in which Boone appeared are "A Bald-Faced Boy", "The Wolves Up Front", "The Jackals Behind", "One Spring Like Long Ago", "Morgan Starr", and "The Inchworm's Got No Wings at All" to name a few.
While on The Virginian, he guest starred on David Janssen
's ABC series The Fugitive
. He also starred in the film
Country Boy as Link Byrd, Jr., a country singer.
After The Virginian, Boone guest starred as Jim Hummel on ABC's Combat! in the episode "The Letter", as Colter Preston in the episode "Ballad of the Ponderosa" on NBC's Bonanza
, and as Sean in two episodes of ABC's short-lived Hondo
western series starring Ralph Taeger
.
Boone then appeared in all twenty-three episodes of Cimarron Strip in the role of 25-year-old photographer Francis Wilde, who is also a part-time deputy to Marshal
Jim Crown, portrayed by series star Stuart Whitman
. In the episode "The Blue Moon Train" broadcast on February 15, 1968, Boone is kidnapped by an ex-convict, played by Broderick Crawford
, and held hostage in an effort to force Marshal Crown to rescue a number of men being shipped to federal prison
on a special train
. Among other episodes in which Boone played a major role are "The Greeners", "Without Honor", "Big Jessie", and "Sound of a Drum".
Boone lived in Van Nuys, California in the San Fernando Valley
during his acting years.
in 1973 and ABC's Kolchak: The Night Stalker
with Darren McGavin in 1974.
Boone appeared as Deputy Dickie Haycroft in the 1974 television movie Savages, with co-stars Andy Griffith
, Sam Bottoms
, Noah Beery, Jr.
, and James Best
. The film is the story of a lawyer who by accident kills a prospector
in the modern American West and then tries to murder his hunting guide to cover up the crime.
On March 10, 1975, Boone appeared as Hub Miller in one of the last episodes, "The Busters", of CBS's long-running western Gunsmoke
. After an appearance as Spiff in the 1975 episode "Ambush" of ABC's Kung Fu
starring David Carradine
, Boone was unseen until 1985, when he showed up as Dave in the episode "A Song for Jason: Part II" on Michael Landon
's Highway to Heaven
. His last role was as Farkas in the 1987 film The Wild Pair (also known as The Devil's Odds), about a narcotics officer and a Federal Bureau of Investigation
agent.
and attends occasional music and film festivals. In July 2003, he was a guest at the Western Film Fair in Charlotte
, North Carolina, along with his The Virginian co-stars James Drury
, Roberta Shore
, Clu Gulager
and Gary Clarke
. In 2011, Randy Boone was inducted into the Fayetteville Music Hall of Fame.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
who co-starred in two of the three 90-minute westerns
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
telecast during the 1960s on the national television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
networks, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
and CBS's Cimarron Strip
Cimarron Strip
Cimarron Strip is an American Western television series that aired on CBS from September 1967 to March 1968. Starring Stuart Whitman as Marshal Jim Crown, the series was produced by the creators of Gunsmoke...
. He also guest starred three times on the third 90-minute western, Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
, at the time on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
.
Early years and family
Boone was born January 17, 1942 in FayettevilleFayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....
in Cumberland County
Cumberland County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 302,963 people, 107,358 households, and 77,619 families residing in the county. The population density was 464 people per square mile . There were 118,425 housing units at an average density of 181 per square mile...
, to Clyde Wilson Randall, Sr. (born 1917) and Rhumel E. Boone (born December 31, 1919).
Boone is the cousin
Cousin
In kinship terminology, a cousin is a relative with whom one shares one or more common ancestors. The term is rarely used when referring to a relative in one's immediate family where there is a more specific term . The term "blood relative" can be used synonymously and establishes the existence of...
of singer-actress Debby Boone
Debby Boone
Deborah Anne Boone is an American singer and stage actress. She is best known for her 1977 hit, "You Light Up My Life," which spent a then record ten weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and led to her winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist the following year...
; his uncle is her father, actor-singer Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...
. Another uncle was actor Richard Boone
Richard Boone
Richard Allen Boone 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.-Early life:...
, star of the CBS series Have Gun, Will Travel. All four claim kinship to the American frontiersman Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
.
In 1960, Boone entered North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Commonly known as NC State, the university is part of the University of North Carolina system and is a land, sea, and space grant institution...
at Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
but dropped out to tour the country and play his guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, spending a lot of time in his early adulthood in coffeehouse
Coffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
s.
Acting career, 1963–1968
At twenty, Boone co-starred in his first acting role as Vern Hodges in the 1962–1963 NBC comedyComedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
/drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
It's a Man's World
It's a Man's World (TV series)
It's a Man's World is a 19-episode comedy/drama television series centered on four young men who live in a houseboat called the Elephant, which is moored at an Ohio River town named Cordella, in Ohio...
, based on the activities of four young men living on a houseboat
Houseboat
A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a human dwelling. Some houseboats are not motorized, because they are usually moored, kept stationary at a fixed point and often tethered to land to provide utilities...
on the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
.
After It's a Man's World, Boone's career skyrocketed. He guest starred as Pete Tanner in the episode "Last Seen Wearing Blue Jeans" on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. Thereafter, came his three Wagon Train episodes, entitled "The Eli Bancroft Story" in which Boone appeared as Noah Bancroft, "The Robert Harrison Clarke Story", with Boone in the role of Private Jamie, and "The David Garner Story", with Boone as David Garner.
Boone appeared as Private Michael McCluskey in "The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms
The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms
"The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms" is an episode of the CBS American television anthology series The Twilight Zone, created by Rod Serling.-Summary:Three United States Army National Guard soldiers "The 7th Is Made Up of Phantoms" is an episode of the CBS American television anthology series The...
" episode of The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
, which aired on CBS on December 6, 1963.
In 1963, Boone also joined The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
cast in its second season with the returning costars James Drury
James Drury
James Child Drury, Jr. is an American actor probably best known for his success in playing the title role in the 90-minute weekly Western television series The Virginian, broadcast on NBC from 1962-1971...
, Doug McClure
Doug McClure
Douglas Osborne "Doug" McClure was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s...
, Gary Clarke
Gary Clarke
Gary Clarke is an American actor best known for his role as Steve Hill in the NBC western television series The Virginian with James Drury. Clarke appeared on the program only for its first three seasons, 1962—1964...
and Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb was an American actor. He is best known for his performance in 12 Angry Men his Academy Award-nominated performance in On the Waterfront and one of his last films, The Exorcist...
. Boone appeared in forty-six episodes over three seasons as the singing cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
Randy Benton, a romantic interest for a time for Betsy Garth, played by Roberta Shore
Roberta Shore
Roberta Jymme Schourop , better known as Roberta Shore, is an American actress and performer, most famous for her youthful television and movie roles in the 1950s and early 1960s....
, the [daughter] to Cobb's character, Judge Henry Garth. Boone later appeared with Clu Gulager
Clu Gulager
Clu Gulager is an American television and film actor. He is particularly noted for his co-starring role as William H. Bonney in the 1960–62 NBC TV series The Tall Man and for his role in the later NBC series The Virginian...
and Diane Roter
Diane Roter
Diane Roter is an American actress best known for her appearances in the long running TV western The Virginian in its fourth season which ran from 1965 to 1966. She then appeared in an episode of Laredo which was a spin off from The Virginian series in 1966 and later appeared in an episode of the...
as the series progressed. Among the episodes of The Virginian in which Boone appeared are "A Bald-Faced Boy", "The Wolves Up Front", "The Jackals Behind", "One Spring Like Long Ago", "Morgan Starr", and "The Inchworm's Got No Wings at All" to name a few.
While on The Virginian, he guest starred on David Janssen
David Janssen
David Janssen was an American film and television actor who is best known for his starring role as Dr. Richard Kimble in the television series The Fugitive , the starring role in the 1950s hit detective series Richard Diamond, Private Detective , and as Harry Orwell on Harry O.In 1996 TV Guide...
's ABC series The Fugitive
The Fugitive (TV series)
The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
. He also starred in the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Country Boy as Link Byrd, Jr., a country singer.
After The Virginian, Boone guest starred as Jim Hummel on ABC's Combat! in the episode "The Letter", as Colter Preston in the episode "Ballad of the Ponderosa" on NBC's Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, and as Sean in two episodes of ABC's short-lived Hondo
Hondo (TV series)
Hondo is a Western television series starring Ralph Taeger, that aired in the United States on ABC during the 1967 fall season.-Overview:Hondo was based on the film of the same name starring John Wayne, which was in turn based on an early Louis L'Amour novel...
western series starring Ralph Taeger
Ralph Taeger
Ralph Taeger is an American actor who starred in three television series during the 1960s.-Biography:Born in Queens, New York, USA,from German speaking parents Fredrich and Olga Siefert. Taeger's first career choice was professional baseball, and he did play briefly on a farm team for the Los...
.
Boone then appeared in all twenty-three episodes of Cimarron Strip in the role of 25-year-old photographer Francis Wilde, who is also a part-time deputy to Marshal
Marshal
Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...
Jim Crown, portrayed by series star Stuart Whitman
Stuart Whitman
Stuart Maxwell Whitman is an American actor.Stuart Whitman is arguably best-known for playing Marshal Jim Crown in the western television series Cimarron Strip in 1967...
. In the episode "The Blue Moon Train" broadcast on February 15, 1968, Boone is kidnapped by an ex-convict, played by Broderick Crawford
Broderick Crawford
Broderick Crawford was an Academy Award-winning American stage, film, radio and TV actor, often cast in tough-guy roles and best known for his starring role in the television series "Highway Patrol."-Early life:...
, and held hostage in an effort to force Marshal Crown to rescue a number of men being shipped to federal prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
on a special train
Train
A train is a connected series of vehicles for rail transport that move along a track to transport cargo or passengers from one place to another place. The track usually consists of two rails, but might also be a monorail or maglev guideway.Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate...
. Among other episodes in which Boone played a major role are "The Greeners", "Without Honor", "Big Jessie", and "Sound of a Drum".
Boone lived in Van Nuys, California in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
during his acting years.
Later acting appearances
After Cimarron Strip, Boone made a few television appearances, including NBC's Emergency!Emergency!
Emergency! is an American television series that combines the medical drama and action-adventure genres. It was produced by Mark VII Limited and distributed by Universal Studios...
in 1973 and ABC's Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Kolchak: The Night Stalker is an American television series that aired on ABC during the 1974-1975 season. It featured a fictional Chicago newspaper reporter — Carl Kolchak, played by Darren McGavin — who investigates mysterious crimes with unlikely causes, particularly ones law...
with Darren McGavin in 1974.
Boone appeared as Deputy Dickie Haycroft in the 1974 television movie Savages, with co-stars Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
, Sam Bottoms
Sam Bottoms
Samuel John "Sam" Bottoms was an American actor and producer.-Personal life:Bottoms was born in Santa Barbara, California, the third son of James "Bud" Bottoms and Betty , both of whom survive him...
, Noah Beery, Jr.
Noah Beery, Jr.
Noah Lindsey Beery , known professionally as Noah Beery, Jr. or just Noah Beery, was an American actor specializing in warm, friendly character parts similar to the ones played by his uncle Wallace Beery, although Noah Beery, Jr., unlike his uncle, seldom broke away from playing supporting...
, and James Best
James Best
James Best is an American actor best known for his role as bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the CBS television series The Dukes of Hazzard. He has also worked as an acting coach, artist, and musician.-Early years:...
. The film is the story of a lawyer who by accident kills a prospector
Prospecting
Prospecting is the physical search for minerals, fossils, precious metals or mineral specimens, and is also known as fossicking.Prospecting is a small-scale form of mineral exploration which is an organised, large scale effort undertaken by mineral resource companies to find commercially viable ore...
in the modern American West and then tries to murder his hunting guide to cover up the crime.
On March 10, 1975, Boone appeared as Hub Miller in one of the last episodes, "The Busters", of CBS's long-running western Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
. After an appearance as Spiff in the 1975 episode "Ambush" of ABC's Kung Fu
Kung Fu (TV series)
Kung Fu is an American television series that starred David Carradine. It was created by Ed Spielman, directed and produced by Jerry Thorpe, and developed by Herman Miller, who was also a writer for, and co-producer of, the series...
starring David Carradine
David Carradine
David Carradine was an American actor and martial artist, best known for his role as a warrior monk, Kwai Chang Caine, in the 1970s television series, Kung Fu, which later had a 1990s sequel series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues...
, Boone was unseen until 1985, when he showed up as Dave in the episode "A Song for Jason: Part II" on Michael Landon
Michael Landon
Michael Landon was an American actor, writer, director, and producer. He is widely known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza , Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie , and Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven...
's Highway to Heaven
Highway to Heaven
Highway to Heaven is an American television drama series which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1989.- Season 1 :- Season 2 :- Season 3 :- Season 4 :- Season 5 :...
. His last role was as Farkas in the 1987 film The Wild Pair (also known as The Devil's Odds), about a narcotics officer and a Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agent.
Post-acting career
After his acting ended, Randy Boone returned to Fayetteville, from where he also engages in Country musicCountry music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and attends occasional music and film festivals. In July 2003, he was a guest at the Western Film Fair in Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, North Carolina, along with his The Virginian co-stars James Drury
James Drury
James Child Drury, Jr. is an American actor probably best known for his success in playing the title role in the 90-minute weekly Western television series The Virginian, broadcast on NBC from 1962-1971...
, Roberta Shore
Roberta Shore
Roberta Jymme Schourop , better known as Roberta Shore, is an American actress and performer, most famous for her youthful television and movie roles in the 1950s and early 1960s....
, Clu Gulager
Clu Gulager
Clu Gulager is an American television and film actor. He is particularly noted for his co-starring role as William H. Bonney in the 1960–62 NBC TV series The Tall Man and for his role in the later NBC series The Virginian...
and Gary Clarke
Gary Clarke
Gary Clarke is an American actor best known for his role as Steve Hill in the NBC western television series The Virginian with James Drury. Clarke appeared on the program only for its first three seasons, 1962—1964...
. In 2011, Randy Boone was inducted into the Fayetteville Music Hall of Fame.