Randy Boone

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Boone

Clyde Wilson Randall "Randy" Boone, Jr. (born January 17, 1942) is a former American actor and country singer.

Early years and family

Boone was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina to Clyde Wilson Randall Boone, 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 coffeehouses.

Acting career

At twenty, Boone co-starred in his first acting role as Vern Hodges in the 1962–1963 NBC comedy-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. He also appeared with cast members Clu Gulager and Diane Roter.

He won the Bronze Wrangler award from the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1966 for his acting in the episode titled "The Horse Fighter" with the following cast and crew: Lee J. Cobb, James Drury, Doug McClure, Harry Guardino, Clu Gulager and Diane Roter (actors). Norman MacDonnell and James Duff McAdams (producers). Richard Fielder (writer) and Anton Leader (director).

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 on episodes of Combat!, Bonanza, and Hondo.

From 1967 to 1968, Boone co-starred in the Western series 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. After Cimarron Strip, Boone made a few television appearances, including NBC's Emergency! in 1973 and ABC's Kolchak: The Night Stalker with Darren McGavin in 1974. The following year, he appeared as Deputy Dickie Haycroft in the television movie Savages, with co-stars Andy Griffith, Sam Bottoms, Noah Beery, Jr., and James Best.

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.

Post-acting career

After his acting ended, Boone returned to Fayetteville, from where he also engages in country music 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.

In August 2012, Boone and his wife, moved away from Fayetteville to be closer to family. Also in 2012, he appeared with fellow Virginian cast members James Drury, Gary Clarke, L.Q. Jones, Roberta Shore, Clu Gulager, Diane Roter, Sara Lane and Don Quine at 50th Anniversary Celebrations at the Memphis Film Festival and the Autry National Center and Museum.