Randy Boone from the popular Western TV show The Virginian has died at age 83.
The North Carolina native passed away on August 28, his wife Lana told to The Hollywood Reporter.
He played guitar-playing ranch hand Randy Benton on the long-running Western The Virginian. The star was on three of its seasons from 1964 until 1966.
His other work included roles on Cimarron Strip, It’s a Man’s World, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and The Twilight Zone.
The star was also in films such as 1966’s Country Boy and 1973’s Terminal Island.
Randy Boone from the popular Western TV show The Virginian has died at age 83. Seen with Jill Townsend on Cimarron
The North Carolina native passed away on August 28, his wife Lana told to The Hollywood Reporter
Boone’s later work included an appearance on Kurt Russell’s Western The Quest in 1976, a 1985 guest spot on Highway To Heaven and a role in the 1987 film The Wild Pair, per IMDB.
The Virginian starred James Drury in the title role, along with Doug McClure and Lee J. Cobb. Later the actors John Dehner, Charles Bickford, John McIntire, and Stewart Granger were added.
It originally aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971, for a total of 249 episodes.
The series ran for nine seasons, making it network television’s third-longest running Western series, behind Bonanza at 14 seasons and 432 episodes, and Gunsmoke at 20 seasons and 635 episodes.
It was set before Wyoming became a state in 1890, as mentioned several times as Wyoming Territory, although other references set it later, around 1898.
The Virginian was Boone’s biggest show.
His passing was marked by tributes from friends who called him ‘humble, soft spoken’ and a ‘great person.’
He played Randy Benton on the long-running Western The Virginian. The star was on three of its seasons from 1964 to 1966
Ben Cartwright (series star Lorne Greene, left), takes the stand before Judge Borman (Charles Irving) to be questioned by Colter Preston (guest star Boone, right)
Cimarron Strip with Stuart Whitman, Percy Herbert, Boone and Jill Townsend
Boone attends the premiere of 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968 in Hollywood
The actor went to North Carolina State College in Raleigh before heading to Los Angeles.
Boone got his on-screen start as the character Hodges on It’s a Man’s World.
The artist was also a singer who was a skilled guitar player.
He released his solo album, Ramblin’ Randy, in 1965, as well as The Singing Stars of The Virginian with co-star Roberta Shore that same year.
Boone’s last screen role was in The Wild Pair, a 1987 action comedy film starring Beau Bridges, Bubba Smith and Lloyd Bridges.
The movie was about an FBI agent (Bridges) and a detective (Smith) who tie ghetto drugs and mayhem to a colonel’s (Bridges) white supremacists.