‘Have Gun Will Travel’ fun facts

THE BASICS

HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL is a western series that was broadcast by CBS from 1957 through 1963. This was only one of a few shows that were broadcast on both radio and TV. The television version stars Richard Boone as a gentleman investigator/gunfighter who charges wealthy clients up to $1,000 for his services but poor clients pay nothing. Like most westerns of that period of time HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL was set in the American West just after the Civil War. You can currently watch this program on Saturday afternoons at 4:00 PM on MeTV as part of the western lineup.

HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL was popular with audiences and rated number three or number four in the Nielsen ratings every year during the first four seasons. There were 224 episodes with 24 of them being directed by Gene Rodenberry who created the original STAR TREK and 28 were directed by series star Richard Boone. The main character was Paladin whose first name is never mentioned, He resides at the Carlton hotel in San Fransisco and is always very well dressed butditches his expensive suits, when he must go out to work.

THEME SONG

THE BALLAD OF PALITAN

The theme song to the popular western was written and sung by Johnny Western who played a supporting role in one episode of HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL. He wrote "The Ballad of Paladin" as a musical "thank-you-card" to Richard Boone for having him on the show. This led to Western obtaining a dealColumbia Records. The lyrics to the song are as follows.

Have Gun Will Travel reads the card of a man.

A knight without armor in a savage land.

His fast gun for hire heeds the calling wind.

A soldier of fortune is the man called Paladin.

Paladin, Paladin

Where do you roam?

Paladin, Paladin,

Far, far from home.

Famous Guest Stars

There were a number of guest stars on HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL who went on to later fame. Some of them became popular in other westerns and these include Ken Curtis ( GUNSMOKE), Stuart Whitman, (CIMARON STRIP), James Coburn, (MAJOR DUNDEE, THE MAGNIFICANT SEVEN, PAT GARRET AND BILLY THE KID), and many more. Denvar Pyle, (GUN POINT, BAMERLERO, THE ALAMO) George Kennedy, (COOL HANBD LUKE). Jack Elam, (RAWHIDE, SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERRIF, RIO LOBO), and Pernel Roberts, (BONANZA) were also on the show.

Other notible guest stars were Angie Dickenson, (POLICE WOMAN) Jack Lord, HAWAII FIVE-O) DeForest Kelley,(STAR TREK) Werner Klemperer, (HOGANS HEROES), Patric Knowles,(THE ADVENTURES OF ROBINHOOD and THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE), and June Lockhart, (LASSIE, LOST IN SPACE),. There were quite a few actors who appeared on HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL who went on to fame with television shows where they were detectives or police officers. These were Mike Connors, (MANNIX), William Conrad, (CANNON), Buddy Ebsen, (BARNABY JONES) Peter Falk, (COLUMBO), and James Franciscus,THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO)

STEREOTYPES AND DIVERSITY

Today the show would come under fire for a lack of diversity as we now know that one fourth of the cowboys after the Civil War were African American. HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL also had two sterotypical Asian cast members who were referred to as Hey Boy, (Kam Tong) and Hey Girl, (Lisa Lu) which would not be tolerated in this generation.

RICHARD BOONE

The star of HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL was Richard Boone, (June 18, 1917 – January 10, 1981). He made his screen debut as a Marine officer in HALLS OF MONTEZUMA. He guest starred on GENERAL ELECTRIC THEATER and also had role is THE TALL T, LIZZIE, and THE GARMENT JUNGLE. Boone was married 3 times: to Jane Hopper (1937–1940), Mimi Kelly (1949–1950), and Claire McAloon (from 1951 until his death from throat cancer).

Richard Boone was under a 5 year contract with HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL but came back for a sisth and final season because the money was too good to refuse. The actor sold his right to residuals from the series and inked a deal with CBS where he would be paid 1.3 million dollars over a 20 year period of time. Afterthe western series ended the series star did 25 episodes of THE RICHARD BOONE SHOW. In addition to watching th series on MeTV Saturday westerns, you can rent episodes on NETFLIX or purchase them from AMAZON.