50 Fun Facts About Have Gun – Will Travel

Which rapper was announced in 2006 as the star of a Have Gun – Will Travel film that never reached cinemas?

Eminem was lined up to play Paladin as a modern-day bounty hunter and to work on the soundtrack. Paramount took an 18-month option, but the film never materialised.

In which 1986 coming-of-age film do the young heroes sing the closing theme of Have Gun – Will Travel?

Stand by Me, set in 1959, has its four boys belt out the show's closing ballad as they march along the railway tracks, a quick way to place the story in its era.

Which chess piece appears on Paladin's business card and holster in Have Gun – Will Travel?

A knight in white is engraved on the card, evoking the proverbial rescuer in shining armour. A platinum version of the emblem decorates his holster.

Which character in the 1977 animated film The Hobbit was voiced by Richard Boone, television's Paladin?

Smaug the dragon was given Boone's gravelly voice, one of the last roles of a career that had made him a star as a gunfighter two decades earlier.

Which future science-fiction producer won a Writers Guild award for a 1957 Have Gun – Will Travel script?

Gene Roddenberry wrote more than 20 episodes of the series before creating Star Trek. His winning script, Helen of Abajinian, follows a vintner's runaway daughter.

Which author echoed Have Gun – Will Travel with his 1958 science-fiction novel Have Space Suit—Will Travel?

Robert Heinlein wrote the novel for young readers, and it earned a Hugo Award nomination. The series had made the 'Have X, will travel' formula a 1950s catchphrase.

In which city does Paladin live in a luxury hotel between jobs in Have Gun – Will Travel?

San Francisco is home, where Paladin lives as a bon vivant with tailored suits, fine wine and nights at the opera. He rides out only when a client needs him.

Which film composer wrote the four-note opening theme of Have Gun – Will Travel?

Bernard Herrmann, who later scored Psycho, reused a short sequence he had composed for the 1951 film On Dangerous Ground. His motif plays as Paladin draws his revolver and aims it at the viewer.

Which cartoon duo parodied Have Gun – Will Travel in the 1962 short Tall in the Trap?

Tom and Jerry rode the frontier for the spoof, in which Tom rolls into town on spurs as a hired gun whose calling card carries a mousetrap.

Which British period drama has an American-born character borrow the title phrase of Have Gun – Will Travel?

Downton Abbey gave the line to Lady Cora in its third season. It sounds like an anachronism, but 'Have X, will travel' adverts date from the early 20th century.

By what name is the Chinese bellhop at Paladin's hotel known in Have Gun – Will Travel?

Hey Boy is what the guests call him, though one first-season episode gives his real name as Kim Chan. He appears in all but one of the six seasons.

What color is the outfit Paladin wears when he rides out on a job in Have Gun – Will Travel?

Black Western clothes replace the elegant custom-made suits he wears at his hotel, a change that signals the man about town has gone to work.

Which military academy did Paladin attend before serving as a cavalry officer in Have Gun – Will Travel?

West Point trained him for the Union cavalry in the Civil War. That schooling shows in a hero who can quote classic literature, philosophy and case law.

Which American network broadcast Have Gun – Will Travel on both television and radio?

CBS launched the radio version more than a year after the TV premiere, a rare case of a television hit spawning a successful radio series.

Which top-rated Western aired straight after Have Gun – Will Travel on Saturday nights and kept it from number one?

Gunsmoke was television's number one show from 1957 to 1961, while Paladin's adventures ranked third or fourth in each of those seasons.

Paladin of Have Gun – Will Travel takes his name from the legendary champions of which emperor's court?

Charlemagne had twelve paladins in medieval legend, led by Roland, whose heroic death is told in a famous French epic poem.

Besides his Colt revolver, which small hideout pistol does Paladin conceal under his belt in Have Gun – Will Travel?

A derringer rides out of sight on his jobs: in some episodes it is a two-shot Remington, in others a single-shot model.

Which comedian's 1954 memoir borrowed the tuxedo advert line said to have inspired the title Have Gun – Will Travel?

Bob Hope called his 1954 memoir Have Tux, Will Travel, after an old line from performers' adverts in Variety. That phrase is said to have given writer Herb Meadow his title.

Which Western film star was the first choice to play Paladin before the role went to Richard Boone?

Randolph Scott was offered the series first and passed on it. The part he refused made Boone, his co-star in the 1957 Western The Tall T, a national star.

Richard Boone turned down the lead in which island crime drama while he was living in Honolulu?

Hawaii Five-O was shot entirely in the islands partly at Boone's urging. The lead went instead to Jack Lord, who had been a guest in Paladin's very first episode.

Which hotel is Paladin's permanent home, where most radio episodes of Have Gun – Will Travel began and ended?

The Carlton is where Paladin lives in style between jobs. On radio, each story usually opened and closed with a short scene there.

Which actor voiced Paladin in the radio version of Have Gun – Will Travel, which ran for 106 episodes?

John Dehner took the microphone in November 1958. Before acting, he had worked as an assistant animator at Walt Disney Studios, helping to draw Fantasia.

Which horror-film star guest-starred as a Shakespearean actor in the Have Gun – Will Travel episode The Moor's Revenge?

Vincent Price led a touring troupe performing Othello, alongside Patricia Morison, with Paladin on hand to protect the company.

Which actress, later a famous television mother, played frontier doctor Phyllis Thackeray in Have Gun – Will Travel?

June Lockhart, later the mother in Lost in Space, came back as the doctor in The Return of Dr. Thackeray, in which Paladin helps her vaccinate a stubborn rancher's men against smallpox.

Which stuntman, later a hit film director, doubled for Richard Boone on Have Gun – Will Travel?

Hal Needham got his first break on the series and can be spotted in bit parts in nearly 50 episodes, long before he directed Smokey and the Bandit.

In the 1985 Star Trek novel Ishmael, which Enterprise officer plays chess against Paladin of Have Gun – Will Travel?

Spock travels back in time in Barbara Hambly's novel and sits down to a game with a gunfighter who matches Paladin's description.

Which TV Western poked fun at Have Gun – Will Travel by mentioning a gunslinger who hands out business cards?

Maverick mentioned the card-carrying gunman in its send-up episode Gun Shy, and a later comic episode featured a hired hero dressed just like Paladin.

Which instrument does Paladin, an opera-goer and wine lover, play in Have Gun – Will Travel?

Piano playing is one of many polished accomplishments: Paladin is also an expert at chess and poker and speaks several languages.

In which 1950s NBC hospital drama did Richard Boone star as Dr. Konrad Styner before Have Gun – Will Travel?

Medic made Boone a familiar face from 1954 and earned him his first Emmy nomination, three years before he strapped on Paladin's gun.

In which 1970s series did Richard Boone play an ageing gunfighter turned forensic detective in 1901 Oklahoma?

Hec Ramsey prefers forensic science to his gun. Boone joked that the character was a lot like Paladin, only fatter.

Which US president did Richard Boone play on Broadway in 1959 while starring in Have Gun – Will Travel?

Abraham Lincoln was Boone's role in The Rivalry, which ran for 81 performances. He had trained for the stage at the Actors Studio in New York.

Which Texas leader did Richard Boone play in a cameo in John Wayne's 1960 epic The Alamo?

Sam Houston appears only briefly, in a part Boone filmed during his years as Paladin. He rejoined Wayne for the 1971 Western Big Jake.

Which 1976 John Wayne Western featured Richard Boone of Have Gun – Will Travel in support?

The Shootist, Wayne's final film, was the third in which Boone supported him, after The Alamo and Big Jake.

Which future Oscar winner turned up as several different characters in Have Gun – Will Travel?

George Kennedy's roles ranged from Brother Grace to Big John, each in a different story, years before he won his Academy Award as the convict Dragline.

Which future director of violent film Westerns co-wrote the Have Gun – Will Travel episode The Singer?

Sam Peckinpah wrote for several TV Westerns before he made The Wild Bunch. The Singer, shared with Ken Kolb, was his only credit on Paladin's series.

Which 1960s spy series did Have Gun – Will Travel co-creator Sam Rolfe go on to develop for NBC?

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. grew from Rolfe's 80-page prospectus, which named the series, outlined the pilot and built the organisation's backstory.

Which twangy guitarist took Have Gun – Will Travel's closing theme into the UK top ten and acted in two episodes?

Duane Eddy was a friend of Richard Boone, and his 1962 instrumental of The Ballad of Paladin reached No. 10 in Britain and No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Which US service's Gunslingers squadron wears an insignia copied from the gun belt in Have Gun – Will Travel?

The Navy approved the badge for the unit now called Strike Fighter Squadron 105 in 1968: a frontier six-shooter in a holster bearing a gold chess emblem.

Which season-six premiere of Have Gun – Will Travel reveals how Paladin became a gunfighter?

Genesis was written by series co-creator Sam Rolfe and directed by actor William Conrad, who also appears in it. The story was later turned into a novel.

The area now called Paladin Estates, a Have Gun – Will Travel filming location, lies in which state?

Oregon hosted shoots between Bend and Sisters and at the Abbott Ranch near Prineville. Unusually for a TV Western, whole episodes were filmed outdoors, far from the studio's frontier street.

In Have Gun – Will Travel, Paladin recalls a youthful job as a bouncer in Scollay Square, in which city?

Boston is as close as the series comes to giving its hero a hometown, and the name he was born with is never revealed on screen.

Under its chess emblem, how does Paladin's business card tell clients to reach him in Have Gun – Will Travel?

By telegram: the card says to wire Paladin, with his home city printed beneath. A close-up of the card doubles as the title card between scenes.

Which playwright and filmmaker was reported in 2012 to be developing a television reboot of Have Gun – Will Travel?

David Mamet's reboot joined a long list of revival attempts, including several announced feature films, none of which has reached the screen.

Which rock bandleader performed a comic Paladin Routine based on Have Gun – Will Travel on his 1970 tour?

Frank Zappa's improvised sketch ended with the band vocalising the music from the opening credits. One performance survives on a bootleg that was later issued officially.

Victor De Costa, who sued claiming he invented Have Gun – Will Travel's Paladin, worked as what?

A rodeo performer who handed out chess-emblem cards at his shows, De Costa won a $3.5 million jury award in 1991. It was reversed on appeal and he received nothing.

Which actor played Paladin's hotel bellhop in Have Gun – Will Travel and Dr. Li in the film Flower Drum Song?

Kam Tong left for one season to co-star in another drama series. Off screen, he owned and ran a restaurant called Shanghai Lil's.

Which actress took over hotel duties in season four of Have Gun – Will Travel while the regular bellhop was away?

Lisa Lu had already played the regular bellhop's sister in a first-season episode. She went on to win three Golden Horse Awards in the 1970s.

Which prolific Have Gun – Will Travel director guided his own actor father through the episode The O'Hare Story?

Andrew McLaglen directed more than 100 episodes, including the very first. His father Victor guest-starred in this one as Mike O'Hare.

Which real name does the 1963 Have Gun – Will Travel novel A Man Called Paladin give its hero?

Clay Alexander appears only in Frank C. Robertson's novelisation of the origin episode, and some fans of the series do not accept the name as canon.

How does the radio version of Have Gun – Will Travel end for Paladin in its 1960 finale?

He claims an inheritance back east, leaving his hotel home perhaps for good. The radio series was one of the last American dramas with continuing characters.