A Man Called Paladin

I love the old series Have Gun Will Travel that now airs on the Encore Western channel. Here are some facts about Paladin, my favorite gun for hire from 1957 to 1963:

Paladin made his home at the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco sometime after his education at West Point. He dressed like a gentlemen, dining on fine food and wines. He combed through the daily paper, looking for potential clients who might need his services, and of course, he used his calling card that said, "Have gun....Will travel." He charged $1,000--but only those who could pay. Paladin was a man of refinement, a "James Bond" of the old West, who carried a few expensive cigars in his boot when out on an adventure.


For work, Paladin was always the man in black. He carried a custom-made .45 caliber colt single-action army revolver. It was made of excellent craftsmanship with a one-ounce trigger pull and a rifled barrel. The derringer he wore under his belt saved his life many times. Paladin was also a world traveler. His exploits included a 1857 visit to India, where he had won the respect of the natives as a hunter of man-eating tigers.

Paladin killed many men, but his victims were always deserving--and almost none of the violence in the show was gratuitous. Although he was a super marksman, Paladin's edge was his rich education. Many a time he saved himself from a perilous situation by engaging in his insightful reparteee.


Richard Boone's deep voice, his smile, and his laugh all knock my socks off. Here are some behind-the-scene facts about "Have Gun Will Travel" and about the star Richard Boone:

The show ran for six seasons; it opened as the number 4th rated show for the year, then followed up with three years ranked at number 3.

Gene Roddenberry wrote some of the shows before creating Star Trek, and Bruce Geller who created Mission Impossible also wrote for the show. Some of the more famous guest stars included: Charles Bronson, Angie Dickinson, June Lockhart, James Franciscus, James Coburn, Abby Dalton, Peter Falk and many others.

The program's closing theme song, "Ballad of Paladin", was written by Johnny Western, Richard Boone, and Sam Rolfe, and was performed by Western. In a scene in Stand by Me,the main characters sing the show's closing theme song. This scene is partially recreated in a scene in an episode of Family Guy. The 1962 Tom and Jerry cartoon "Tall in the Trap" (directed by Gene Deitch) was a parody of "Have Gun Will Travel."