R.I.P. Earl Boen, Reverend Lloyd Meechum from ''Mama's Family,'' Dr. Silberman in ''Terminator'' franchise

With nearly 300 acting and voice credits to his name, Earl Boen had no shortage of success in the entertainment industry.

Earl Boen had a successful character-acting career even before he became Dr. Silberman in three Terminator films, arguably his career-defining role. 

According to IMDb.com, Boen tallied nearly 300 total acting credits throughout his career. The experienced actor died Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023 according to The Hollywood Reporter, after a battle with Stage 4 lung cancer. 

Boen began his television career in the Seventies, appearing in episodes of Kojak, Rafferty, Hawaii Five-O, Wonder Woman, Barnaby Jones and several others

He appeared as Major Robert Hatch in the "Heroes" episode of M*A*S*H, a character that helps coordinate a media frenzy at the 4077th.

In the mid Eighties, Boen landed in James Cameron's The Terminator as Dr. Peter Silberman. He returned to the role in a pair of sequels, Terminator 2: Judgement Day in 1991 and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines in 2003.

Between the films, Boen continued his guest appearance roles on television series, including a recurring role in the Vicki Lawrence sitcom Mama's Family. In his four episodes, Boen plays Reverend Lloyd Meechum, first appearing in "The Wedding: Part 2." In it, Boen officiates Vint and Naomi's wedding during season one.

He also appears in seasons three and four in episodes "Farewell, Frannie," "Where There's Smoke" and "Child's Play." 

Boen played the voice of Nagilum in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Sgt. Howard Sternhagen in an episode of Murder, She Wrote, and a pair of roles in as many episodes of Matlock

In the courtroom drama, Boen appeared as Patrick Morrison in the season three episode "The Cult" and as Judge George Clayton in "Nowhere to Turn," an episode from season five. 

Boen called it a screen-acting career in 2003, but kept working his voice, one that can be heard in a number of animated series and various video games, most notably the narrator in some World of Warcraft games, according to The Hollywood Reporter

Boen was 81. 

Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
Close

31 Comments

DethBiz 13 months ago
RIP Earl Boen. Will always remember how calmly he dealt with the Harper crazies.
BenSobeleone 14 months ago
I remember Earl Boen mostly from the Terminator movies. Seen him recently on an episode of Who's the Boss. Glad he appeared in a scene in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Wasn't expecting him to be in that movie. It was a surprise to see him.
Jon 14 months ago
He also played the hotel chef in IT'S A LIVING. According to Wiki he was the first entertainment celebrity to pass in 2023, 2 days before Adam Rich.
CoreyC 14 months ago
He was in The Golden Girls and Star Trek TNG.
texasluva 14 months ago
I remembered him but not his name. He was the psychologist for Sarah Connors (Linda Hamilton) who never believed her about The Terminator. He was always drugging her. One day she got loose and knocked him for loop. He played in 3 of the Terminator series. R.I.P sir.
Moody 14 months ago
I don't think I ever knew his real name. He seemed to be everywhere on tv & movies in the 80s. RIP Mr. Boen.
Dugan 14 months ago
Loved him in the terminator franchise
Peter_Falk_Fan 14 months ago
I thought he was great as Dr. Peter Silberman in the Terminator movies. The other day on TV, I saw the movie "My Stepmother Is an Alien". He played a reverend. I noticed from IMDb that he did a lot of voice acting throughout his career.

R.I.P. Earl Boen
CortneyNicole 14 months ago
He will always be Reverend Lloyd Meechum.

RIP Earl Boen
BrittReid 14 months ago
He will always be Dr. Silberman. R.I.P.
Sway 14 months ago
R.I.P. Earl Boen. Familiar face, versatile actor.
15inchBlackandWhite 14 months ago
I thought one of his funniest roles was as the marriage counselor in Naked Gun 33 1/3.
Runeshaper 14 months ago
Fantastic actor! R.I.P. Earl Boen.
LoveMETV22 14 months ago
R.I.P. Earl Boen. A long list of series according to the IMDb website.
Load previous comments
texasluva LoveMETV22 14 months ago
Something else to think about with the changing times. Let's say a similar thing was said about Frank Sinatra's wife and it wasn't Don Rickles (mostly he tells stories about Frank and himself with Frank) but Chris Rock saying something about wife like that. Who might be pushing up daisy's with-in a week. I was just reading a story about Frank and his mob connections. Many that I have not read before. Open ones eyes. What's exactly true is anyone's guess. https://nypost.com/2023/01/05/new-book-tackles-frank-sinatras-ties-to-cia-mafia/

I have a couple of things for you since you like space flight. This is mostly about year 2016 and the space station, flights, landings with Russians, USA and others. Seems like we were pretty well getting along, not like today though. These are 12-15 min segments and very interesting. https://archive.org/details/2021-3-6-tmp0x-efafd0be

Also the JWST site and this persons element tree on where they all likely came from.




Not sure if this will lead to that section or not. I though in the past have asked a lot of questions about the Universe and gotten like 80 replies. https://www.facebook.com/groups/jameswebbspacetelescope/?multi_permalinks=10160463600666170¬if_id=1673295959100740¬if_t=group_highlights&ref=notif

I have also picked up quite a few more movies to collection. I just keep going deeper into IA and finding them off of others who post the uploaders. I will be posting coming movies and an extra latter today.
LoveMETV22 texasluva 14 months ago
Thanks yes the links work. I could get absorbed in any of them. LOL. Hear you on IA, it seems to evolve and change frequently.
CaptainDunsel texasluva 14 months ago
You might also find this interesting...

https://dailyinfographic.com/the-periodic-table-of-fictional-elements
texasluva CaptainDunsel 14 months ago
Ha ha that's funny. I am keeping that chart for future references. I was wondering what they were talking about when watching Superman, Superhero's and star Trek flicks. Even dust has a discoverer. Even Ancient Greek fake ones by Plato no less. I probably even believed in the old comics I used to read and what they stated. Though I sure wish I had Amazing Spiderman #1. I did at one time have #6 to around 500. Sold them mostly one at a time and some in groups. Wish I still had them seeing the prices they fetch, fictional or not 🙄.
WordsmithWorks 14 months ago
Boen was definitely one of those "what have I seen you in?" guys. He was good in the M*A*S*H episode aboout the boxing champ who had a stroke, "No problem, No problem."
Well. I remember him as a temperamental chef on the '80's sitcom It's A Living! Fun Fact: One of the waitresses was a young Wendy Schaal, who is now the voice of Francine Smith on American Dad! Her father Richard made several memorable appearances on TMTMS and was once married to Valarie Harper!
daDoctah cperrynaples 14 months ago
That's what I recognize him from, where he was replaced by the *very* similar-looking Richard Stahl.
cperrynaples cperrynaples 14 months ago
Ironically, Boen was on Bonanza today as a funeral director! And would you believe it also featured Loretta Swit & Fran Ryan [Mrs. Zeiffel 2 on Green Acres and Amanda Blake's replacement on Gunsmoke ["Oh, you mean me?"]!
cperrynaples cperrynaples 14 months ago
PS Can you believe that painting Hoss hung in the bar near the end of the episode? Understand this episode ran in 1972 when All In The Family was the top show on the air!
cperrynaples cperrynaples 14 months ago
PSS No, that wasn't Earl Boen on Bonanza, it was his doppleganger Richard Stahl!
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?