Earl Boen (/ˈboʊɪn/; August 8, 1941, New York City, New York, USA - January 5, 2023, Hawaii, USA) was an American actor and voice actor, perhaps best known as criminal psychologist Dr. Peter Silberman in The Terminator (1984), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) and Terminator: Dark Fate (2019, archive footage only). He is the only actor besides Arnold Schwarzenegger to appear in the first three Terminator films.
Boen was also very active in the voice-over field. He was known for voicing characters such as Mr. Bleakman in Clifford the Big Red Dog, Police Chief Kanifky in Bonkers, the Narrator in World of Warcraft and Captain LeChuck in the Monkey Island series.
Boen was born in New York City. Having started acting in the mid-1950s, he gained roles on the stage in several leading repertory companies between 1965 and 1976 before moving to Hollywood. Boen is known to many TV viewers as the Harper family's pastor, Rev. Lloyd Meechum on the 1980s sitcom Mama's Family. His character was featured in several of the most memorable episodes (on both the network and syndicated versions). He also appeared as a clergyman in episodes of The Golden Girls, The Golden Palace, The Wonder Years, Boy Meets World, Seinfeld and Three's Company. He also appeared as Willie's boss in ALF, and as Patrick Morrison in the Matlock episode "The Cult". Boen commonly plays doctors in movie and television roles. He may also be noted for his role as Jim Petersen, Angela Bower's boss on the show Who's The Boss?. Earl had a recurring role as Dr. Kramer in the 1990s Fox network cult classic comedy TV series Get a Life. Boen also appeared (alongside Tom Jones) in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in 1993.
Other films in which he appeared include The Main Event (1979), Battle Beyond the Stars (1980), 9 to 5 (1980), Soggy Bottom, U.S.A. (1981), The Man with Two Brains (1983), To Be or Not to Be (1983), Alien Nation (1988), Marked for Death (1990), Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult (1994), and Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000).
In 1987, came his first voice role as Taurus in the direct to video G.I. Joe: The Movie. Some of his most well known voice roles have been villainous pirate LeChuck from the Monkey Island series of adventure games. He has also provided the introductions for World of Warcraft and its expansions, voiced Magtheridon in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade and King Terenas Menethil II in World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, including the ending cinematic for that expansion.
Boen was also well known for voicing the dramatic thespian Edwin Blackgaard in Focus on the Family's "Adventures in Odyssey", as well as Edwin's nefarious twin brother Regis. Boen's voice was heard on the Disneyland Railroad from 2002 until 2016 and on the Walt Disney World Railroad from 2002 until late 2010. Boen retired from screen acting in 2003, but continued his work as a voice actor in radio, television cartoons and video games. Boen married actress Carole Kean in 1970. She died on April 23, 2001, from ovarian cancer at the age of 58. Together they have a daughter. Boen was diagnosed with lung cancer in the fall of 2022. He died in Hawaii on January 5, 2023, at the age of 81. Boen is survived by his second wife Cathy.
| Year | Image | Character | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 
|
Inspector Legrasse | Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem |
| 2001 | 
|
Santa Claus | Johnny Bravo / A Johnny Bravo Christmas |
| 2001 | 
|
Norman | Johnny Bravo / A Johnny Bravo Christmas |
| 2001 | 
|
Jay the Bear | Johnny Bravo / A Johnny Bravo Christmas |
| 1993-1994 | 
|
Chief Leonard Kanifky | Bonkers |