Posted in: Movies, News | Tagged: Dr. Peter Silberman, Earl Boen, monkey island, obituary, terminator 2: judgment day, the terminator, world of warcraft

Earl Boen: 'Terminator,' TV Actor & Voiceover Great Passes at 81

Earl Boen, who played Silberman in the Terminator franchise, a favorite guest star on TV, and beloved voiceover artist passed at age of 81.

The worlds of sci-fi, comedy, and voice lost a great as actor Earl Boen, best known as playing psychiatrist Dr. Peter Silberman in the Terminator franchise, passed at the age of 81 after a battle with cancer. He was the only other actor outside of star Arnold Schwarzenegger to be in the franchise's first three films, including 1984 original The Terminator, 1991's Judgment Day, and 2003's Rise of the Machines. The first two were directed by James Cameron. Archival footage of Boen was used in 2019's Dark Fate.

During the events of the first film, Boen's Dr. Silberman was brought in to evaluate Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a soldier sent from the future to protect Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the mother of the leader of the human resistance who emerged victorious against the war against the machines. Naturally, Kyle remained in custody for his honesty as the doctor left the Los Angeles police station as the T-800 (Schwarzenegger) arrives. Boen would see his role substantially increased turning in his finest performance on live-action film in the 1991 sequel as the presiding doctor for Connor, who's equally passionate about sticking to the "humanity will die in a nuclear holocaust caused by the machines" story of her lover stuck to back in 1984.

In his final physical appearance in the Terminator franchise, Boen was regulated to a cameo at the cemetery where Schwarzenegger's character carries the casket full of weapons that once thought to have held Connor's remains since, in that timeline, she died of cancer as a way to write off the character. Explaining Sarah in the Terminator franchise is another whole can of worms. Prior to landing Silberman, Boen was a TV regular in a diverse range of guest roles, from comedies like Eight is Enough, Barney Miller, M*A*S*H, Night Court, and The Jeffersons to popular action and dramas like Wonder Woman, Hawaii Five-O, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Dukes of Hazard, and Fantasy Island.

Boen had a memorable role as Dr. Felix Conrad in the 1983 Steve Martin comedy The Man with Two Brains. The actor goes way back with Cameron with his first sci-fi feature (and Star Wars ripoff), Battle Beyond the Stars (1980). Since the actor made his animated debut as the voice of Taurus in G.I. Joe in 1985, he became quite busy expanding his time on in front of the camera on TV and behind the microphone on animated shows. He was the original voice of Magneto in Pryde of the X-Men as Marvel's first attempt at animating the comic into a series. If you had a favorite 80-90s TV show growing up, there was a good chance Boen made a guest appearance at some point.

As Boen's physical career wound down in the early 2000s, he became more active in the voiceover world in animation and video games, landing memorable roles in the Monkey Island franchise for Lucas Arts (as LeChuck), Clifford the Big Red Dog, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Star Trek (TNG and several video games), Konami's Metal Gear franchise. In his final projects, the actor reprised LeChuck in several Monkey Island games and contributed to MMORPG titles Everquest II and the World of Warcraft franchise.

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