Earl Boen, 'Terminator' Franchise Star and Voice Actor, Dead at 81

By Michael Hein

Actor Earl Boen passed away on Thursday at his home in Hawaii. According to a report by Variety, Boen, 81, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in the fall of 2022. He was beloved by friends, family and fans around the world.

Boen was a Hollywood veteran with a career spanning nearly half a century on the screen. His work goes back even further than that according to his bio on several sites, which says that he began acting as a teenager in the 1950s and worked professionally within the theater before landing his first TV role in 1974. That was on Great Performances – a show that filmed live theater for the wider world to see. However, it wasn't long before Boen had some of his early break-out roles including appearances on What's Happening, Kojak and Hawaii Five-O all in 1977.

Other roles fans may remember Boen for include Rev. Lloyd Meechum on the sitcom Mama's Family in the 1980s, Willie's boss in Alf and Angela's boss Jim Peterson on Who's the Boss? He made appearances on The Golden Girls, The Wonder Years, Boy Meets World, Seinfeld, Three's Company and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but his work was not restricted to sitcoms by any means.

Boen was well-known in the science fiction fandom over the years for his work on Battle Beyond the Stars, Alien Nation and Star Trek: The Next Generation. In the latter, he provided the voice for the omnipotent alien Nagilum, and voice-acting would become central to his work in the years that followed.

Many fans on social media have remarked this week that they remember Boen best for his role in the Terminator franchise. He played Dr. Peter Silberman in The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator: Dark Fate.

Starting in the late 1980s, Boen moved into voice-over work where he found a lot of success over the years, and became the unseen but iconic voice of many beloved characters. Some of his best-known TV roles included playing Rhino on both Batman: The Animated Series in 1993 and on The New Batman Adventures in 1997, as well as Red Skull on Spider-Man in 1997. He provided several voices for the English dub of Porco Rosso, among other movies, but he was most prolific in the world of video games.

Boen is survived by his wife Cathy, daughter Ruby and grandchildren Kimmy Abaricia and Kimo Harbin. Fans are posting their tributes to him on social media as well.

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