Although he died yesterday (January 5), the news is hitting that Terminator actor Earl Boen died in Hawaii. The veteran star was 81 years old and died after a battle with cancer. He was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in the fall of 2022.
Actor Earl Boen was best known as Dr. Peter Silberman in the first three Terminator films with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The criminal psychologist made his debut in the first film when he questioned Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), who he viewed as delusional, after hearing the story about time travel and needing to protect Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) from a killer robot from the future (Schwarzenegger, who becomes the hero in following films). In archived footage, he appeared in Dark Fate. The character was brought in for the axed series, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which saw Bruce Davidson take on the role.
Terminator actor Earl Boen died from lung cancer
The New Yorker was born in 1941. By 1974 in an episode of Great Performances, Earl Boen made his debut as an actor. His last appearance in something was in 2017’s Girls Mode 4: Star Stylist. Across the decades, he starred in movies, TV shows, and video games. His work saw a range of live-action acting and voice work in different media.
His early career focused on live-action work. For films, besides the action blockbusters with Schwarzenegger, he starred in 9 to 5, Living in Peril, The Prince, Sioux City, and Marked for Death. On the TV side, he starred in Mama’s Family, Hawaii Five-O, Seinfeld, and Barnaby Jones.
Starting in the ’90s, Earl Boen shifted to becoming a prolific voice actor across cartoons and video games. On the cartoon front, he made appearances in Dexter’s Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Justice League, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and Batman: The Animated Series. In terms of video games, he starred in Baldur’s Gate, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Tales of Monkey Island, and Psychonauts.
Actor Earl Boen is survived by his wife Cathy. He also has his stepdaughter Ruby and grandchildren Kimmy Abaricia and Kimo Harbin.
