Robert Boon (October 26, 1916 – January 13, 2015) was a Dutch-born American

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, and theater

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. His film credits included '' The Tanks Are Coming'' in 1951 and ''

Queen of Blood ''Queen of Blood'' (also known as ''Planet of Blood'') is a 1966 American science fiction horror film produced by George Edwards and Samuel Z. Arkoff, directed by Curtis Harrington, that stars John Saxon, Basil Rathbone, Dennis Hopper, and ...

'' in 1966. Boon's television credits included ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'' episodes “ Deaths-Head Revisited" in 1961 and " Mute" in 1963.

Military service

Boon was born in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, on October 26, 1916. During World War II, Boon volunteered to serve a

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

oil

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

and was sent to the United States for military training. Boon was transferred to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, where he was enlisted to the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

. He took part in the Borneo campaign in May 1945, the last major Allied invasion in the

South West Pacific Area South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the ...

during World War II. Following the

defeat of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, ending the war. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was incapable of conduc ...

, Boon was stationed in

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

and

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

before returning to the Netherlands.

Acting career

Boon first became interested in theater and acting as a potential career while studying in post-war

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. However, Boon first took a position with

Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij or Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij (, colloquially known as BPM) was the Dutch East Indies and later Indonesian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell oil company established in 1907. History The BPM was established i ...

(BPM), a former

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

, for financial reasons. BPM sent him to work at its oil facilities in

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

. Robert Boon soon joined the Little Theatre, a theater company in Curaçao, and worked part-time as an actor and writer one of the island's radio stations. He relocated to the United States in the late 1940s. Boon initially moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he worked in

live television Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television where all viewers watch the same stream simultaneously, rather than watching vide ...

and radio, before moving to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, in 1947. He made his film debut in the 1948 film, ''

Berlin Express ''Berlin Express'' is a 1948 American drama film starring Robert Ryan, Merle Oberon and Paul Lukas and directed by Jacques Tourneur. Thrown together by chance, a group of people search a city for a kidnapped peace activist. Set in Allied-occu ...

''. Boon's acting career spanned decades, until his retirement during his 80s. He served on the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

's Best Foreign Language Film's nominating committee for many years.

Death

Robert Boon died at West Hills Hospital in the West Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles on January 13, 2015, at the age of 98. He had been scheduled for transfer to the

Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an observ ...

the next day.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1948) - German Youth #2 (uncredited) * ''

Fighter Squadron A squadron in an air force, or naval or army aviation service, is a unit comprising a number of military aircraft and their aircrews, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, ...

'' (1948) - German Operator (uncredited) * '' Treasure of Monte Cristo'' (1949) - Boatswain * ''

Battleground A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troop ...

'' (1949) - German Soldier (uncredited) * '' The Flying Saucer'' (1950) - Barge Captain * '' Mister 880'' (1950) - Dutchman (uncredited) * '' Target Unknown'' (1951) - Marx (uncredited) * '' Go for Broke!'' (1951) - German Soldier (uncredited) * '' Sealed Cargo'' (1951) - Sailor with Rating (uncredited) * '' The Tanks Are Coming'' (1951) - Heinrich 'Heinie' Weinburger (uncredited) * ''

Affair in Trinidad ''Affair in Trinidad'' is a 1952 American film noir directed by Vincent Sherman and starring Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford. It was produced by Hayworth's Beckworth Corporation and released by Columbia Pictures. It is notable as Hayworth's "comeba ...

'' (1952) - Pilot (uncredited) * '' The Juggler'' (1953) - Samuel (uncredited) * ''

The Desert Rats The 7th Armoured Division (Desert Rats) was an armoured warfare, armoured division (military), division of the British Army. It was formed as the Mobile Division (Egypt) on 27 September 1938, after increased tensions between Britain and the Ax ...

'' (1953) - German Lieutenant (uncredited) * '' Fort Algiers'' (1953) - Mueller * '' The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit'' (1956) - German Soldier (uncredited) * '' Screaming Eagles'' (1956) - Hans Schacht * ''

Four Girls in Town ''Four Girls in Town'' is a 1957 American CinemaScope Technicolor drama film, directed by Jack Sher, about four girls trying to be movie stars. Plot When the leading lady drops out of a new film to be shot in New Orleans, studio head James Mannin ...

'' (1957) - Karl Wagner (uncredited) * ''

The Enemy Below ''The Enemy Below'' is a 1957 American DeLuxe Color war film in CinemaScope about a battle between an American destroyer escort and a German U-boat during World War II. It stars Robert Mitchum and Curt Jürgens as the American and German comm ...

'' (1957) - Chief Engineer (uncredited) * '' The Last Blitzkrieg'' (1959) - Kirsch * '' Verboten!'' (1959) - SS officer * '' The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) - SS Man (uncredited) * '' G.I. Blues'' (1960) - German Guitarist (uncredited) * ''Plantage Tamarinde'' (1964) - Ir. Reinders * ''

'' (1966) - Anders Brockman * '' Torn Curtain'' (1966) - Professor Winkelmann (uncredited) * ''

The Virginian (TV series) ''The Virginian'' (later renamed ''The Men from Shiloh'' in its final year) is an American Westerns on television, Western television series starring James Drury in the title role, along with Doug McClure, Lee J. Cobb, and others. It originall ...

'' (1970) saison 9 episode 07 ''(Crooked corner)'' : Steiner

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boon, Robert 1916 births 2015 deaths Dutch male film actors Dutch male television actors Dutch male stage actors 20th-century Dutch male actors Dutch emigrants to the United States Australian Army personnel of World War II People from Haarlem Royal Netherlands East Indies Army personnel of World War II