Randy Boone Dead: 'The Virginian' Singing Ranch Hand Was 83

Randy Boone , who played the guitar-strumming singing ranch hand Randy Benton on the classic NBC western The Virginian , died Thursday, August 28. He was 83.

His death was reported to The Hollywood Reporter by his wife Lana. Additional details were not disclosed.

Born Clyde Wilson Randall Boone Jr. on January 17, 1942, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Boone later attended North Carolina State College in Raleigh before dropping out and hitchhiking to California to try his hand as an actor. His first gig was a 19-episode run on 1962’s comedy-drama It’s A Man’s World about three young men living in a houseboat on the Ohio River. A costar was future That Girl actor Ted Bessell.

With Man’s World canceled after just four months, Boone was a guest star in such series as The Alfred