Did You Know?
Paladin's horse was Rafter. Richard Boone selected that name. Through the six-year run the horses were called Curley, Frisco, Rudy, Mexico and Rafter.
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Parts of the first season episode "The Colonel and the Lady" were filmed on sets used for the television show Gunsmoke. The Long Branch Saloon is very minimally redecorated to stand in for a saloon Paladin visits in a Nevada mining town. Shots of people walking the streets of the town were also taken from Gunsmoke.
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Filling out Paladin's back story in the early episodes, it is mentioned that he was a West Point graduate and former professional soldier before the Civil War. Paladin never mentions directly which side he was on during the war.
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While many television series are taken from radio shows, the radio show "Have Gun Will Travel" with John Dehner as Paladin appeared after the television show.
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Although Paladin's name is not revealed, in the season 4 episode Fandango, he meets an old army buddy. Paladin addresses the old buddy as Ernie, and the old buddy addresses Paladin as Bobby.
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In early production of the series, Paladin's trail clothes were a rich midnight blue. This nicely complimented Richard Boone's blue eyes. They read as black on the black and white film of the day. There was a shirt redesign from a buttoned front to a V-neck and the colours of both changed to black around that time. Whenever Paladin's clothes were referred to in dialogue, he was always called 'the man in black,' whether he dressed in blue or black.
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