Mourning for Earl Boen: "Terminator" star dies after suffering from cancer for a short time

Hawaii (USA) - Earl Boen celebrated his greatest successes as Dr. Peter Silberman in four "Terminator" films alongside superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger (75). The actor has now died on the US island of Hawaii at the age of 81.

Ruby Harbin, the character actor's daughter, told The Hollywood Reporter that her father passed away on Thursday. He had only been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer last November.

According to his daughter, the 81-year-old died peacefully while he slept. In addition to Ruby Harbin, Boen is survived by his second wife Cathy and two grandchildren.

The US-American had already started acting as a teenager. Before moving to Hollywood in 1976, he had mainly worked in the theater.

Once he arrived in the dream factory, it wasn't long before Boen landed his first TV appearances, for example in the series "Wonder Woman" and "Hawaii Five-O". He finally achieved greater fame with his role as Pastor Lloyd Meechum in the popular 80s sitcom "Mama's Family".

But his greatest successes were yet to come!

As Dr. Peter Silberman, he appeared in "Terminator" (1984),"Terminator 2 - Day of Reckoning" (1991) and "Terminator 3 - Rebellion of the Machines" (2003). The films are known to have become classics of the action genre.

Apart from Schwarzenegger, Boen was the only actor to appear in each of the first three "Terminator"films . He even made a small appearance in 'Terminator: Dark Fate' (2019), the sixth installment in the series, through archive images.

In total, the American actor made well over 250 appearances in films, series and video games during his long career, some of which were very successful. He was not only a good actor, but also a gifted voice actor.

When the news of his death spread, many fans and colleagues expressed their grief on social media. For example, action legend Jean-Claude Van Damme (62) wrote on Twitter: "Rest in peace, Earl Boen."