Pat Boone#Politics

Boone was born June 1, 1934, in Jacksonville, to Margaret Virginia (née Pritchard) and Archie Altman Boone. He grew up in Nashville, where his family moved when he was two years old. He graduated in 1952 from David Lipscomb High School in Nashville. His younger brother Cecil (1935–2023), billed as Nick Todd, was born one year later to the day,{{cite web |url=https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/nashville-tn/nick-boone-11118203|title=Obituary Nick Boone June 1, 1935 – January 20, 2023|date=|access-date=June 10, 2023|publisher=Dignity Memorial }} and was also a pop singer in the 1950s before becoming a church music leader.{{cite book|last1=Parish|first1=James Robert|last2=Pitts|first2=Michael R.|title=Hollywood Songsters: Allyson to Funicello|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GlybVaD6cakC&pg=PA99|access-date=July 23, 2010|date=July 2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-94332-1|page=99}}

In a 2007 interview on The 700 Club, Boone claimed to be the great-great-great-great-grandson of the American pioneer Daniel Boone.{{cite web |last1=Woodland |first1=Shannon |last2=Ross |first2=Scott |name-list-style=amp |title=Between the Liner Notes: Pat Boone and the New American Revolution |url=http://www.cbn.com/cbnmusic/interviews/700club_patboone022007.aspx |publisher=Christian Broadcasting Network |access-date=May 7, 2007}}

Boone primarily attended David Lipscomb College, later Lipscomb University, in Nashville. He graduated in 1958 from Columbia University School of General Studies magna cum laudeGerstenzang, Peter. "Pat 'n Leather", Columbia, Winter 2007–2008. having previously attended North Texas State University, now known as the University of North Texas, in Denton, Texas.{{cite news|url=http://www.dentonrc.com/local-news/education/higher-education-headlines/20110906-fond-memories-prompt-boone-to-appear-at-unt.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123102744/http://www.dentonrc.com/local-news/education/higher-education-headlines/20110906-fond-memories-prompt-boone-to-appear-at-unt.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 23, 2015|title=Fond memories prompt Boone to appear at UNT – Higher Education|work=Denton Record-Chronicle|date=September 6, 2011}}

File:Pat Boone's handprints, footprints, and signature in cement.JPG at Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios]]

Boone began his career by performing in Nashville's Centennial Park.{{cite news|last1=Evans|first1=Jim|title='Music City' Tour Set Up|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/75318152/?terms=%22centennial%2Bpark%22|access-date=April 22, 2017|work=The Kingsport Times|date=July 16, 1964|page=11|location=Kingsport, Tennessee|via=Newspapers.com|url-access=registration |quote=The folks are shown where Pat Boone attended school and told how Pat got his start with the Sunday concerts in Centennial Park}} He began recording in April 1953 for Republic Records (not to be confused with the current label with that name), and by 1955, for Dot Records. His 1955 version of Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame" was a hit. This set the stage for the early part of Boone's career, which focused on covering R&B songs by black artists for a white American market.[http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2006/1/2006_1_28.shtml Karen Schoemer] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100902150344/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2006/1/2006_1_28.shtml|date=September 2, 2010 }} "More Mr. Nice Guy", American Heritage, Feb/March 2006. Randy Wood, the owner of Dot, issued an R&B single by the Griffin Brothers in 1951 called "Tra La La-a" — a different song from the later LaVern Baker song of the same name — and was keen to put out another after the original failed. This became the B-side of the first Boone single "Two Hearts Two Kisses", originally by the Charms.

File:Pat Boone 50's.png

A number-one single in 1956 by Boone was a cover of "I Almost Lost My Mind", by Ivory Joe Hunter, which was previously covered by Nat King Cole. According to an opinion poll of high-school students in 1957, Boone was nearly the "two-to-one favorite over Elvis Presley among boys and preferred almost three-to-one by girls ..."See the statistics in Ennis, Philip H., The Seventh Stream: The Emergence of Rocknroll in American Popular Music (Wesleyan University Press, 1992), pp. 251–52 During the late 1950s, he made regular appearances on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee, hosted by his father-in-law. He cultivated a safe, wholesome, advertiser-friendly image that won him a long-term product endorsement contract from General Motors in the late 1950s. He succeeded Dinah Shore singing the praises of the GM product: "See the USA in your Chevrolet ... drive your Chevrolet through the USA, America's the greatest land of all!" GM also sponsored The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom.

Many of Boone's hits were covers from Black artists. Along with "Ain't That a Shame" were "Tutti Frutti" and "Long Tall Sally" by Little Richard,{{cite web|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19752/m1|title=Show 6 – Hail, Hail, Rock 'n' Roll: The rock revolution gets underway|website=Digital.library.unt.edu |date=March 16, 1969|access-date=September 20, 2010}} "At My Front Door (Crazy Little Mama)" by The El Dorados, and the blues ballads "I Almost Lost My Mind" by Ivory Joe Hunter, "I'll be Home" by the Flamingos and "Don't Forbid Me" by Charles Singleton. Boone is known as an example of whitewashing by taking songs by Black artists and sanitizing them to make them more palatable to a white audience, which denied exposure to the Black artists.{{cite web|url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-whitewashing-of-black-music-five-singles-made-popular-by-white-artists/|title=The whitewashing of Black music: Five singles made popular by white artist|date=August 11, 2021 |work=Far Out magazine|access-date=18 March 2023}}

Boone also wrote lyrics for the instrumental theme song for the movie Exodus, which he titled "This Land Is Mine". (Ernest Gold composed the music.)File:Pat Suzuki Pat Boone Chevy Show 1959.JPG with Pat Boone during The Chevy Showroom Show in 1959.]]As a conservative Christian, Boone declined songs or movie roles if they compromised his beliefs, including a film with Marilyn Monroe. In one of his first films, April Love, the director, Henry Levin, wanted him to kiss co-star Shirley Jones. Since this would be his first onscreen kiss, Boone cleared it with his wife before playing the scene.{{cite web|last=King|first=Susan|title=A Pat Boone kiss-and-tell|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-aug-11-la-et-classic-hollywood-20100811-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=August 11, 2010 |access-date=June 15, 2012}} He had his own film production company, Cooga Mooga Productions.{{cite news|title=Boone to Expand, Buys Two Stories: West Claims Hugh Marlowe; Big Brother's '1984' to Stage |author=Scheuer, Philip K.|work=Los Angeles Times|date=October 11, 1960|page=23}}

He was a regular on Arthur Godfrey and His Friends from 1955 until 1957 and later hosted The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom on Thursday evenings. In 1959, his likeness was licensed to DC Comics, first appearing in Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane No. 9 (May 1959) before starring in his own series from the publisher, which lasted five issues from September 1959 to May 1960.{{Cite web|url=http://comicvine.gamespot.com/pat-boone-1/4000-56483/|title=Pat Boone No. 1 (Issue)|website=Comic Vine|access-date=March 20, 2017}}{{cite book |last1=Cowsill |first1=Alan |last2=Irvine |first2=Alex |last3=Manning |first3=Matthew K. |last4=McAvennie |first4=Michael |last5=Wallace |first5=Daniel |title=DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle |date=2019 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1-4654-8578-6 |page=89}} In the early 1960s, he began a series of self-help books for adolescents, including 'Twixt Twelve and Twenty. The British Invasion ended Boone's career as a hitmaker, though he continued recording throughout the 1960s. In 1966, he participated in the Sanremo Music Festival in Italy, performing Mai mai mai Valentina alongside Giorgio Gaber and Se tu non-fossi qui with Peppino Gagliardi. During his trip to Italy, he visited the headquarters of Ferrari at Maranello with the intention of buying a Superamerica Sports Car, but Enzo Ferrari dissuaded him from purchasing that model by saying that there would not have been enough room for Boone's four daughters, and sold him a four-door Ferrari 2+2 instead. In a 2021 interview, Boone admitted having later sold the "Ferrari (I) didn't like" to Tom Smothers of the comedic duo Smothers Brothers.{{Cite web |last=Pingitore |first=Silvia |date=December 21, 2021 |title=From Elvis Presley to Speedy Gonzales, from Ronald Reagan to cancel culture: the world's longest interview with 1950s superstar Pat Boone |url=https://the-shortlisted.co.uk/pat-boone-speedy-gonzales-interview/ |access-date=December 23, 2021 |website=The Shortlisted |language=en-GB}}

In the 1970s, he switched to gospel and country; he also continued performing in other media. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Boone family toured as gospel singers. The family also made gospel albums, such as The Pat Boone Family and The Family Who Prays.

In 1973, he released S-A-V-E-D, a gospel-studio album. Two songs of the album were written by his friend Johnny Cash, who said of it:

{{Blockquote|text=I'm deeply honored that you would record two of my songs in this album. This is the ultimate for me, that Pat Boone would sing any of my songs|author=Johnny Cash, 1973}}

In the early 1970s, Boone founded the record label Lamb & Lion Records, with himself, the Pat Boone Family, Debby Boone, Dan Peek, DeGarmo and Key, and Dogwood as the principal artists.{{cite web|url=http://www.mymusicway.com/labels/lamblion.html |title=Lamb & Lion Records|website=Mymusicway.com|access-date=September 20, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221183017/http://www.mymusicway.com/labels/lamblion.html|archive-date=December 21, 2007}} In 1974, Boone was signed to the Motown country subsidiary Melodyland."[https://books.google.com/books?id=swcEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3 Motown Unveils a Country Wing: Pat Boone Signs]", Billboard. October 26, 1974. p. 3. Retrieved March 17, 2021. File:Pat & Debby Boone.jpgIn 1978, Boone became the first target in the Federal Trade Commission's crackdown on false-claim product endorsements by celebrities. He had appeared with his daughter Debby in a commercial to claim that all four of his daughters had found a preparation called Acne-Statin a "real help" in keeping their skin clear. The FTC filed a complaint against the manufacturer, contending that the product did not really keep skin free of blemishes. Boone eventually signed a consent order in which he promised not only to stop appearing in the ads, but also to pay about 2.5% of any money that the FTC or the courts might eventually order the manufacturer to refund to consumers. Boone said, through a lawyer, that his daughters actually did use Acne-Statin, and that he was "dismayed to learn that the product's efficacy had not been scientifically established as he believed."{{cite magazine|magazine=Time|date=May 22, 1978|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,919667,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080130110306/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,919667,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 30, 2008|title=Let the Stellar Seller Beware|access-date=December 2, 2007}}

Boone hosts a weekly radio show, the Pat Boone hour, on the 50s Gold channel on SiriusXM.

File:Pat Boone Memorial Day concert.png concert in Washington D.C]]In 1994, Boone played the title role in The Will Rogers Follies in Branson, Missouri.{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/1994/voices/columns/showbiz-makes-unlikely-stand-in-branson-mo-1117862463/ |title=Showbiz makes unlikely stand in Branson, Mo |date=April 13, 1994 }} In 1997, he released In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy, a collection of heavy metal covers.{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|page=165/6|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music}} To promote it, he appeared at the American Music Awards in black leather, which resulted in his dismissal from Gospel America, a TV show on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. After a special appearance on TBN with the president of the network, Paul Crouch, and his pastor, Jack Hayford, his explanation of the leather outfit being a "parody of himself" was accepted. TBN reinstated him, and Gospel America was back on the air.

In 2003, the Nashville Gospel Music Association recognized his gospel career by inducting him into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. In 2006, Boone released We Are Family: R&B Classics, featuring cover versions of 11 R&B hits, including the title track, plus "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag", "Soul Man", "Get Down Tonight", "A Woman Needs Love", and six other classics.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/we-are-family-r-b-classics-mw0000459865|title=We Are Family: R&B Classics – Pat Boone |website=AllMusic|access-date=October 17, 2019}}

In 2010, plans were announced for the Pat Boone Family Theater at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina,{{cite news|url=http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/12/31/1895168/boone-boom-set-for-spring.html|title=Pat Boone Family Theater replaces NASCAR café in Myrtle Beach|last=Spring|first=Jake|work=The Sun News|date=December 31, 2010|access-date=December 31, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204032723/http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/12/31/1895168/boone-boom-set-for-spring.html|archive-date=February 4, 2013}} but the attraction was never built.{{cite news|title=Hollywood Wax Museum on track for summer debut in Myrtle Beach|last=Bryant|first=Dawn|work=The Sun News|date=January 13, 2014}}

In 2011, Boone acted as spokesperson for Security One Lending, a reverse mortgage company.{{Cite AV media |title=Security One Lending – Innovative Direct Response|date=October 5, 2011|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvUCtEL7kAA| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211031/mvUCtEL7kAA| archive-date=October 31, 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=February 6, 2017}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite AV media |title=Swiss America-Free Gold Info w/ Pat Boone|date=September 11, 2007|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASpX9gNkfHs| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211031/ASpX9gNkfHs| archive-date=October 31, 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=February 6, 2017}}{{cbignore}} He has also acted as spokesperson for Swiss America Trading Corporation, a broker of gold and silver coins that warns of "America's Economic Collapse".{{Cite news|url=https://www.swissamerica.com/press.php|title=Investment Market & News Reports {{!}} Swiss America Trading|access-date=February 6, 2017}}

In 2023 Boone was a guest vocalist on Born to Be Wild, an album by Ann-Margret, for a duet, "Teach Me Tonight".[https://shorefire.com/releases/entry/ann-margret-returns-with-all-star-collaborators-onborn-to-be-wild-her-first-album-in-over-a-decade-due-out-april-14-on-cleopatra-record] {{dead link|date=June 2024}} The following year, at 90, he released a single, "Where Did America Go?"{{Cite web |date=2024-07-26 |title=New Pat Boone Song Encourages Unity in America |url=https://decisionmagazine.com/pat-boone-releases-song-as-a-wake-up-call-for-americans/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=Decision Magazine |language=en-US}}

File:Shirley and Pat Boone, Debbie Reynolds and Harry Karl, 1960.jpg and her husband Harry Karl, 1960]]

In 1953, Boone married Shirley Lee Foley,{{cite news|last=Goldstein|first=Joelle|title=Pat Boone's Wife of 65 Years, Shirley, Dies: 'I've Parted with My Better Half for a Little While'|url=https://people.com/music/pat-boone-wife-shirley-dies-at-84|access-date=January 12, 2019|work=People|date=January 11, 2019}} the daughter of Red Foley and Judy Martin. The Boones had four daughters: Cheryl "Cherry" Lynn, Linda "Lindy" Lee, Deborah "Debby" Ann, and Laura "Laury" Gene.

In the late 1950s, Boone and his family were residents of Teaneck, New Jersey.Staff. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120724232832/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/2068855972.html?FMT=CITE&FMTS=CITE:AI&type=historic&date=Jun+16%2C+1958&author=&pub=Daily+Boston+Globe+(1928-1960)&desc=Kings+for+A+Day&pqatl=google "Kings for A Day"], The Boston Globe, June 16, 1958. Retrieved March 30, 2011. "Singer Pat Boone and family leave Leonia, NJ home for church. Front, Cherry, 3 1/2; Debbie, 1 1/2, and Linda, 2 1/2." Shirley Boone was also a recording artist and television personality, though less known than her husband. She founded a hunger-relief Christian ministry that evolved into Mercy Corps. She died in 2019, aged 84, at the couple's Beverly Hills home of complications from vasculitis, which she had contracted less than a year earlier.

Boone has been a close friend to many U.S. presidents, including Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ra9ii3KTdA |title=Pat Boone Reflects on his Long Friendship with Ronald Reagan |date=2021-09-20 |last=Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute |access-date=2024-10-06 |via=YouTube}}

At a 1961 gathering at Pepperdine College, Boone said, "I would rather see my four girls shot and die as little girls who have faith in God than leave them to die some years later as godless, faithless, soulless communists."{{cite web |title=Kristin Kobes Du Mez > Quotes |url=https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/20374247.Kristin_Kobes_Du_Mez?page=5 |website=Goodreads |postscript=,}} quoting from {{cite book |author=Kristin Kobes Du Mez |title=Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation |publisher=WW Norton |year=2020 |isbn=9781631495731 |authorlink=Kristin Kobes Du Mez}}

Boone supported Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election.{{Cite book |last1=Critchlow |first1=Donald T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QfHXAAAAQBAJ&q=pat%20boone |title=When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics |date=October 21, 2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107650282}} File:Pat Boone by Gage Skidmore.jpg in February 2011]] In the 2007 Kentucky gubernatorial election, Boone campaigned unsuccessfully for incumbent Republican Ernie Fletcher with a recorded automated telephone message stating that the Democratic Party candidate Steve Beshear would support "every homosexual cause". As part of the campaign, Boone asked, "Now do you want a governor who'd like Kentucky to be another San Francisco?"{{cite web |last=Kleefeld |first=Eric |date=November 4, 2007 |title=Kentucky GOP Pushing Anti-Gay Message in Final Days Of Gov Race |url=http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/kentucky_gop_pushing_antigay_message_in_final_days_of_gov_race.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071105172656/http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/11/kentucky_gop_pushing_antigay_message_in_final_days_of_gov_race.php |archive-date=November 5, 2007 |access-date=November 5, 2007 |work=TPM Election Central}} In 2009, during Barack Obama's first term in office, Boone wrote an article comparing liberalism to cancer, likening it to "black filthy cells".{{cite web |date=June 26, 2014 |title=Pat Boone: 'Obama's Birth Certificate Will Be Proven As Fake By September' |url=https://uproxx.com/music/pat-boone-obamas-birth-certificate-will-be-proven-as-fake-by-september/ |access-date=January 22, 2019 |website=Uproxx.com}} In December 2009, Boone endorsed conservative Republican John Wayne Tucker in Missouri's 3rd congressional district against incumbent Russ Carnahan in the 2010 midterm elections.{{cite web |date=December 15, 2009 |title=Pat Boone Endorses John Wayne Tucker for Congress |url=http://johnwaynetucker.com/congress/campaign_endorsements.html |access-date=January 26, 2011 |website=JohnWayneTucker.com}} In 2010, Boone endorsed Republican Clayton Trotter in the race for Texas's 20th congressional district with an ad campaign referencing his song "Speedy Gonzales", about the Looney Tunes character.{{cite journal |author=Greg Jefferson |date=October 28, 2010 |title=Trotter's campaign ad had to be an inside job |url=https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Trotter-s-campaign-ad-had-to-be-an-inside-job-735873.php |journal=San Antonio Express-News |access-date=June 25, 2021}}{{cite web |author=Kyle Mantyla |date=October 28, 2010 |title=Clayton Trotter: "The Anglo With The Hispanic Heart" |url=https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/clayton-trotter-the-anglo-with-the-hispanic-heart/ |access-date=June 25, 2021 |website=RightWingWatch}} Boone received a lifetime achievement award at the 38th annual Conservative Political Action Conference held in 2011.{{cite web |date=February 9, 2011 |title=Boone Honored By CPAC Lifetime Achievement Award |url=http://60plus.org/boone-honored-by-cpac-lifetime-achievement-award |access-date=May 4, 2012 |website=60plus.org |publisher=60 Plus Association}}

In 2016, Boone, with Mike Huckabee and executive producer Troy Duhon, all of whom were involved in the film God's Not Dead 2, sent a letter to California Governor Jerry Brown in opposition to Senate Bill 1146,{{cite web |title=Bill Text – SB-1146 Discrimination: postsecondary education. |url=https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160SB1146 |access-date=January 22, 2019 |website=Leginfo.legislature.ca.gov}} which "prohibits a person from being subjected to discrimination" at California colleges. Other than schools that train pastors and theology teachers, schools "might no longer be allowed to hire Christian-only staff, teach religious ideas in regular classes, require attendance at chapel services, or keep bathrooms and dormitories restricted to either males or females".{{cite web |last=Bond |first=Paul |date=June 30, 2016 |title=God's Not Dead 2 Filmmakers Wade into California Politics |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gods-not-dead-2-filmmakers-907838 |access-date=August 24, 2016 |work=The Hollywood Reporter}}

Boone is a basketball fan and had ownership interests in two teams. He owned a team in the Hollywood Studio League called the Cooga Moogas, which included Bill Cosby, Rafer Johnson, Gardner McKay, Don Murray, and Denny "Tarzan" Miller.{{cite web |title=Oakland Oaks |url=http://www.remembertheaba.com/Oakland-Oaks.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927223307/http://www.remembertheaba.com/Oakland-Oaks.html |archive-date=September 27, 2007 |access-date=November 10, 2007 |work=Remember the ABA}} When the American Basketball Association launched in 1967, Boone was the majority owner of the league's team in Oakland, California. The team was first named the Oakland Americans, but was soon renamed the Oakland Oaks, the name under which it played from 1967 to 1969. The Oaks won the 1969 ABA championship.{{cite web |title=1968–69 ABA Regular Season Standings |url=http://www.remembertheaba.com/PlayoffPages/1969Playoffs.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071017202704/http://remembertheaba.com/PlayoffPages/1969Playoffs.html |archive-date=October 17, 2007 |access-date=November 10, 2007 |work=Remember the ABA}}

Despite their success on the court, the team had severe financial problems. In 1969, Bank of America threatened to foreclose on a $1.2 million loan,{{cite web |title=Oakland Oaks/Washington Caps/Virginia Squires Year-to-Year Franchise Notes |url=http://www.remembertheaba.com/VirginiaMaterial/OaksCapsSquiresYearly.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614055042/http://remembertheaba.com/VirginiaMaterial/OaksCapsSquiresYearly.html |archive-date=June 14, 2007 |access-date=November 10, 2007 |work=Remember the ABA}} and Boone sold the team to a Washington, D.C.-based investment group, and the team became the Washington Caps.{{cite web |title=Oakland Oaks/Washington Caps/Virginia Squires Year-to-Year Rosters |url=http://www.remembertheaba.com/VirginiaMaterial/SquiresRosters2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626220240/http://www.remembertheaba.com/VirginiaMaterial/SquiresRosters2.html |archive-date=June 26, 2007 |access-date=November 10, 2007 |work=Remember the ABA}}

Boone later played for the Virginia Creepers, an 80–84 age group Senior Olympics team that narrowly lost to the gold medal-winning team; Boone aged out at 85 in 2019.{{cite web |title=NSGA Basketball Results |url=https://nsga-results.fusesport.com/ladder.asp?id=154999&seasonid=285 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614055042/https://nsga-results.fusesport.com/ladder.asp?id=154999&seasonid=285 |archive-date=June 14, 2007 |access-date=November 10, 2007 |work=NSGA}}

Boone and his wife have been active in charitable endeavors. Together, they supported the founding of Mercy Corps in 1981, a global humanitarian organization focused on crisis response and development in over 40 countries. This initiative stemmed from an earlier project, Save the Refugees, which Shirley launched in 1979, during the Cambodian crisis.{{Cite web |title=Shirley Boone, wife of Pat Boone and philanthropist, dies |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2019/01/12/shirley-boone-wife-pat-boone-and-philanthropist-dies/2562797002/ |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}

The Boones also contributed to the creation of the Shirley and Pat Boone Life Center in Tanzania{{Cite web |date=2019-01-23 |title='We Started Holding Hands the Moment We Met': Pat Boone's Touching Tribute to His Wife Shirley Boone |url=https://cbn.com/news/news/we-started-holding-hands-moment-we-met-pat-boones-touching-tribute-his-wife-shirley-boone |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=CBN |language=en}} which provides clean drinking water, medical care, and education to local communities. The couple also created, through a multi-million dollar donation, the Shirley and Pat Boone Center for the Family at Pepperdine University, which educates students on building moral and healthy relationships.{{Cite web |title=Pat Boone: Charity Work & Causes |url=https://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/pat-boone |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=Look to the Stars |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=TimesOC |first=Kathleen Luppi Kathleen Luppi was the entertainment editor for |last2=TimesOC |first2=the Daily Pilot She left |last3=publications |first3=the Daily Pilot in 2018 Before joining those |last4=Register |first4=she was an award-winning journalist at the Orange County |last5=Retail |first5=Where for Seven Years She Helped Cover |last6=civil |last7=Trials |first7=Criminal |last8=Events |first8=Philanthropic |last9=home |date=2017-09-14 |title=Pat Boone celebrates 60 years of show business with O.C. concert |url=https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/entertainment/tn-wknd-et-pat-boone-20170914-story.html |access-date=2024-10-06 |website=Daily Pilot |language=en-US}}

Boone has performed in many musical genres such as pop, country music, rock and roll, R&B, gospel, and soul. His vocal style is similar to many crooners of his time like Frank Sinatra and Perry Como.

It is estimated that over the course of his career, he has recorded more than 2,600 official tracks, making him one of the most prolific artists in music history.{{cite news |author=Hopper, Hedda |date=November 16, 1956 |title=Bidding is hot as Pat Boone signs multi-movie contract |work=Chicago Daily Tribune |page=A4}} He has 38 hits on the U.S. Top 40, securing the number one spot six times. Until the 2010s, he held the record for the most consecutive weeks in the U.S. charts with at least one single in the Top 100, totaling 220 weeks.

No. 1 singles in the United States (Billboard Hot 100):

• "Ain't That a Shame" (1955)
• "I Almost Lost My Mind" (1956)
• "Don't Forbid Me" (1957)
• "Love Letters in the Sand" (1957)
• "April Love" (1957)
• "Moody River" (1961)

No. 1 singles in the United Kingdom (UK Singles Chart):

• "I'll Be Home" (1956)

Boone grew up in the Church of Christ.{{cite web|title=The religion of Pat Boone, singer|url=http://www.adherents.com/people/pb/Pat_Boone.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050731090423/http://www.adherents.com/people/pb/Pat_Boone.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=July 31, 2005|website=Adherents.com|access-date=June 6, 2010}} In the 1960s, Boone's marriage to Shirley Foley nearly came to an end because of his use of alcohol and his predilection to attend parties. However, after coming into contact with the Charismatic Movement, Shirley focussed on her religion and eventually influenced Pat and their daughters to have a similar religious focus.{{cite book|last=Neitz|first=Mary Jo|title=Charisma and Community: A Study of Religious Commitment Within the Charismatic Renewal|year=1987|publisher=Transaction Publishers|location=New Brunswick NJ|isbn=978-0-88738-130-0|page=76|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KrUr2ydLiwAC}} At the time they attended the Inglewood Church of Christ in Inglewood, California.

In 1964, Boone spoke at a "Project Prayer" rally at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. The gathering, which was hosted by Anthony Eisley, a star of ABC's Hawaiian Eye series, sought to flood the United States Congress with letters in support of mandatory school prayer, following two decisions in 1962 and 1963 of the United States Supreme Court that struck down mandatory prayer as conflicting with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.{{cite news |author=Drew Pearson |authorlink1=Drew Pearson (journalist) |title=The Washington Merry-Go-Round |date=May 14, 1964 |hdl=1961/2041-50658 |hdl-access=free |via=American University Digital Research Archive}} Joining Boone and Eisley at the Project Prayer rally were Walter Brennan, Lloyd Nolan, Rhonda Fleming, Gloria Swanson, and Dale Evans. Boone declared, "(W)hat the communists want is to subvert and undermine our young people... I believe in the power of aroused Americans, I believe in the wisdom of our Constitution.... the power of God." It was reported that Roy Rogers, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, Mary Pickford, Jane Russell, Ginger Rogers, and Pat Buttram endorsed the goals of the rally and would have attended had their schedules not been in conflict.

In the early 1970s, the Boones hosted Bible studies for such celebrities as Doris Day, Glenn Ford, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Priscilla Presley. The Boones attended The Church on the Way in Van Nuys, a Foursquare Gospel megachurch pastored by Jack Hayford.{{cite magazine|last=Gilbreath|first=Edward|title=Why Pat Boone Went 'Bad'|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1999/october4/9tb056.html|magazine=Christianity Today|access-date=October 4, 2009}}

On a 2016 broadcast of Fox News Radio's The Alan Colmes Show, Boone discussed an episode of Saturday Night Live that included a sketch entitled God Is a Boob Man; the sketch parodied the film God's Not Dead 2, in which Boone had a role.[http://radio.foxnews.com/2016/04/22/pat-boone-the-fcc-should-punish-blasphemy Pat Boone: The FCC Should Punish Blasphemy], on The Alan Colmes Show; published April 22, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2016 Boone described the sketch as "blasphemy", stating that the Federal Communications Commission should forbid such content and revoke the broadcast licenses of any "network, or whoever is responsible for the shows".

File:Pat Boone, Peter Ronson, James Mason, Arlene Dahl, Journey to the Center of the Earth, 1959.jpg, 1959]]

In 1956, Boone was one of the biggest recording stars in the US. Several studios pursued him for movies. He went with 20th Century Fox, which had made Elvis Presley's first movie. Fox reworked a play he had bought, Bernardine, into a vehicle for Boone. It was a hit, earning $3.75 million in the US.{{cite news |author=Schallert, Edwin |date=January 24, 1957 |title=Dean Jagger romances Gaynor; Deal to join Fairbanks and Dragon |work=Los Angeles Times |page=C9}}

Even more popular was April Love (1957), a remake of Home in Indiana. Boone regards it as one of his favourites, "the kind of movie I wish I could have made 20 more of: a musical, appealing characters, some drama, a good storyline, a happy ending, it's the kind of film which makes you feel good. I never wanted to make a depressing or immoral film."{{cite book |last=Verswijver |first=Leo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pNQylJinyQsC&q=%22pat+boone%22+%22yellow+canary%22+interview&pg=PA13 |title="Movies Were Always Magical": Interviews with 19 Actors, Directors, and Producers from the Hollywood of the 1930s through the 1950s |date=2003 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786411290 |page=6}}

Less popular was a musical comedy Mardi Gras (1958), which was the last movie directed by Edmund Goulding. However, Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959), a science fiction adventure tale, was a huge hit. Boone had been reluctant to do it, and needed to be persuaded by being offered the chance to sing several songs and getting a percentage of the profits, but was glad he did.{{Cite magazine |last=Vagg |first=Stephen |date=September 10, 2019 |title=The Surprisingly Interesting Cinema of Pat Boone |url=https://diaboliquemagazine.com/the-surprisingly-interesting-cinema-of-pat-boone/ |magazine=Diabolique Magazine}}

He produced and starred in a documentary, Salute to the Teenagers (1960), but did not make a film for a while, studying acting with Sanford Meisner. He returned with a military comedy, All Hands on Deck (1961), a mild hit.{{cite news |author=Dorothy Kilgallen |date=March 12, 1961 |title=Rumors Have Marlon Married to Movita |work=The Washington Post and Times-Herald |page=G3}}

He was one of several names in another remake, State Fair (1962), which disappointed at the box office. Musicals were becoming less fashionable in Hollywood, so Boone took on a dramatic role in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer-distributed The Main Attraction (1962) for Seven Arts Productions, his first movie outside Fox. It was an unhappy experience for Boone as he disliked the implication his character had sex with Nancy Kwan's and he got into several public fights with the producers.{{cite news |author=Ryon, Art |date=December 15, 1962 |title=Boone Fights Use of Movie That Lacks OK |work=Los Angeles Times |page=B5}} He had a deal with Fox to make three films at $200,000 each with his production company. This was meant to start with a thriller, The Yellow Canary (1963), in which Boone would play an unsympathetic character. New management came in at the studio, which was unenthusiastic about the picture but because Boone had a pay or play deal, it was made, but with a much-reduced budget. Boone paid some money out of his own pocket to help complete it.Mark Thomas McGee, Talk's Cheap, Action's Expensive: The Films of Robert L. Lippert, Bear Manor Media, 2014, pp. 271–72

Boone's next movie at Fox was another low-budget effort, The Horror of It All (1963), shot in England. He made a comedy in Ireland, Never Put It in Writing (1964), for Allied Artists. Boone's third film for Fox was an "A" production, Goodbye Charlie (1964), but he was supporting Debbie Reynolds and Tony Curtis. He was one of the many names in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and appeared in The Perils of Pauline (1967), a pilot for a TV series that did not eventuate, which was screened in some theatres. Boone's last film of note was The Cross and the Switchblade (1970).

{{Main|Pat Boone discography}}

Studio albums

{{div col}}

• Pat Boone
• Howdy!
• "Pat"
• Hymns We Love
• Pat Boone Sings Irving Berlin
• Star Dust
• Yes Indeed!
• Tenderly
• Pat Boone Sings
• Side by Side {{small|(with Shirley Boone)}}
• He Leadeth Me
• White Christmas
• Moonglow
• This and That
• Great! Great! Great!
• Moody River
• My God and I
• I'll See You in My Dreams
• Pat Boone Reads from the Holy Bible
• Pat Boone's Golden Hits Featuring Speedy Gonzales
• Love You Truly {{small|(with Shirley Boone)}}
• Pat Boone Sings Guess Who?
• Pat Boone Sings Days of Wine and Roses
• The Star Spangled Banner
• Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport
• Sing Along Without Pat Boone!
• The Touch of Your Lips
• Ain't That a Shame
• The Lord's Prayer and Other Great Hymns
• Boss Beat!
• Near You
• Blest Be Thy Name
• The Golden Era of Country Hits
• My 10th Anniversary with Dot Records
• Pat Boone Sings Winners of the Reader's Digest Poll
• Great Hits of 1965
• Memories
• Wish You Were Here, Buddy
• Christmas Is A Comin'
• How Great Thou Art
• I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman
• Look Ahead
• Departure
• Songs for Jesus Folk
• In the Holy Land
• The New Songs of the Jesus People
• All in the Boone Family
• Born Again
• Family Who Prays
• Pat Boone S-A-V-E-D
• I Love You More and More Each Day
• Pat Boone with the First Nashville Jesus Band
• Thank You Dear Lord
• The Pat Boone Family
• Songs from the Inner Court
• Something Supernatural
• Texas Woman
• The Country Side of Pat Boone
• Miracle Merry-Go-Round
• Just the Way I Am
• Songmaker
• A Pocketful of Hope
• Pat Boone Sings Golden Hymns
• I Remember Red: A Tribute to Red Foley
• The Pat Boone Family Christmas
• In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy
• Echoes of Mercy
• The Miracle of Christmas
• American Glory
• Nearer My God to Thee
• Glory Train: The Lost Sessions
• Dream of Ireland
• Hopeless Romantic
• We Are Family: R&B Classics
• Ready to Rock
• In A Symphonic Mood
• The True Spirit of Christmas
• Near
• Legacy
• Pat Boone's Favourite Bible Stories & Sing-Along Songs

{{div col end}}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

• 1955: The Pied Piper of Cleveland (documentary)
• 1957: Bernardine
• 1957: April Love
• 1958: Mardi Gras
• 1959: Journey to the Center of the Earth
• 1960: Salute to the Teenagers (TV documentary) (producer and host)
• 1961: All Hands on Deck
• 1962: State Fair
• 1962: The Main Attraction
• 1963: The Horror of It All
• 1963: The Yellow Canary
• 1964: Never Put It in Writing
• 1964: Goodbye Charlie
• 1965: The Greatest Story Ever Told
• 1967: The Perils of Pauline
• 1969: The Pigeon
• 1970: The Cross and the Switchblade
• 1986: The Fall Guy (TV series; episode "Beach Blanket Bounty")
• 1989: Roger & Me (documentary)
• 1990: Music Machine (voice of Mr. Conductor)
• 1991: Benny's Biggest Battle (voice of Mr. Conductor)
• 1993: The Statler Brothers Show (TV series)
• 1994: Precious Moments: Simon the Lamb (voice of The Shepherd)
• 1997: Space Ghost Coast to Coast (TV series)
• 2000: The Eyes of Tammy Faye (documentary)
• 2008: Hollywood on Fire (documentary)
• 2016: Boonville Redemption
• 2016: God's Not Dead 2
• 2017: A Cowgirl's Story
• 2022: The Mulligan
• 2024: Reagan

{{div col end}}

Boone was considered one of the top box-office stars in the U.S. as judged by the Quigley Poll of Movie Exhibitors in its Annual "Top Ten MoneyMakers Poll":[http://www.reelclassics.com/Articles/General/quigleytop10-article.htm Quigley Top 10 Box Office stars] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428100859/http://www.reelclassics.com/Articles/General/quigleytop10-article.htm |date=April 28, 2016 }} accessed August 31, 2014

• 1957: 3rd most popular star
• 1958: 11th most popular
• 1959: 22nd most popular
• 1960: 22nd most popular

• 'Twixt Twelve and Twenty: Pat talks to Teenagers (1958) Prentice Hall
• "Between You, Me and the Gatepost" (1960) Prentice Hall
• The Solution to Crisis-America (1970) F. H. Revell Co, {{ISBN|0-8007-8081-7}}
• A Miracle Saved My Family (1971) Oliphants, {{ISBN|0-551-00640-4}}
• The Real Christmas (1972) F. H. Revell Co, {{ISBN|0-8007-0546-7}}
• Joy! (1973) Creation House, {{ISBN|0-88419-060-9}}
• My Brother's Keeper? (1975) Victory Press, {{ISBN|0-85476-237-X}}
• My Faith (1976) C. R. Gibson Co, {{ISBN|0-8378-1764-1}}
• To Be or Not to Be an SOB: A Reaffirmation of Business Ethics (1979) Wordware Publishing, Incorporated, {{ISBN|0-89015-737-5}}
• The Honeymoon Is Over (1980) Creation House, {{ISBN|0-88419-130-3}}
• Marrying for Life: A Handbook of Marriage Skills (1982) HarperCollins Publishers, {{ISBN|0-86683-674-8}}
• Pray to Win (1982) Putnam Pub Group, {{ISBN|0-399-12494-2}}
• Pat Boone's Favorite Bible Stories (1984) Creation House, {{ISBN|0-88419-245-8}}
• Pat Boone's Favorite Bible Stories for the Very Young (1984) Random House of Canada, Limited, {{ISBN|0-394-85891-3}}
• A Miracle a Day Keeps the Devil Away (1986) Revell, {{ISBN|0-8007-0693-5}}
• New Song (1988) Impact Books, {{ISBN|0-86608-003-1}}
• Miracle of Prayer (1989) Zondervan, {{ISBN|0-310-22131-5}}
• The Human Touch: The Story of the National Easter Seal (1990) Certification Review, {{ISBN|0-914373-22-6}}
• Jesus Is Alive (1990) Thomas Nelson Inc, {{ISBN|1-55894-219-X}}
• Double Agent (2002) Publish America, Incorporated, {{ISBN|1-59129-469-X}}
• Goodnight, Whatever You Are!: My Journey with Zacherley, the Cool Ghoul (2006) Tradeselect Limited, {{ISBN|1-933384-03-4}}
• Pat Boone's America: A Pop Culture Treasury of the Past Fifty Years (2006) B&H Publishing Group, {{ISBN|0-8054-4376-2}}
• Culture-Wise Family: Upholding Christian Values in A Mass-Media World (2007) Gospel Light Publications, {{ISBN|0-8307-4355-3}}
• The Marriage Game (2007) New Leaf Press, Inc., {{ISBN|0-89221-114-8}}
• Questions About God: And the Answers That Could Change Your Life (2008) Lighthouse Publishing, {{ISBN|1-935079-13-1}}
• Pat Boone Devotional Book (2009) G. K. Hall, {{ISBN|0-8161-6630-7}}
• If: The Eternal Choice We All Must Make: Pat Boone, {{ISBN|9781948014458}}

• University of North Texas Alumni Directory, Pat (Charles E.) Boone, (1994) {{OCLC|768191551}}
• ASCAP Biographical Dictionary, fourth edition, compiled for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, by Jaques Cattell Press, R. R. Bowker (1980) {{OCLC|7065938}} {{ISBN|0-8352-1283-1}} {{ISBN|978-0-8352-1283-0}}
• Biographical Dictionary of American Music, edited by Charles Eugene Claghorn (1911–2005), Parker Publishing Co., West Nyack, New York (1973) {{OCLC|609781}} {{ISBN|0-13-076331-4}} {{ISBN|978-0-13-076331-0}}
• Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, by Randall Herbert Balmer, Baylor University Press (2004) {{OCLC|191038717}} {{ISBN|1-60258-038-3}} {{ISBN|978-1-60258-038-1}}
• The Encyclopedia of Folk, Country & Western Music, second edition, by Irwin Stambler (born 1924) and Grelun S. Landon (1923–2004), St. Martin's Press (1983) {{OCLC|8430828}} {{ISBN|0-312-24818-0}} {{ISBN|978-0-312-24818-5}}
• Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, eighth edition, revised by Nicolas Slonimsky, Macmillan Publishing Co. (1992) {{OCLC|24246972}} {{ISBN|0-02-872415-1}} {{ISBN|978-0-02-872415-7}}
• Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, ninth edition, edited by Laura Kuhn, Schirmer Books (2001) {{OCLC|44972043}} {{ISBN|0-02-865525-7}} {{ISBN|978-0-02-865525-3}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{official website}}
• {{IMDb name|0004769}}
• {{emmytvlegends name}}
• [http://www.tsimon.com/boone.htm Brief biography], by Tom Simon, December 25, 2002
• [http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz0002qz24 Image of Pat Boone with his wife Shirley and their four children after disembarking a plane in Los Angeles, California, 1959]. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

{{Pat Boone}}

{{UK best-selling singles (by year) 1952–1969}}

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