He earned an MFA from Southern Methodist University and went on to become a resident actor at the Oregon Shakespeare Company.

He was named after a friend of his father`s that was killed in World War II.

For his role on Tombstone (1993), he was trained by renowned Hollywood Gun Coach Thell Reed, who has also trained such actors as: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Bill Paxton, Sam Elliot, Michael Biehn, Brad Pitt, Girard Swan and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Has Native American ancestry.

Born to Merrill Vestal Boothe and his wife Emily Kathryn Reeves.

During the 1980 actor`s strike, he was one of the few nominees to attend the Emmy Awards ceremony, and the only winner to accept his award in person.

Father of Parisse Boothe.

His first film role was as a Bolivian bandito in the 1969 classic, "Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid". He had no lines and did not receive a credit.

In September of 1980, in an act of defiance, he showed up at the Emmy Awards ceremony to collect the award he had won for playing Jim Jones. The Screen Actors Guild was in the middle of a strike and members boycotted the ceremony until the strike was settled. He was the only winner in an acting category who showed up. The incident was referenced in the James L. Brooks film, I`ll Do Anything (1994).

He was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity at Southwest Texas State University.