{{Short description|American actor (1909–2003)}} {{Infobox person | name = True Boardman | image = | birth_name = True Eames Boardman | birth_date = {{Birth date|1909|10|25}} | birth_place = Seattle, Washington, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2003|7|28|1909|10|25}} | death_place = Pebble Beach, California, U.S. | other_names = | occupation = Actor, scriptwriter | years_active = 1912–1974 | spouse = Thelma Joyce Hubbard<br>(m. 1935; died 1978)<br>Kathleen Gilmour<br>(m. 1982) | parents = Virginia Eames<br>True Boardman | children = | relatives = Lisa Gerritsen (granddaughter) }}

'''True Eames Boardman'''<ref name="kiehn">Kiehn, David (2003). ''[https://archive.org/details/bronchobillyessa0000kieh/page/98/mode/2up?q=%22William+True+Boardman%22+%22True+Eames+Boardman%22 Broncho Billy and the Essanay Film Company]''. Berkeley, CA: Farewell Books. p.&nbsp;98. {{ISBN|0972922652}}.</ref><ref name="auto2">"United States Census, 1920", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHQX-VNT : Sun Jul 14 08:07:43 UTC 2024), Entry for Margaret Boardman and True E Boardman, 1920.</ref><ref>University of California at Berkeley (1934). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ngI5AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA3-PP6&dq=%22true+eames+boardman%22+%22bachelor+of+arts%22 Register of the University of California, Volume 2]''. Berkeley, CA: University of California. p.&nbsp;6. {{OCLC| 27130928}}.</ref><ref name="auto">"California, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1945", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGFS-2516 : Fri Mar 08 15:30:26 UTC 2024), Entry for True Eames Boardman and Thelma Hubbard Boardman, 16 October 1940.</ref> (October 25, 1909 &ndash; July 28, 2003) was an American actor and scriptwriter.

==Life and career== Boardman, whose given names were derived, respectively, from his paternal grandmother's maiden name and his mother's stage name,<ref name="kiehn"/> was born in Seattle, Washington. He was the only child of actress Virginia Eames and action-adventure star True Boardman.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|author= |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-aug-03-me-boardman3-story.html |title=True Boardman, 94; Child Actor, Scriptwriter - Los Angeles Times |publisher=Articles.latimes.com |date=2003-08-03 |access-date=2014-03-30}}</ref> Boardman's education included a bachelor's degree in English literature from UCLA and a master's degree in theater from Occidental College.<ref name=":0" />

He began acting in 1912 and had acted in six films by the age of 10. He acted with Charles Chaplin in "Shoulder Arms" in 1918. Boardman was a writer for ''Silver Theater'', a dramatic anthology series on CBS radio in the 1930s and 1940s.<ref name="dunningota">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22Silver+Theater,+Hollywood+drama%22&pg=PA615|last=Dunning |first=John |author-link=John Dunning (detective fiction author) |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |pages=615–616 |edition=Revised |access-date=2019-10-22}}</ref> On May 21 and May 28, 1939, he also appeared as an actor on the program, starring with Helen Hayes in "Crossroads for Two," a two-part drama.<ref name="auto3">{{cite news|title=Boardman to Act with Helen Hayes|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2109430/silver_theater_boardman_hayes/|agency=Belvidere Daily Republican|date=May 20, 1939|page=5|via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = March 31, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref>

During World War II, Boardman was an Army captain whose duties included creating radio programming for American troops via the Armed Forces Radio Service.<ref name=":0" />

==Personal life and death== Boardman's first marriage, to radio/voiceover actress and television writer Thelma Joyce Hubbard, lasted from 1935 until her death following a long illness in 1978.<ref name="auto1">[https://www.newspapers.com/image/678510883/?clipping_id=154115296 "Wedding March"]. ''Los Angeles Evening Post-Record''. March 25, 1935. p.&nbsp;4. Retrieved August 27, 2024.</ref><ref name="TBreTH">Boardman, True (May 11, 1978). [https://www.newspapers.com/image/384364051/?clipping_id=154108461 "Chariot Rider Works a Miracle on Her Beat; Now the Regulars Miss Her"]. ''The Los Angeles Times''. p.&nbsp;45. Retrieved August 27, 2024.</ref> Their union produced two daughters.<ref name="TBreTH"/> The second and final marriage, dating from 1982 until his own death, was to Kathleen Gilmour.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="auto4">"California Marriage Index, 1960-1985", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V6NB-5JJ : 26 January 2024), Kathleen Gilmour, 1982.</ref>

On July 28, 2003, Boardman died in Pebble Beach, California, aged 94, survived by his wife and both daughters from the previous marriage, as well as six grandchildren,<ref name=":0" /> one of whom was former child actress Lisa Gerritsen.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-peninsula-times-tribune/154144211/ "Granddad's Writing Keeps Her Riding"]. ''Peninsula Living''. December 26, 1970. p.&nbsp;14. Retrieved August 27, 2024.</ref>

==Selected filmography==

===As a writer=== * ''Pardon My Sarong'' (1942) * ''Arabian Nights'' (1942) * ''The Painted Hills'' (1951)

===As an actor=== * ''Broncho Billy's Heart'' (1912) * ''The Reward for Broncho Billy'' (1912) * ''Broncho Billy Reforms'' (1913) * ''Snakeville's Fire Brigade'' (1914) * ''The Conquest of Man'' (1914) * ''Sophie's Birthday Party'' (1914) * ''The Hazards of Helen'' (1914) * ''Shoulder Arms'' (1918) (in unused scenes) * ''The Flirt'' (1922) * ''Dan August''

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== * Holmstrom, John. ''The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995'', Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, pp.&nbsp;40 – 41.

==External links== *{{IMDb name|0090205|True Boardman}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boardman, True Eames}} Category:American male silent film actors Category:American male screenwriters Category:20th-century American male actors Category:1909 births Category:2003 deaths Category:20th-century American male writers Category:20th-century American screenwriters Category:American male child actors