The Christian actor and star of "The Mulligan" stays true to his values and decries all the "immoral" content Hollywood churns out.
With an entertainment career stretching back to the 1950s and spanning singing, television and movies, Pat Boone has pretty much seen it all. At 87 years old, he is still active professionally, having just starred in the faith-based film The Mulligan, playing the "Old Pro," who mentors a younger character in both golf and life.
That fits a pattern throughout his career of consistently taking parts that conform to his wholesome image. In an interview with Fox News, Boone makes clear that The Mulligan is in keeping with his own taste in movies, too.
"It's an uplifting film that was beautifully made. Families can watch it together."
Alas, that's not often what he sees coming out of Hollywood, saying that "many of the movies being made now are immoral." That, of course, is not a new phenomenon: Boone himself turned down a starring role opposite Marylin Monroe in the early 1960s because the film featured an "illicit affair" and flew in the face of his Christian convictions.
He still remembers a lesson he learned from a schoolteacher who told him, "It's always right to do right, and it's always wrong to do wrong." Acknowledging that "it sounds so simple," the widower and father of four adult daughters says it has nonetheless guided him over his long career.
"It was a moral lesson. I've turned down songs with lyrics that I just couldn't sing: it just didn't feel right for me to do. The same thing applies to movies and television. My form of entertainment has made me who I am. I'm not about to change that now."
And it's not as if Boone doesn't have a choice, saying he's, "still getting scripts," before deadpanning, "I think the word is out in Hollywood: if you have a role for an 80-year-old who still remembers his lines, get Pat Boone!"