Have Gun, Will Travel debuted on television on September 14, 1957 and moved to radio November 23, 1958. The program was an oddity, a western that began on television and moved to radio, featuring an ethical anti-hero whose mysterious origins were left untold until the fifth and final TV season. John Dehner, a versatile character actor who had earlier worked as a Disney animator on Fantasia and Bambi, portrayed the role originated on television by Richard Boone. This final radio program brought the saga of Paladin to a close, even though the gunslinger's adventures would continue for another two seasons on television. "It was an unusual finish to an unusual series," observed radio historian John Dunning, "the cowboy riding east into the sunrise."