Trivia

Was good friends with John Cleese, who cast him in his "Fawlty Towers" TV show as an obstreperous American in Waldorf Salad (1979).

Like Tony Sibbald, he was Canadian but often played Americans on British television, as he lived in the U.K. and Brits tend to not be able to tell the difference between the American accent and the Canadian accent.

He worked for Dundee Rep in 1960.

He was a prolific Canadian character actor, who spent the bulk of his screen career in Britain, beginning in 1958. He often portrayed stereotypical American authority figures, such as generals or senators. Boa is fondly remembered as the American guest at Fawlty Towers (1975), ordering the Waldorf, and as rebel General Rieekan in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) as well as the Colonel who chastises Private Joker in Full Metal Jacket.

Boa played for the Calgary Stampeders (Canadian Football League) in 1952

Brother of psychoanalyst Marion Woodman.

Aside from acting, he had also written poetry, a novel and film scripts. He remarked at one point he had hoped to make a living combining writing and acting.

He attended the University of Western Ontario, graduating in 1952.