William Boyd

Known for ActingBorn 1895-06-04Died 1972-09-12Hendrysburg, Ohio, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William Lawrence Boyd (June 5, 1895 – September 12, 1972) was an American film actor who is best known for portraying the cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy. Boyd was born in Hendrysburg, Ohio, and reared in Cambridge, Ohio and Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was the son of a day laborer, Charles William Boyd, and his wife, the former Lida Wilkens (aka Lyda). Following his father's death, he moved to California and worked as an orange picker, surveyor, tool dresser and auto salesman. In Hollywood, he found work as an extra in Why Change Your Wife? and other films. During World War I, he enlisted in the army but was exempt from military service because of a "weak heart". More prominent film roles followed, including his breakout role as Jack Moreland in Cecil B. DeMille's The Road to Yesterday (1925) which starred also Joseph Schildkraut, Jetta Goudal, and Vera Reynolds. Boyd's performance in the film was praised by critics, while movie-goers were equally impressed by his easy charm, charisma, and intense good-looks. Due to Boyd's growing popularity, DeMille soon cast him as the leading man in the highly acclaimed silent drama film, The Volga Boatman. Boyd's role as Feodor blew critics away, and with Boyd now firmly established as a matinee idol and romantic leading man, he began earning an annual salary of $100,000. He acted in DeMille's extravaganza The King of Kings (in which he played Simon of Cyrene, helping Jesus carry the cross) and DeMille's Skyscraper (1928). He then appeared in D.W. Griffith's Lady of the Pavements (1929). Radio Pictures ended Boyd's contract in 1931 when his picture was mistakenly run in a newspaper story about the arrest of another actor, William "Stage" Boyd, on gambling and liquor charges. Although the newspaper apologized, explaining the mistake in the following day's newspaper, Boyd said, "The damage was already done." William "Stage" Boyd died in 1935, the same year William L. Boyd became Hopalong Cassidy, the role that led to his enduring fame. But at the time in 1931, Boyd was virtually broke and without a job, and for a few years he was credited in films as "Bill Boyd" to prevent being mistaken for the other William Boyd.Read more

Movies & web series

Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs

Cheaters

Michael O'Halloran

Bobbed Hair

Exit the Vamp

The City of Masks

Going Hollywood: The '30s

Land of Liberty

Beyond Victory

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

The Last Frontier

New Lives for Old

Enemies of Children

Hollywood

A Wise Fool

The Six Best Cellars

A City Sparrow

Was He Guilty?

His First Command

Western von gestern

Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star

Federal Agent

Racing Luck

Power

It's Showtime

Jim the Conqueror

Forty Winks

Tarnish

The Temple of Venus

Nice People

On the High Seas

After the Show

The Jucklins

The Young Rajah

Borderland

Port of Lost Dreams

Little Smokey

The Movie Orgy

The Marauders

Dress Parade

Her Man o' War

Eve's Leaves

The Midshipman

Feet of Clay

Changing Husbands

Moonlight and Honeysuckle

Borrowed Trouble

Hopalong Cassidy Returns