William Boyd

Personal Info

Known For Actor

Gender Male

Birthday 1895-06-04

Deathday 1972-09-12 (77 years old)

Place of Birth Hendrysburg, Ohio, USA

Also Known As Bill Boyd, Hopalong Cassidy, William Lawrence Boyd

William Boyd

Biography

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.

Known For

Actor

2000
Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs

as (archive footage)

1999
Television: The First Fifty Years

as Hopalong Cassidy (archive footage)

1991
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star

as Self (archive footage)

1984
Going Hollywood: The '30s

as (archive footage)

1978
Western von gestern

as Bill Holbrook (archive footage)

1976
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

as (archive footage)

1976
It's Showtime

as Self (archive footage)

1968
The Movie Orgy

as Hopalong Cassidy (archive footage)

1953
Little Smokey

as Hopalong Cassidy

1952
The Greatest Show on Earth

as Hopalong Cassidy (uncredited)

1952
Hopalong Cassidy

as Hopalong Cassidy

1948
Strange Gamble

as Hopalong Cassidy

1948
False Paradise

as William "Hopalong" Cassidy

1948
Borrowed Trouble

as Hopalong Cassidy

1948
Sinister Journey

as Hopalong Cassidy

1948
The Dead Don't Dream

as Hopalong Cassidy

1948
Silent Conflict

as Hopalong Cassidy

1947
Hoppy's Holiday

as Hopalong Cassidy

1947
The Marauders

as Hopalong Cassidy

1947
Dangerous Venture

as Hopalong Cassidy

1947
Unexpected Guest

as Hopalong Cassidy

1946
The Devil's Playground

as Hopalong Cassidy

1946
Fool's Gold

as Hopalong Cassidy

1944
Forty Thieves

as Hopalong Cassidy

1944
Mystery Man

as Hopalong Cassidy

1944
Lumberjack

as Hopalong Cassidy

1944
Texas Masquerade

as Hopalong Cassidy

1943
Riders of the Deadline

as Ranger William "Hopalong" Cassidy

1943
False Colors

as Hopalong Cassidy

1943
Bar 20

as Hopalong Cassidy

1943
Colt Comrades

as Hopalong Cassidy

1943
Leather Burners

as Hopalong Cassidy

1943
Border Patrol

as Hopalong Cassidy

1943
Hoppy Serves a Writ

as Hopalong Cassidy

1942
Lost Canyon

as Hopalong Cassidy

1942
Undercover Man

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941
Secret of the Wastelands

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941
Outlaws of the Desert

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941
Twilight on the Trail

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941
Riders of the Timberline

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941
Stick to Your Guns

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941
Wide Open Town

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941
Pirates on Horseback

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941
Border Vigilantes

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941
In Old Colorado

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941
Doomed Caravan

as Hopalong Cassidy

1940
Three Men from Texas

as Hopalong Cassidy

1940
Stagecoach War

as Hopalong Cassidy

1940
Hidden Gold

as Hopalong Cassidy

1940
The Showdown

as Hopalong Cassidy

1940
Santa Fe Marshal

as Hopalong Cassidy

1939
Law of the Pampas

as Hopalong Cassidy

1939
Range War

as Hopalong Cassidy

1939
Renegade Trail

as Hopalong Cassidy

1939
Land of Liberty

as (archive footage)

1939
Silver on the Sage

as Hopalong Cassidy

1939
Sunset Trail

as Hopalong Cassidy

1938
The Frontiersmen

as Hopalong Cassidy

1938
In Old Mexico

as Hopalong Cassidy

1938
Pride of the West

as Hopalong Cassidy

1938
Bar 20 Justice

as Hopalong Cassidy

1938
Heart of Arizona

as Hopalong Cassidy

1938
Cassidy of Bar 20

as Hopalong Cassidy

1938
Partners of the Plains

as Hopalong Cassidy

1937
Texas Trail

as Hopalong Cassidy

1937
Hopalong Rides Again

as Hopalong Cassidy

1937
Rustlers' Valley

as Hopalong Cassidy

1937
North of the Rio Grande

as Hopalong Cassidy

1937
Hills of Old Wyoming

as Hopalong Cassidy

1937
Borderland

as Hopalong Cassidy

1936
Trail Dust

as Hopalong Cassidy

1936
Hopalong Cassidy Returns

as Hopalong Cassidy

1936
Go-Get-'Em, Haines

as Steve Haines

1936
Burning Gold

as Jim Thornton

1936
Three on the Trail

as Hopalong Cassidy

1936
Federal Agent

as Bob Woods

1936
Call of the Prairie

as Hopalong Cassidy

1936
Heart of the West

as Hopalong Cassidy

1935
Bar 20 Rides Again

as Hopalong Cassidy

1935
Racing Luck

as Dan Morgan

1935
The Eagle's Brood

as Hopalong Cassidy

1935
Hop-a-long Cassidy

as Hopalong Cassidy

1934
Port of Lost Dreams

as Lars Christensen

1934
Cheaters

as Steve Morris

1933
Emergency Call

as Joe Bradley

1933
Lucky Devils

as Skipper Clark

1932
Men Of America

as Jim Parker

1932
Flaming Gold

as Dan Manton

1932
Carnival Boat

as Buck Gannon

1931
Suicide Fleet

as Baltimore

1931
The Big Gamble

as Alan Beckwith

1931
Beyond Victory

as Bill Thatcher

1931
The Painted Desert

as Bill Holbrook

1930
Officer O'Brien

as Bill O'Brien

1929
His First Command

as Terry Culver

1929
The Flying Fool

as Bill Taylor

1929
High Voltage

as Bill

1929
The Leatherneck

as William Calhoun

1929
Lady of the Pavements

as Karl Von Arnim

1928
Power

as Husky

1928
The Cop

as Pete Smith

1928
Skyscraper

as Blondy

1928
The Night Flyer

as Jimmy Bradley

1927
Dress Parade

as Vic Donovan

1927
Two Arabian Knights

as Daingerfield Phelps

1927
The Yankee Clipper

as Hal Winslow

1927
The King of Kings

as Simon Of Cyrene

1926
Her Man o' War

as Jim Sanderson

1926
1926
Eve's Leaves

as Bill Stanley

1925
The Road to Yesterday

as Jack Moreland

1925
1925
New Lives for Old

as Soldier (uncredited)

1925
Forty Winks

as Lt. Gerald Hugh Butterworth

1924
Feet of Clay

as Young Society Man (uncredited)

1924
Tarnish

as Bill

1924
Changing Husbands

as Conrad Bardshaw

1923
Enemies of Children

as Sidney Godfrey

1923
The Temple of Venus

as Stanley Dale

1923
Hollywood

as William Boyd

1923
Michael O'Halloran

as Douglas Bruce

1922
The Young Rajah

as Stephen Van Kovert

1922
Manslaughter

as (uncredited)

1922
On the High Seas

as Dick Deveraux

1922
Nice People

as Oliver Comstock

1922
Moran of the Lady Letty

as Ramon's Friend at Homecoming

1922
Saturday Night

as Party Guest

1922
Bobbed Hair

as Dick Barton

1921
After the Show

as (uncredited)

1921
A Wise Fool

as Gerard Fynes

1921
1921
Forbidden Fruit

as Billiards Player

1920
A City Sparrow

as Hughie Ray

1920
Something to Think About

as (uncredited)

1920
The Six Best Cellars

as Holsappel (uncredited)

1918
Old Wives for New

as (uncredited)

Director

1932
Men Of America

as Director

Producer

1952
Hopalong Cassidy

as Producer