William Boyd

Acting June 4, 1895 (77 years old) September 12, 1972 Hendrysburg, Ohio, USA

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.

Movies 143

6.3

The Greatest Show on Earth

as Hopalong Cassidy (uncredited)

1952

6.4

The King of Kings

as Simon Of Cyrene

1927

6.8

The Movie Orgy

as Hopalong Cassidy (archive footage)

1968

8.0

Power

as Husky

1928

5.0

Partners of the Plains

as Hopalong Cassidy

1938

4.3

Secret of the Wastelands

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941

5.2

Heart of the West

as Hopalong Cassidy

1936

6.7

The Cop

as Pete Smith

1928

5.9

The Affairs of Anatol

as Guest

1921

5.3

Riders of the Deadline

as Ranger William "Hopalong" Cassidy

1943

6.7

Bar 20 Rides Again

as Hopalong Cassidy

1935

6.5

Hop-a-long Cassidy

as Hopalong Cassidy

1935

5.8

Call of the Prairie

as Hopalong Cassidy

1936

5.2

The Painted Desert

as Bill Holbrook

1931

7.0

Her Man o' War

as Jim Sanderson

1926

8.5

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

as (archive footage)

1976

9.0

Land of Liberty

as (archive footage)

1939

8.0

Federal Agent

as Bob Woods

1936

7.0

The Midshipman

as Spud

1925

5.0

Twilight on the Trail

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941

7.5

It's Showtime

as Self (archive footage)

1976

7.0

Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star

as Self (archive footage)

1991

5.0

Hills of Old Wyoming

as Hopalong Cassidy

1937

6.7

Moran of the Lady Letty

as Ramon's Friend at Homecoming

1922

6.0

Outlaws of the Desert

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941

5.2

Lady of the Pavements

as Karl Von Arnim

1929

4.5

Riders of the Timberline

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941

6.8

The Road to Yesterday

as Jack Moreland

1925

5.5

Heart of Arizona

as Hopalong Cassidy

1938

8.0

On the High Seas

as Dick Deveraux

1922

6.4

Old Wives for New

as (uncredited)

1918

9.0

Going Hollywood: The '30s

as (archive footage)

1984

5.8

The Eagle's Brood

as Hopalong Cassidy

1935

7.3

Port of Lost Dreams

as Lars Christensen

1934

5.7

Undercover Man

as Hopalong Cassidy

1942

6.1

The Big Gamble

as Alan Beckwith

1931

10.0

Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs

as (archive footage)

2000

6.6

Three Men from Texas

as Hopalong Cassidy

1940

5.7

Stick to Your Guns

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941

5.5

Carnival Boat

as Buck Gannon

1932

6.0

The Dead Don't Dream

as Hopalong Cassidy

1948

8.0

After the Show

as (uncredited)

1921

6.5

Silver on the Sage

as Hopalong Cassidy

1939

5.0

Suicide Fleet

as Baltimore

1931

5.6

Hoppy Serves a Writ

as Hopalong Cassidy

1943

5.8

Two Arabian Knights

as Daingerfield Phelps

1927

6.2

Border Patrol

as Hopalong Cassidy

1943

4.9

Go-Get-'Em, Haines

as Steve Haines

1936

5.0

Law of the Pampas

as Hopalong Cassidy

1939

6.0

Cassidy of Bar 20

as Hopalong Cassidy

1938

5.8

The Frontiersmen

as Hopalong Cassidy

1938

6.3

The Devil's Playground

as Hopalong Cassidy

1946

7.2

Dress Parade

as Vic Donovan

1927

6.0

Colt Comrades

as Hopalong Cassidy

1943

9.0

New Lives for Old

as Soldier (uncredited)

1925

5.8

Lumberjack

as Hopalong Cassidy

1944

6.5

The Volga Boatman

as Feodor

1926

6.3

Emergency Call

as Joe Bradley

1933

4.9

Bar 20

as Hopalong Cassidy

1943

6.5

Brewster's Millions

as Harrison

1921

6.3

Sunset Trail

as Hopalong Cassidy

1939

9.0

Hollywood

as William Boyd

1923

6.8

North of the Rio Grande

as Hopalong Cassidy

1937

5.0

Forty Thieves

as Hopalong Cassidy

1944

8.0

The Temple of Venus

as Stanley Dale

1923

6.8

Hopalong Cassidy Returns

as Hopalong Cassidy

1936

10.0

Cheaters

as Steve Morris

1934

8.0

Forty Winks

as Lt. Gerald Hugh Butterworth

1925

8.5

His First Command

as Terry Culver

1929

6.1

Leather Burners

as Hopalong Cassidy

1943

7.5

Borderland

as Hopalong Cassidy

1937

6.2

Flaming Gold

as Dan Manton

1932

6.7

Something to Think About

as (uncredited)

1920

5.2

Officer O'Brien

as Bill O'Brien

1930

9.0

The Six Best Cellars

as Holsappel (uncredited)

1920

6.5

Pride of the West

as Hopalong Cassidy

1938

5.2

High Voltage

as Bill

1929

6.3

False Paradise

as William "Hopalong" Cassidy

1948

10.0

The City of Masks

as Carpenter

1920

6.5

Fool's Gold

as Hopalong Cassidy

1946

4.7

False Colors

as Hopalong Cassidy

1943

6.0

Three on the Trail

as Hopalong Cassidy

1936

9.0

The Last Frontier

as Tom Kirby

1926

5.3

Doomed Caravan

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941

5.9

Saturday Night

as Party Guest

1922

7.0

Moonlight and Honeysuckle

as Robert V. Courtney

1921

Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 5

as William Boyd

1930

5.7

The Leatherneck

as William Calhoun

1929

7.0

The Marauders

as Hopalong Cassidy

1947

6.0

Men Of America

as Jim Parker

1932

7.0

Changing Husbands

as Conrad Bardshaw

1924

9.0

Beyond Victory

as Bill Thatcher

1931

6.3

Dangerous Venture

as Hopalong Cassidy

1947

6.3

Lost Canyon

as Hopalong Cassidy

1942

8.0

The Jucklins

as Dan Stuart

1921

6.3

Pirates on Horseback

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941

Television: The First Fifty Years

as Hopalong Cassidy (archive footage)

1999

6.2

Texas Trail

as Hopalong Cassidy

1937

8.0

Racing Luck

as Dan Morgan

1935

6.7

The Yankee Clipper

as Hal Winslow

1927

6.0

Stagecoach War

as Hopalong Cassidy

1940

6.5

Strange Gamble

as Hopalong Cassidy

1948

6.3

Border Vigilantes

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941

6.3

Hopalong Rides Again

as Hopalong Cassidy

1937

5.5

Manslaughter

as (uncredited)

1922

5.4

Bar 20 Justice

as Hopalong Cassidy

1938

6.5

Texas Masquerade

as Hopalong Cassidy

1944

6.6

Forbidden Fruit

as Billiards Player

1921

6.0

Silent Conflict

as Hopalong Cassidy

1948

6.5

Wide Open Town

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941

6.4

Lucky Devils

as Skipper Clark

1933

9.0

Enemies of Children

as Sidney Godfrey

1923

5.3

Mystery Man

as Hopalong Cassidy

1944

7.0

Eve's Leaves

as Bill Stanley

1926

5.0

Renegade Trail

as Hopalong Cassidy

1939

6.0

The Flying Fool

as Bill Taylor

1929

9.0

A Wise Fool

as Gerard Fynes

1921

6.7

In Old Mexico

as Hopalong Cassidy

1938

6.0

Unexpected Guest

as Hopalong Cassidy

1947

8.0

Nice People

as Oliver Comstock

1922

6.4

In Old Colorado

as Hopalong Cassidy

1941

5.8

Rustlers' Valley

as Hopalong Cassidy

1937

6.0

The Showdown

as Hopalong Cassidy

1940

10.0

Bobbed Hair

as Dick Barton

1922

6.5

The Night Flyer

as Jimmy Bradley

1928

5.8

Hidden Gold

as Hopalong Cassidy

1940

5.3

Trail Dust

as Hopalong Cassidy

1936

7.0

Little Smokey

as Hopalong Cassidy

1953

7.0

Feet of Clay

as Young Society Man (uncredited)

1924

6.5

Range War

as Hopalong Cassidy

1939

6.5

Burning Gold

as Jim Thornton

1936

6.2

Santa Fe Marshal

as Hopalong Cassidy

1940

6.0

Hoppy's Holiday

as Hopalong Cassidy

1947

8.0

Jim the Conqueror

as Jim Burgess

1926

7.7

The Young Rajah

as Stephen Van Kovert

1922

6.7

Borrowed Trouble

as Hopalong Cassidy

1948

8.0

Tarnish

as Bill

1924

9.0

A City Sparrow

as Hughie Ray

1920

5.8

Skyscraper

as Blondy

1928

6.0

Sinister Journey

as Hopalong Cassidy

1948

10.0

Exit the Vamp

as Robert Pitts

1921

9.0

Was He Guilty?

1919

10.0

Michael O'Halloran

as Douglas Bruce

1923

TV Shows 2

7.7

Western von gestern

as Bill Holbrook (archive footage)

1978

5.3

Hopalong Cassidy

as Hopalong Cassidy

1952