William Boyd
Born
June 4, 1895
Died
September 12, 1972 (77 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Hendrysburg, 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.
Known For

Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs
(archive footage)
2000
Television: The First Fifty Years
Hopalong Cassidy (archive footage)
1999

Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
Self (archive footage)
1991

Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
1984

Western von gestern
Bill Holbrook (archive footage) · (1 episode)
1978

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
(archive footage)
1976

It's Showtime
Self (archive footage)
1976

The Movie Orgy
Hopalong Cassidy (archive footage)
1968
Little Smokey
Hopalong Cassidy
1953

Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy · (40 episodes)
1952

The Greatest Show on Earth
Hopalong Cassidy (uncredited)
1952

Strange Gamble
Hopalong Cassidy
1948

False Paradise
William "Hopalong" Cassidy
1948

Borrowed Trouble
Hopalong Cassidy
1948

Sinister Journey
Hopalong Cassidy
1948

The Dead Don't Dream
Hopalong Cassidy
1948

Silent Conflict
Hopalong Cassidy
1948

Hoppy's Holiday
Hopalong Cassidy
1947

The Marauders
Hopalong Cassidy
1947

Dangerous Venture
Hopalong Cassidy
1947

Unexpected Guest
Hopalong Cassidy
1947

The Devil's Playground
Hopalong Cassidy
1946

Fool's Gold
Hopalong Cassidy
1946

Forty Thieves
Hopalong Cassidy
1944

Mystery Man
Hopalong Cassidy
1944

Lumberjack
Hopalong Cassidy
1944

Texas Masquerade
Hopalong Cassidy
1944

Riders of the Deadline
Ranger William "Hopalong" Cassidy
1943

False Colors
Hopalong Cassidy
1943

Bar 20
Hopalong Cassidy
1943

Colt Comrades
Hopalong Cassidy
1943

Leather Burners
Hopalong Cassidy
1943

Border Patrol
Hopalong Cassidy
1943

Hoppy Serves a Writ
Hopalong Cassidy
1943

Lost Canyon
Hopalong Cassidy
1942

Undercover Man
Hopalong Cassidy
1942

Secret of the Wastelands
Hopalong Cassidy
1941

Outlaws of the Desert
Hopalong Cassidy
1941

Twilight on the Trail
Hopalong Cassidy
1941

Riders of the Timberline
Hopalong Cassidy
1941

Stick to Your Guns
Hopalong Cassidy
1941

Wide Open Town
Hopalong Cassidy
1941

Pirates on Horseback
Hopalong Cassidy
1941

Border Vigilantes
Hopalong Cassidy
1941

In Old Colorado
Hopalong Cassidy
1941

Doomed Caravan
Hopalong Cassidy
1941

Three Men from Texas
Hopalong Cassidy
1940

Stagecoach War
Hopalong Cassidy
1940

Hidden Gold
Hopalong Cassidy
1940

The Showdown
Hopalong Cassidy
1940

Santa Fe Marshal
Hopalong Cassidy
1940

Law of the Pampas
Hopalong Cassidy
1939

Range War
Hopalong Cassidy
1939

Renegade Trail
Hopalong Cassidy
1939

Land of Liberty
(archive footage)
1939

Silver on the Sage
Hopalong Cassidy
1939

Sunset Trail
Hopalong Cassidy
1939

The Frontiersmen
Hopalong Cassidy
1938

In Old Mexico
Hopalong Cassidy
1938

Pride of the West
Hopalong Cassidy
1938

Bar 20 Justice
Hopalong Cassidy
1938

Heart of Arizona
Hopalong Cassidy
1938

Cassidy of Bar 20
Hopalong Cassidy
1938

Partners of the Plains
Hopalong Cassidy
1938

Texas Trail
Hopalong Cassidy
1937

Hopalong Rides Again
Hopalong Cassidy
1937

Rustlers' Valley
Hopalong Cassidy
1937

North of the Rio Grande
Hopalong Cassidy
1937

Hills of Old Wyoming
Hopalong Cassidy
1937

Borderland
Hopalong Cassidy
1937

Trail Dust
Hopalong Cassidy
1936

Hopalong Cassidy Returns
Hopalong Cassidy
1936

Go-Get-'Em, Haines
Steve Haines
1936

Burning Gold
Jim Thornton
1936

Three on the Trail
Hopalong Cassidy
1936

Federal Agent
Bob Woods
1936

Call of the Prairie
Hopalong Cassidy
1936

Heart of the West
Hopalong Cassidy
1936

Bar 20 Rides Again
Hopalong Cassidy
1935

Racing Luck
Dan Morgan
1935

The Eagle's Brood
Hopalong Cassidy
1935

Hop-a-long Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy
1935

Port of Lost Dreams
Lars Christensen
1934

Cheaters
Steve Morris
1934

Emergency Call
Joe Bradley
1933

Lucky Devils
Skipper Clark
1933

Men Of America
Jim Parker
1932

Flaming Gold
Dan Manton
1932

Carnival Boat
Buck Gannon
1932

Suicide Fleet
Baltimore
1931

The Big Gamble
Alan Beckwith
1931

Beyond Victory
Bill Thatcher
1931

The Painted Desert
Bill Holbrook
1931

Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 5
William Boyd
1930

Officer O'Brien
Bill O'Brien
1930

His First Command
Terry Culver
1929

The Flying Fool
Bill Taylor
1929

High Voltage
Bill
1929

The Leatherneck
William Calhoun
1929

Lady of the Pavements
Karl Von Arnim
1929

Power
Husky
1928

The Cop
Pete Smith
1928

Skyscraper
Blondy
1928

The Night Flyer
Jimmy Bradley
1928

Dress Parade
Vic Donovan
1927

Two Arabian Knights
Daingerfield Phelps
1927

The Yankee Clipper
Hal Winslow
1927

The King of Kings
Simon Of Cyrene
1927

Her Man o' War
Jim Sanderson
1926

The Volga Boatman
Feodor
1926

Eve's Leaves
Bill Stanley
1926

The Road to Yesterday
Jack Moreland
1925

The Midshipman
Spud
1925

New Lives for Old
Soldier (uncredited)
1925

Forty Winks
Lt. Gerald Hugh Butterworth
1925

Feet of Clay
Young Society Man (uncredited)
1924

Tarnish
Bill
1924

Changing Husbands
Conrad Bardshaw
1924
Enemies of Children
Sidney Godfrey
1923

The Temple of Venus
Stanley Dale
1923

Hollywood
William Boyd
1923

Michael O'Halloran
Douglas Bruce
1923

The Young Rajah
Stephen Van Kovert
1922

Manslaughter
(uncredited)
1922

On the High Seas
Dick Deveraux
1922

Nice People
Oliver Comstock
1922

Moran of the Lady Letty
Ramon's Friend at Homecoming
1922

Saturday Night
Party Guest
1922

Bobbed Hair
Dick Barton
1922

After the Show
(uncredited)
1921

The Affairs of Anatol
Guest
1921

Moonlight and Honeysuckle
Robert V. Courtney
1921

A Wise Fool
Gerard Fynes
1921

Brewster's Millions
Harrison
1921

Forbidden Fruit
Billiards Player
1921

A City Sparrow
Hughie Ray
1920

Something to Think About
(uncredited)
1920

The Six Best Cellars
Holsappel (uncredited)
1920
Was He Guilty?
1919

Old Wives for New
(uncredited)
1918