William Boyd
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
Credits
- 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 · Hopalong Cassidy as Hopalong Cassidy
- 1952 · The Greatest Show on Earth as Hopalong Cassidy (uncredited)
- 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 · Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 5 as William Boyd
- 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 · The Volga Boatman as Feodor
- 1926 · Eve's Leaves as Bill Stanley
- 1925 · The Road to Yesterday as Jack Moreland
- 1925 · The Midshipman as Spud
- 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 · The Affairs of Anatol as Guest
- 1921 · A Wise Fool as Gerard Fynes
- 1921 · Brewster's Millions as Harrison
- 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)