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.
Acted in 140
2000s
- 2000
Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs
(archive footage)
1980s
- 1984
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
1970s
- 1978
- 1976
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
(archive footage)
1960s
- 1968
The Movie Orgy
Hopalong Cassidy (archive footage)
1950s
- 1952
1940s
- 1948
Strange Gamble
Hopalong Cassidy
Borrowed Trouble
Hopalong Cassidy
Sinister Journey
Hopalong Cassidy
The Dead Don't Dream
Hopalong Cassidy
Silent Conflict
Hopalong Cassidy
- 1947
Hoppy's Holiday
Hopalong Cassidy
Dangerous Venture
Hopalong Cassidy
Unexpected Guest
Hopalong Cassidy
- 1946
The Devil's Playground
Hopalong Cassidy
Fool's Gold
Hopalong Cassidy
- 1944
Forty Thieves
Hopalong Cassidy
Mystery Man
Hopalong Cassidy
Lumberjack
Hopalong Cassidy
Texas Masquerade
Hopalong Cassidy
- 1943
Riders of the Deadline
Ranger William "Hopalong" Cassidy
False Colors
Hopalong Cassidy
Bar 20
Hopalong Cassidy
Leather Burners
Hopalong Cassidy
Border Patrol
Hopalong Cassidy
Hoppy Serves a Writ
Hopalong Cassidy
- 1942
Lost Canyon
Hopalong Cassidy
Undercover Man
Hopalong Cassidy
- 1941
Secret of the Wastelands
Hopalong Cassidy
Outlaws of the Desert
Hopalong Cassidy
Twilight on the Trail
Hopalong Cassidy
Pirates on Horseback
Hopalong Cassidy
Border Vigilantes
Hopalong Cassidy
In Old Colorado
Hopalong Cassidy
Doomed Caravan
Hopalong Cassidy
- 1940
Three Men from Texas
Hopalong Cassidy
Stagecoach War
Hopalong Cassidy
Hidden Gold
Hopalong Cassidy
The Showdown
Hopalong Cassidy
Santa Fe Marshal
Hopalong Cassidy
1930s
- 1939
Range War
Hopalong Cassidy
Renegade Trail
Hopalong Cassidy
Land of Liberty
(archive footage)
Silver on the Sage
Hopalong Cassidy
- 1938
In Old Mexico
Hopalong Cassidy
Heart of Arizona
Hopalong Cassidy
- 1937
Rustlers' Valley
Hopalong Cassidy
Hills of Old Wyoming
Hopalong Cassidy
- 1936
Trail Dust
Hopalong Cassidy
Hopalong Cassidy Returns
Hopalong Cassidy
Go-Get-'Em, Haines
Steve Haines
Burning Gold
Jim Thornton
Federal Agent
Bob Woods
Call of the Prairie
Hopalong Cassidy
Heart of the West
Hopalong Cassidy
- 1935
Bar 20 Rides Again
Hopalong Cassidy
Racing Luck
Dan Morgan
The Eagle's Brood
Hopalong Cassidy
- 1934
Port of Lost Dreams
Lars Christensen
Cheaters
Steve Morris
- 1933
Emergency Call
Joe Bradley
Lucky Devils
Skipper Clark
- 1932
Men Of America
Jim Parker
Flaming Gold
Dan Manton
Carnival Boat
Buck Gannon
- 1931
Suicide Fleet
Baltimore
The Big Gamble
Alan Beckwith
Beyond Victory
Bill Thatcher
- 1930
Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 5
William Boyd
Officer O'Brien
Bill O'Brien
1920s
- 1929
His First Command
Terry Culver
The Flying Fool
Bill Taylor
High Voltage
Bill
The Leatherneck
William Calhoun
Lady of the Pavements
Karl Von Arnim
- 1928
Power
Husky
The Cop
Pete Smith
Skyscraper
Blondy
The Night Flyer
Jimmy Bradley
- 1927
Dress Parade
Vic Donovan
Two Arabian Knights
Daingerfield Phelps
The Yankee Clipper
Hal Winslow
- 1926
Jim the Conqueror
Jim Burgess
Her Man o' War
Jim Sanderson
The Last Frontier
Tom Kirby
The Volga Boatman
Feodor
Eve's Leaves
Bill Stanley
- 1925
The Road to Yesterday
Jack Moreland
The Midshipman
Spud
New Lives for Old
Soldier (uncredited)
Forty Winks
Lt. Gerald Hugh Butterworth
- 1924
Feet of Clay
Young Society Man (uncredited)
Tarnish
Bill
Changing Husbands
Conrad Bardshaw
- 1923
Enemies of Children
Sidney Godfrey
The Temple of Venus
Stanley Dale
Hollywood
William Boyd
Michael O'Halloran
Douglas Bruce
- 1922
The Young Rajah
Stephen Van Kovert
Manslaughter
(uncredited)
On the High Seas
Dick Deveraux
Nice People
Oliver Comstock
Moran of the Lady Letty
Ramon's Friend at Homecoming
Saturday Night
Party Guest
Bobbed Hair
Dick Barton
- 1921
Exit the Vamp
Robert Pitts
After the Show
(uncredited)
Moonlight and Honeysuckle
Robert V. Courtney
A Wise Fool
Gerard Fynes
Brewster's Millions
Harrison
Forbidden Fruit
Billiards Player
- 1920
A City Sparrow
Hughie Ray
Something to Think About
(uncredited)
The City of Masks
Carpenter
The Six Best Cellars
Holsappel (uncredited)
1910s
- 1918
Old Wives for New
(uncredited)
Directed 1
1930s
- 1932
Men Of America
Director
Produced 1
1950s
- 1952
Appearances2
1990s
- 1991
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
Self (archive footage)
1970s
- 1976
It's Showtime
Self (archive footage)