Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Lawrence Boyd (June 5, 1895 β 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.
Filmography (145)
Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs
2000
Television: The First Fifty Years
1999
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
1991
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984
Western von gestern
1978
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
1976
It's Showtime
1976
The Movie Orgy
1968
Little Smokey
1953
The Greatest Show on Earth
1952
Hopalong Cassidy
1952
Borrowed Trouble
1948
Sinister Journey
1948
False Paradise
1948
The Dead Don't Dream
1948
Strange Gamble
1948
Silent Conflict
1948
Dangerous Venture
1947
Unexpected Guest
1947
The Marauders
1947
Hoppy's Holiday
1947
Fool's Gold
1946
The Devil's Playground
1946
Forty Thieves
1944
Mystery Man
1944
Texas Masquerade
1944
Lumberjack
1944
Border Patrol
1943
Leather Burners
1943
False Colors
1943
Riders of the Deadline
1943
Colt Comrades
1943
Hoppy Serves a Writ
1943
Bar 20
1943
Undercover Man
1942
Lost Canyon
1942
Doomed Caravan
1941
Riders of the Timberline
1941
Pirates on Horseback
1941
In Old Colorado
1941
Stick to Your Guns
1941
Wide Open Town
1941
Border Vigilantes
1941
Twilight on the Trail
1941
Secret of the Wastelands
1941
Outlaws of the Desert
1941
Hidden Gold
1940
The Showdown
1940
Stagecoach War
1940
Three Men from Texas
1940
Santa Fe Marshal
1940
Silver on the Sage
1939
Law of the Pampas
1939
Renegade Trail
1939
Range War
1939
Sunset Trail
1939
Land of Liberty
1939
Pride of the West
1938
Bar 20 Justice
1938
The Frontiersmen
1938
In Old Mexico
1938
Partners of the Plains
1938
Cassidy of Bar 20
1938
Heart of Arizona
1938
Hopalong Rides Again
1937
North of the Rio Grande
1937
Borderland
1937
Rustlers' Valley
1937
Texas Trail
1937
Hills of Old Wyoming
1937
Three on the Trail
1936
Hopalong Cassidy Returns
1936
Call of the Prairie
1936
Heart of the West
1936
Trail Dust
1936
Go-Get-'Em, Haines
1936
Federal Agent
1936
Burning Gold
1936
The Eagle's Brood
1935
Hop-a-long Cassidy
1935
Bar 20 Rides Again
1935
Racing Luck
1935
Port of Lost Dreams
1934
Cheaters
1934
Lucky Devils
1933
Emergency Call
1933
Carnival Boat
1932
Men Of America
1932
Flaming Gold
1932
The Big Gamble
1931
Suicide Fleet
1931
The Painted Desert
1931
Beyond Victory
1931
Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 5
1930
Officer O'Brien
1930
High Voltage
1929
The Flying Fool
1929
Lady of the Pavements
1929
His First Command
1929
The Leatherneck
1929
The Cop
1928
The Night Flyer
1928
Skyscraper
1928
Power
1928
The Yankee Clipper
1927
Dress Parade
1927
Two Arabian Knights
1927
The King of Kings
1927
The Volga Boatman
1926
Her Man o' War
1926
Eve's Leaves
1926
The Last Frontier
1926
Jim the Conqueror
1926
Forty Winks
1925
New Lives for Old
1925
The Midshipman
1925
The Road to Yesterday
1925
Feet of Clay
1924
Changing Husbands
1924
Tarnish
1924
The Temple of Venus
1923
Enemies of Children
1923
Hollywood
1923
Michael O'Halloran
1923
Bobbed Hair
1922
Manslaughter
1922
Nice People
1922
Moran of the Lady Letty
1922
The Young Rajah
1922
Saturday Night
1922
On the High Seas
1922
After the Show
1921
A Wise Fool
1921
Brewster's Millions
1921
The Affairs of Anatol
1921
Forbidden Fruit
1921
Moonlight and Honeysuckle
1921
Exit the Vamp
1921
The Jucklins
1921
The Six Best Cellars
1920
Something to Think About
1920
A City Sparrow
1920
The City of Masks
1920
Was He Guilty?
1919
Old Wives for New
1918
English
EspaΓ±ol
Russian