1895-06-04 ( 129 years old ) in 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.
Movies
Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs
2000-01-01
Television: The First Fifty Years
1999-01-01
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
1991-03-10
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984-01-01
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
1976-05-01
It's Showtime
1976-03-31
The Movie Orgy
1968-01-01
Little Smokey
1953-01-01
The Greatest Show on Earth
1952-02-16
Strange Gamble
1948-10-08
False Paradise
1948-09-10
Borrowed Trouble
1948-07-23
Sinister Journey
1948-06-11
The Dead Don't Dream
1948-04-30
Silent Conflict
1948-03-19
Hoppy's Holiday
1947-07-18
The Marauders
1947-07-01
Dangerous Venture
1947-05-23
Unexpected Guest
1947-03-28
The Devil's Playground
1946-11-15
Fool's Gold
1946-10-09
Forty Thieves
1944-06-23
Mystery Man
1944-05-31
Lumberjack
1944-04-28
Texas Masquerade
1944-02-08
Riders of the Deadline
1943-12-03
False Colors
1943-11-05
Bar 20
1943-10-01
Colt Comrades
1943-06-18
Leather Burners
1943-05-28
Border Patrol
1943-04-02
Hoppy Serves a Writ
1943-03-12
Lost Canyon
1942-12-18
Undercover Man
1942-10-23
Secret of the Wastelands
1941-11-15
Outlaws of the Desert
1941-11-01
Twilight on the Trail
1941-09-29
Riders of the Timberline
1941-09-17
Stick to Your Guns
1941-09-17
Wide Open Town
1941-08-08
Pirates on Horseback
1941-05-23
Border Vigilantes
1941-04-18
In Old Colorado
1941-03-14
Doomed Caravan
1941-01-10
Three Men from Texas
1940-11-15
Stagecoach War
1940-07-12
Hidden Gold
1940-06-07
The Showdown
1940-03-08
Santa Fe Marshal
1940-01-26
Law of the Pampas
1939-11-03
Range War
1939-09-08
Renegade Trail
1939-07-25
Land of Liberty
1939-06-15
Silver on the Sage
1939-03-31
Sunset Trail
1939-02-24
The Frontiersmen
1938-12-16
In Old Mexico
1938-09-09
Pride of the West
1938-07-07
Bar 20 Justice
1938-06-24
Heart of Arizona
1938-04-22
Cassidy of Bar 20
1938-02-25
Partners of the Plains
1938-01-14
Texas Trail
1937-11-26
Hopalong Rides Again
1937-08-20
Rustlers' Valley
1937-07-23
North of the Rio Grande
1937-06-28
Hills of Old Wyoming
1937-04-16
Borderland
1937-02-26
Trail Dust
1936-12-11
Hopalong Cassidy Returns
1936-10-16
Go-Get-'Em, Haines
1936-06-16
Burning Gold
1936-05-22
Three on the Trail
1936-04-14
Federal Agent
1936-04-13
Call of the Prairie
1936-03-06
Heart of the West
1936-02-24
Bar 20 Rides Again
1935-12-06
Racing Luck
1935-11-19
The Eagle's Brood
1935-10-25
Hop-a-long Cassidy
1935-08-23
Port of Lost Dreams
1934-10-14
Cheaters
1934-05-11
Emergency Call
1933-06-24
Lucky Devils
1933-02-03
Men Of America
1932-11-25
Flaming Gold
1932-09-28
Carnival Boat
1932-03-19
Suicide Fleet
1931-11-20
The Big Gamble
1931-09-04
Beyond Victory
1931-04-03
The Painted Desert
1931-01-18
Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 5
1930-12-01
Officer O'Brien
1930-02-15
His First Command
1929-12-28
The Flying Fool
1929-07-10
High Voltage
1929-06-29
The Leatherneck
1929-02-24
Lady of the Pavements
1929-01-22
Power
1928-09-23
The Cop
1928-08-28
Skyscraper
1928-04-08
The Night Flyer
1928-02-05
Dress Parade
1927-10-26
Two Arabian Knights
1927-09-23
The Yankee Clipper
1927-05-07
The King of Kings
1927-04-19
Her Man o' War
1926-08-25
The Volga Boatman
1926-05-23
Eve's Leaves
1926-01-10
The Road to Yesterday
1925-11-13
The Midshipman
1925-10-04
New Lives for Old
1925-02-22
Forty Winks
1925-02-02
Feet of Clay
1924-09-27
Tarnish
1924-08-01
Changing Husbands
1924-06-22
Enemies of Children
1923-12-13
The Temple of Venus
1923-11-11
Hollywood
1923-08-19
Michael O'Halloran
1923-06-10
The Young Rajah
1922-11-11
Manslaughter
1922-09-24
On the High Seas
1922-09-17
Nice People
1922-07-12
Moran of the Lady Letty
1922-02-05
Saturday Night
1922-01-29
Bobbed Hair
1922-01-01
After the Show
1921-10-30
The Affairs of Anatol
1921-09-25
Moonlight and Honeysuckle
1921-07-01
A Wise Fool
1921-06-26
Brewster's Millions
1921-01-28
Forbidden Fruit
1921-01-03
A City Sparrow
1920-10-17
Something to Think About
1920-10-16
The Six Best Cellars
1920-02-08
Old Wives for New
1918-05-18
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