William Boyd
Born June 5, 1895, in Cambridge, OH
Died September 13, 1972, in Laguna Beach, CA

William L. Boyd 1898-1972 was an actor and producer. shortly after his family moved to Oklahoma, both parents died and William was forced to quit school and toiled in the state's oil fields. He later worked his way westward at an assortment of odd jobs, orange packer, laborer, and night watchman in California, while trying to break into movies.
He landed his first film role in 1919, as an extra in Cecil B. DeMille's movie: "Why Change released in 1920.
He later became a favorite actor of DeMille, who gave him some of his best silent film roles, such as the lead in The Volga Boatman and the part of "Simon of Cyrene" in King of Kings. Ruggedly handsome, Boyd was a popular hero of many major films in the 1920's, including Lewis Milestone's Two Arabian Knights and D.W. Griffith's Lady of the Pavements. Boyd's popularity suffered in 1931 when a stage actor, also named William Boyd was involved in a gambling and liquor scandal. When the story was placed in the newspaper, the picture of "our" Boyd was used, although a retraction was printed as soon as the mistake was found, it still hurt "our" Boyd and cost him a lot of good parts in the movie industry. Boyd tried to put a stop to this identity confusion by changing his name to Bill; eventually, when the stage actor died, he changed his name back to William. In film circles they still refer to the "other Boyd" as William "Stage" Boyd. To add to the confusion, a third Bill Boyd 1910-1977 nicknamed "The Cowboy Rambler", starred in six musical Westerns as a singing cowboy.

A new phase in Boyd's career began when he was chosen to star in the Western Hop-A-Long Cassidy in 1935. Later the hyphens were dropped and the name became "Hopalong". The film's success launched a series of productions based on the Clarence E. Mulford stories of the Wild West. He became an expert horseman on a mount called Topper. Boyd's prematuring gray hair added dignity to the character, who didn't smoke, drink, or swear. He played 54 Cassidy episodes before producer Harry "Pop" Sherman dropped the series in 1943. Boyd then took over as producer and turned out 12 more episodes. He later acquired all rights to the Cassidy character, and when television came along, he made a fortune from exhibiting his old films, from the production of new ones, and from a variety of by-products tied in with "Hopalong Cassidy". Three of Boyd's four marriages ended in divorce. All five of his wives were film actresses. Laura Maynard, dates unknown, Ruth Miller, married 1921, later divorced, Elinor Fair 1926-29, Dorothy Sebastian 1930-36, and Grace Bradley from 1937 till his death.

William Boyd Talkies

THE FLYING FOOL "1929-Pathe" Directed by Tay Garnett. Cast: William Boyd, Marie Prevost, Russell Gleason, and Tom O'Brien. Ace pilot Bill, returns from the war and tries to protect his little brother from a woman. When he meets her, she is a "smalltown girl" decent and likable. Bill falls for her and he and his brother have a duel in the air to see which one wins the girl. Transferred from an excellent original print. 63 minutes

CAPTAIN DANGEROUS "1934" A.K.A "Port of Lost Dreams" Invincible Pictures. Directed by Frank R. Strayer. Cast: William Boyd, Lola Lane, George Marion, Ed Gargan, Harold Huber, Robert Elliott, Evelyn Carter Carrington, Charles Wilson, Robert Frazier, Lafe McKee. Molly (Lane), a fugitive, stows away on a fishing boat owned by Lars (Boyd). They are unable to return to port and after an extended trip and much feuding they fall in love and are married. Boyd finds out later that she is the moll of a famous gangster and the relationship takes a turn for the worse. 69 minutes.

RACING LUCK "1935" Dir. Sam Newfield. Cast: William Boyd, Barbara Worth, George Ernest, & Dick Curtis. Bill is framed by crooks at the race track. 56 Min.

GO-GET-'EM HAINES "1935" Directed by Sam Newfield. Cast: William Boyd, Sheila Terry, Eleanor Hunt, LeRoy Mason, Lloyd Ingraham, Clarence Geldert, Louis Natheaux, Lee Shumway and Jimmie Aubrey. Newsman Boyd follows fleeing bankrupt utilities tycoon Shumway onto ocean liner to get his story. On board Shumway is killed and Boyd takes the job to track down the killer. 61 minutes

FEDERAL AGENT "1936" Winchester Pictures. Directed by Sam Newfield. Cast: William Boyd, Charles A. Browne, Irene Ware, George Cooper, Lenita Lane, Don Alvarado. When a fellow agent is killed Bob Woods (Boyd) postpones his vacation to track down the terrorist who killed his friend. 53 minutes.

All of Willaim Boyd's Movies, Before the "Hoppy" Films.

1920 Why Change Your Wife? (extra)
1921 Brewster's Millions
1921 Moonlight and Honeysuckle
1921 Exit the Vamp
1922 Bobbed Hair
1922 Nice People
1922 Manslaughter
1922 The Young Rajah
1923 The Temple of Venus
1923 Enemies of Children
1924 Changing Husbands
1924 Tarnish
1924 Feet of Clay
1925 Forty winks
1925 The Midshipman
1925 The Road to Yesterday
1926 Steel Preferred
1926 The Volga Boatman
1926 Eve's Leaves
1926 Her Man o'War
1926 The Last Frontier
1927 Jim the Conqueror
1927 Wolves of the Air
1927 The Yankee Clipper
1927 The King of Kings
1927 Dress Parade
1927 Two Arabian Knights
1928 The Night Flyer
1928 Skyscraper
1928 Power
1928 The Cop
1929 Lady of the Pavement
1929 The Leathernecks
1929 High Voltage
1929 The Flying Fool
1929 The Locked Door
1929 His First Command
1930 Officer OBrien
1930 Those Who Dance
1930 The Storm
1931 The Gang Buster
1931 The Painted Desert
1931 Beyond Victory
1931 The Big Gamble
1931 Suicide Fleet
1932 Sky Devils
1932 The Wiser Sex
1932 Carnival Boat
1932 The Painted Woman
1932 Madison Square Garden
1933 Lucky Devils
1933 Emergency Call
1934 Cheaters
1935 The Lost City
1935 Night Life of the Gods

Other William Boyd & Hopalong Cassidy Sites!

"Find A Grave" web site,

To go to the burial site of William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd, just "click-on" the link below.

William Boyd's Burial Site !