William Boyd Biography

Fast Facts

• Was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City in 1995
• Enlisted in the army during World War I, but was exempt because of a weak heart
• Films such as "The Volga Boatman" and "King of Kings" established him as a romantic hero in the 1920s
• His first job after coming to Hollywood in 1915 was working as a chauffeur
• Caught the attention of Cecil B․ DeMille after acting in several bit parts and was signed to a $30-a-week contract
• Quote: "[on his refusal to talk with press] "I'm not the man people remember as Hopalong Cassidy․ I don't want to tamper with their memories․""
• His career took a hit in 1931 when a Broadway actor, also named William Boyd, was arrested at a drinking and gambling party and newspapers published his picture alongside the story in error
• Never smoked, drank, swore or engaged in intimate relations on screen, and tried to avoid violence whenever possible
• Played a silver-haired paragon of Western virtue, Hopalong Cassidy, in 92 movies
• Though the Hopalong Cassidy films were based on the novels of Clarence Mulford in which Hoppy was an ornery tobacco chewing, cursing whiskey drinker, Boyd talked producers into changing the character to fit with his morals