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 fathers 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 DeMilles The Road to Yesterday 1925 which starred also Joseph Schildkraut Jetta Goudal and Vera Reynolds Boyds performance in the film was praised by critics while moviegoers were equally impressed by his easy charm charisma and intense goodlooks Due to Boyds growing popularity DeMille soon cast him as the leading man in the highly acclaimed silent drama film The Volga Boatman Boyds 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 100000 He acted in DeMilles extravaganza The King of Kings in which he played Simon of Cyrene helping Jesus carry the cross and DeMilles Skyscraper 1928 He then appeared in DW Griffiths Lady of the Pavements 1929 Radio Pictures ended Boyds 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 days 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
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