William Boyd Overview:

Legendary actor, William Boyd, was born on Jun 5, 1895 in Hendrysburg, OH. Boyd died at the age of 77 on Sep 12, 1972 in Laguna Beach, CA and was laid to rest in Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Cemetery in Glendale, CA.

MINI BIO:

Ohio-born Hollywood star who earned himself security, popularity, and a niche in screen history when he started playing the western hero Hopalong Cassidy in 1935. A pillar of respectability and two-fisted justice, Cassidy was perhaps the only cowboy to match white hair with a black outfit. Boyd took the character with him into TV in 1948: Married four times, his last wife (from 1937) being actress Grace Bradley. Died from Parkinson's Disease.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Stars).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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He was honored with one star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Motion Pictures. In addition, Boyd was inducted into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and was immortalized on a US postal stamp in 2009. Boyd was never nominated for an Academy Award.

BlogHub Articles:

~ The Yankee Clipper (1927)

By Clayton on Nov 18, 2015 From Phantom Empires

~ The Yankee Clipper (1927) 11/18/2015 2 Comments (This is a look-back review...I was thinking about it, so I thought I'd repost!)It, ladies and gentleman, is the birthday of one of my favourite a... Read full article


Go-Get-'Em, Haines - (1936)

By Clayton on Sep 6, 2014 From Phantom Empires

Go-Get-'Em, Haines - (1936) 9/6/2014 0 Comments Go-Get-em Haines is a fun b-reel-type picture from 1936; it stars the lovely Eleanor Hunt (who charmingly co-starred alongside John Wayne in the 1934 Western Blue Steel), bu... Read full article


Go-Get-'Em, Haines - (1936)

By Clayton on Sep 6, 2014 From Phantom Empires

Go-Get-'Em, Haines - (1936) 9/6/2014 0 Comments Go-Get-em Haines is a fun b-reel-type picture from 1936; it stars the lovely Eleanor Hunt (who charmingly co-starred alongside John Wayne in the 1934 Western Blue Steel), but more importantly, it ... Read full article


Happy Birthday ! (June 5, 1895) ~ The Yankee Clipper (1927)

By Clayton on Jun 4, 2014 From Phantom Empires

Happy Birthday ! (June 5, 1895) ~ The Yankee Clipper (1927) 6/4/2014 2 Comments It, ladies and gentleman, is the birthday of one of my favourite actors; the man behind the legendary Hopalong Cassidy, ! Well, as most people al... Read full article


(1895-1972) Silent Movie Star Biography

By Movies, Silently on Feb 6, 2013 From Movies Silently

There were two s acting in Hollywood during the silent era. The first was a young man from Tulsa, Oklahoma who would enjoy star billing and roles with some of the best directors and actors of the silent era. The second, known as William ?Stage? Boyd was a stage actor who had a minor care... Read full article


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William Boyd Quotes:

Johnny Nelson: I guess I've been about the biggest fool in the world.
Hopalong Cassidy: You're not the first, nor the last.


California Carson: Where yuh goin', Hoppy?
Hopalong Cassidy: Whatta you care?
[angrily]
Hopalong Cassidy: The Ranger Service! Forty dollars a month and free taps when you die! It's all yours! You can have it!... And this Captain Jennings we're supposed to respect! I'd have gotten a better deal from any sidewinding half-breed in the country!
Ranger Captain Jennings: [suddenly appearing] Kind of sneaky, isn't it, talking about a man when his back is turned!
Hopalong Cassidy: Well, your back isn't turned now!
[he slaps Jennings across the face]
Ranger Captain Jennings: We'll just make that suspension permanent.
[he takes Hoppy's badge]
Hopalong Cassidy: That's all right with me!
[he leaves]


[to Johnny, who has a bad hangover]
Hopalong Cassidy: You look like the tail end of a hard winter.


read more quotes from William Boyd...



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William Boyd on the
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William Boyd Facts
Boyd was Cecil B. DeMille's first choice for Moses in The Ten Commandments (1956). Boyd turned the role down, fearing the Hopalong Cassidy identification would hurt the movie.

Television talk-show host Johnny Carson told a story of how, in the mid-1960s, he met Boyd on a plane while flying cross-country. He asked Boyd, who hadn't made any public appearances in many years, if he would like to come on Carson's show, "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962). Boyd politely declined, and when Carson asked why, Boyd replied that he thought it would be too much of a jolt for kids--even though they were now adults--who had grown up seeing Hoppy as a tall, strong young cowboy hero to see him as the old man that Boyd now was.

Appears as Hopalong Cassidy, with Topper the Horse, on a 44¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Early TV Memories issue honoring "Hopalong Cassidy" (1952), issued 11 August 2009.

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Cowboy Museum Hall of Fame

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