Clan Boyd Society, International
William
Lawrence Boyd aka Hopalong Cassidy
5 June 1895 - 12 Sept 1972
William
L. Boyd was born in Cambridge, Belmont County, Ohio
5 June
1895. He was one of five children of Charles
William
Boyd
and Lyda Wilkins. The
Boyd family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma
in 1902.
Charles W. Boyd, a laborer, was killed in an accident
while
trying to rescue other workers who had been trapped by an
explosion
in 1908.
William
L. Boyd held various jobs such as a tool dresser, surveyor
and
auto salesman until he moved to California when he was 20.
Because
of his good looks and winning manner he was soon noticed
by the
film industry,
His first
acting job was as an extra in Why change Your Wife?
in 1919.
Cecil B. De Mille who was the director in this film noticed
him
and Boyd was placed by Famouis Players-Lasky under a seven
year
contract at a weekly salary of $25 for the first year.
In 1922,
Boyd left Famous Players and started to appear in Westerns
on the
Fox lot. His big opportunity though came when De Mille cast
him
as the lead in The Volga Boatman, (1926). This was followed
by
King
of Kings (1927), Two Abrabian Knights (1928) and Beyond Victory
(1929).
William
Boyd had a very good speaking voice. This was fortunate for
him
because of the advent of the "talkies". In 1932 Pathe Studios gave
him
a contract for $2500 weekly and a star ranking. He appeared in
Skyscraper,
The
Leatherneck, Officer O'Brien and The Painted Desert.
In 1934
William Boyd discovered Hopalong Cassidy. This is a character
originated
in books written by Clarence E. Mulford. Boyd won the con-
tract
for a series of six Hopalong movies at a blanket salary of $30, 000.
Hopalong
Cassidy was a success and there were six films made a year.
Hopalong
was a Western cowboy Robin Hood who never had a love
interest
in the stories. He wore a black cowboy outfit which contrasted
perfectly
with his white horse Topper.
Because
of managerial disputes started because Boyd was adament that
the
Hopalong stories were based on solid writing. The original six
stories
by Mulford had been exhausted years earlier. Mulford eventually
wrote
28 stories.
In 1943
Boyd gained a 10 year lease on a sub-royalty basis for the motion
picture
rights to the character. Quality increased and was maintained even
though
each film was budgeted at $10,000 and had a 90 hour shooting
schedule.
Variety
wrote that the budget and schedule "in no way reflect on the first
rate
photography, excellant locations and unusually good musical backgrounds."
In 1948,
William Boyd bought the film and all other rights from Mulford on
the
character. William Boyd became Hopalong Cassidy. By 1949 there
were
54 films
and these became eligible to be shown on television. In the 1950's
there
was a weekly series, "Hopalong Cassidy".
William
Boyd was married five times. He married Laura
Maynard, Ruth Yeager
Miller,
Elinor Fair, Dorothy Sebastion, and
lastly to Grace Bradley which
marriage
lasted for 35 years. They lived on a California ranch called
"Boyd's
Nest".
His one son died in infancy,
William
L. Boyd died 13 Sept 1972 in Laguna Beach, CA. He is buried
in Forest
Lawn
Memorial Park.
His genealogy: (from the 1900 Belmont County, Ohio census and Wadene Bennett)
1. John Boyd Sr. b. 1756 in Cecil Co, MD died March 16, 1833 in Belmont Co., Ohio.
His sons:
2. John
Boyd, Jr. b. 1791 in Md. married August 24, 1816, Belmont Co, to Rosannah
Haney.
2. Robert
Boyd b. bet. 1800-1810 in Belmont Co, to Matilda Buggs on March 16,
1831/
Robert's
son:
3. John
Boyd b. 1833 in Belmont Co, married Mary J. Thompson, October 5, 1854
in
Hendrysburg, Belmont Co, Ohio. died July 27, 1895 in Belmont Co,
Ohio.
4.
Charles William Boyd born 4 July 1870
in Kirkwood Twp, Belmont County, Ohio
and
died in 1908 in Oklahoma married Lyda/Leida
A. Wilkins born May, 1875.
Their
children:
5. Clarence Boyd, b. March
1892 in Belmont Co. and died in Tulsa, Tulsa Co, Oklahoma in 1980's.
5. William Lawrence Boyd (Hopalong)
born June 3, 1895 in Belmont Co, Ohio
5. John C. Boyd born December
1898
5. Walter E. Boyd. born
Ohio, died in Arizona
Charles and Leida Boyd left
Ohio before 1910 as they were on the Tulsa County Census in 1910.
His children attended Lincoln
Elementary School in Tulsa, Okla. They were also on the 1920 Tulsa
County Census and Charles
was killed on his job sometime after this and William Boyd had to leave
school and go to work.
He worked odd jobs in Tulsa, before heading West. His brother Clarence
lived in Tulsa until his death.
For a more complete lineage see John Boyd Sr
Hopalong Cassidy Fan Club:
Hoppy
Talk
c/o
Laura Bates
6310
Friendship Drive
New
Concord, Ohio 43762-9708
Hopalong Cassidy/William Boyd Web Site