One of the most legendary figures in Cowboy Fiction just has to be the noted Hopalong Cassidy, who, played by the effective William Boyd, seemed to rule the western screen for many years, during the thirties, forties, and fifties etc.
William Boyd was born on the 5th June, 1895, in Ohio, the son of a labourer, Charles William Boyd, and the former Lida Wilkens. When the young William was in his teens, his father died, so the Boyd family moved out to California, where William worked at any odd job he could pick up.
While working in the Hollywood film area, Boyd found work as a film extra, and did well, having been rejected for army service due to a ‘weak heart’. After this, some more prominent film roles beckoned, so he joined the Cecil B de Mille group, and played leading roles in a number of epics, including the extravaganza, King of Kings, in 1927, where he played the part of Simon of Cyrene, the man who helped to carry the Cross of Jesus.
In 1929, Boyd worked with leading film mogul, DW Griffith, but, at this period, the Wall Street Crash had taken all of the impetus out of the film industry, and times were hard.
