
William Boyd
Actor · 1895 – 1972 · Hendrysburg, Ohio, USA
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 father's 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. DeMille's The Road to Yesterday (1925) which starred also Joseph Schildkraut, Jetta Goudal, and Vera Reynolds. Boyd's performance in the film was praised by critics, while movie-goers were equally impressed by his easy charm, charisma, and intense good-looks. Due to Boyd's growing popularity, DeMille soon cast him as the leading man in the highly acclaimed silent drama film, The Volga Boatman. Boyd's 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 $100,000. He acted in DeMille's extravaganza The King of Kings (in which he played Simon of Cyrene, helping Jesus carry the cross) and DeMille's Skyscraper (1928). He then appeared in D.W. Griffith's Lady of the Pavements (1929). Radio Pictures ended Boyd's 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 day's 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.
Movies23
Movie6.4DramaRomanceTo ensure a full profitable season, circus manager Brad Braden engages The Great Sebastian, though this moves his girlfriend Holly from her hard-won center trapeze spot. Holly and Sebastian begin a dangerous one-upmanship duel in the ring, while he pursues her on the ground.
The Greatest Show on Earth
1952 · 287 votes
Movie6.4DramaHistoryThe King of Kings is the Greatest Story Ever Told as only Cecil B. DeMille could tell it. In 1927, working with one of the biggest budgets in Hollywood history, DeMille spun the life and Passion of Christ into a silent-era blockbuster. Featuring text drawn directly from the Bible, a cast of thousands, and the great showman’s singular cinematic bag of tricks, The King of Kings is at once spectacular and deeply reverent—part Gospel, part Technicolor epic.
The King of Kings
1927 · 68 votes
Movie6.8ComedyDocumentaryClips from assorted television programs, B-movies, commercials, music performances, newsreels, bloopers, satirical short films and promotional and government films of the 1950s and 1960s are intercut together to tell a single story of various creatures and societal ills attacking American cities.
The Movie Orgy
1968 · 19 votes
Movie9.0DocumentaryRobert Preston hosts this documentary that shows what people of the 1930s were watching as they were battling the Depression as well as eventually getting ready for another World War.
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984 · 2 votes
Movie5.9DramaComedySocialite Anatol Spencer, finding his relationship with his wife lackluster, goes in search of excitement. After bumping into old flame Emilie, he lets an apartment for her only to find that she cheats him. He is subsequently robbed, conned, and booted from pillar to post. He decides to return to his wife and discovers her carousing with his best friend Max.
The Affairs of Anatol
1921 · 12 votes
Movie8.0ComedyTale of a pair of dam workers who, despite their strong friendship, duke it out on a regular basis. But when the dam threatens to burst, the battling buddies work side by side to rescue the deluge-threatened townsfolk.
Power
1928 · 2 votes
Movie10.0ComedyDramaAfter immigrating to America, a handful of European nobles find themselves living and working as common laborers. They join together one night a week to maintain the Continental style they once were accustomed to.
The City of Masks
1920 · 1 votes
Movie7.5DocumentaryTV MovieA retrospective on the career of Robert Mitchum through interviews with friends and co-workers, scenes from his films and the actor himself.
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
1991 · 2 votes
Movie8.0DramaCrimeA federal agent sets out to track down his partner's killers.
Federal Agent
1936 · 1 votes
Movie5.3WesternProblems come in the form of one of Hopalong Cassidy's neighbors, but the matter is settled when Hoppy roots out the troublemaker.
Heart of the West
1936 · 4 votes
Movie8.5WesternComedyA Western-genre narrative, loosely woven from old clips from B-Western features.
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
1976 · 2 votes
Movie5.8WesternHoppy returns to find Johnny in trouble. Buck Peters has been shot by Porter who made it look like Johnny did it. When Johnny flees he runs into Linda. He takes a liking to her only to learn her father Shanghai is one of Porter's gang. Going after Shanghai, he gets captured by the gang and Porter now plans to kill him. But Hoppy is near by and Johnny will get unexpected help from Shanghai.
Call of the Prairie
1936 · 4 votes
Movie7.0DramaRomanceProduced under the supervision of the U.S. Navy. James Randall, an upperclassman at the Naval Academy, falls in love with Patricia Lawrence, the sister of a plebe. She is engaged to Basil Courtney, a wealthy reprobate who arranges with Rita to discredit James.
The Midshipman
1925 · 2 votes
Movie6.7DramaPete Smith, a lift bridge operator in a harbor, feels lonely in his cabin, his only visitor being a policeman on patrol, Sgt. Coughlin. One night, after hearing shots, Smith gives shelter to a wounded man, whom he hides from Coughlin. Before leaving, the man, Marcas, promises to return the favor and the coat he borrows from him. Later, Smith enters the police, and his chief, Mather, suspects he is protecting Marcas, who is actually a gangster. Marcas sends a girl, Mary Monks, to deliver a luxurious coat with a fur collar to Smith. Pete and Mary get along well, and for his sake, she betrays Marcas, who is eventually shot to death by the cops, after having stopped his mob from killing Smith. Mary goes away alone into the night, and when Mather finds out that Pete is protecting her, he drops away the evidence of her presence on the spot.
The Cop
1928 · 3 votes
Movie5.8WesternWhen the outlaw El Toro saves Hoppy's life, Hoppy agrees to find his missing grandson.
The Eagle's Brood
1935 · 5 votes
Movie8.0DramaPampered debutante Betty Baylock buys a wishing rug from a peddler and wishes for a dark-haired, blue-eyed man, hoping to rid herself of three annoying suitors. However, her wealthy stockbroker father, Robert Baylock, decrees that Betty must choose one of the young men immediately, and she defies him by dismissing them all. Robert's aggravation compounds when Betty falls in love with Jack Grey, who is penniless after squandering a $100,000 fortune. Robert orders Jack to earn back the money he has lost before he can marry Betty. Jack goes into the laundry business and discovers that Robert writes stock tips on his shirt cuffs. He copies the notations and corners a stock, earning $100,000 at Robert's expense. Admitting defeat, Robert gives the young couple his blessing.
The Jucklins
1921 · 1 votes
Movie5.6ActionAdventurePosing as a cattle buyer, Hoppy crosses over into Oklahoma where the Jordan brother's and their outlaw gang operate outside the law. After receiving an unfriendly reception when he finds them, he, California, and Johnny rustle their cattle and drive across the river into Texas. He hopes they will cross over to retrieve their cattle and then he can arrest them.
Hoppy Serves a Writ
1943 · 5 votes
Movie7.5DocumentaryA collection of film clips profiling animal actors.
It's Showtime
1976 · 2 votes
Movie6.4DramaComedyCharles Murdock neglects his fat and lazy wife for another woman; When his other love interest becomes involved in a murder, he leaves for Paris.
Old Wives for New
1918 · 9 votes
Movie6.6DramaRomanceMary Maddock works as a seamstress to bring home money while her husband Steve, unemployed, has no real prospects of earning money. Mary's employers, are trying to strike an oil related business deal with a rich man by the name of Nelson Rogers. The deal does not seem to be on the table, as Mr. Rogers is leaving town shortly and does not have the time to work out the details of such a deal. In an order to entice him to stay, Mrs. Mallory - wife of Mr. Mallory who is proposing the business deal - convinces Mary to be her guest at a dinner party with the intent of making Mr. Rogers fall for her and thus stay long enough for Mr. Mallory to make him agree to a business deal.
Forbidden Fruit
1921 · 12 votes
Movie7.2DramaRomanceAn amateur boxing champion stops at West Point to see a dress parade and falls for the commandant's daughter. He wins an appointment to the Academy and begins a rivalry for her affection.
Dress Parade
1927 · 5 votes
Movie6.8FantasyDramaMalena's apparent frigidity toward her husband Kenneth is a result of injustice done in an earlier incarnation when he was a knight and she was a gypsy headed for burning at the stake. This becomes evident when their unconscious minds travel back from a train wreck in the American plains to Elizabethan England.
The Road to Yesterday
1925 · 5 votes
Movie5.2DramaA busload of passengers gets stranded in a snowstorm and take refuge in an abandoned church, where they run into a mysterious man who may be on the run from the law.
High Voltage
1929 · 9 votes
Series2
TV7.7WesternWestern von gestern is a German television series.
Western von gestern
1978 · 3 votes
TV5.3WesternHopalong Cassidy was television's first western program. The series aired on NBC and stared William Boyd as the cowboy Hopalong Cassidy.
Hopalong Cassidy
1952 · 10 votes