Did you know that, long before his success as Hopalong Cassidy, William
Boyd was one of the dashing stars of the silver screen? The 1930 publication,
Stars of the Photoplay, featured him among their major celebrities in a
hardcover book with large pictures and small biographical blurbs.

Predating Boyd’s ascendancy to Western fame by several years, the bio in
Stars of the Photoplay does not mention Hopalong Cassidy, and most of its
other biographical notes are outdated. Only Boyd’s first two wives are
mentioned, both of whom he had divorced at the time of publication. Boyd would
marry twice more. His widow, Grace Bradley Boyd, founded the annual Hoppy
Festival, held in Boyd’s hometown of Cambridge, Ohio.

William Boyd
passed away September 12, 1972 at the age of 79. You can read much more about
Boyd in this archived Main Event on Hopalong Cassidy and one of the character’s
serious and devoted collectors, Laura Bates: http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/scoop_article.asp?ai=2911&si=124.