June 5, 1895
On this day, William Boyd, destined to become the silver-haired hero with a black hat, was born in Hendrysburg, Ohio.
Boyd, better known to millions of American kids as Hopalong Cassidy, 
starred in 66 “Hoppy” movies and 52 television episodes. His character, based on a less than an exemplary cowhand, was developed by author Clarence Mulford in 1904. (Right)
Mulford’s Hopalong and the boys at the fictional Bar 20 Ranch were given often to “purple prose,” a variety of unchecked violence and indiscriminate sexist behavior. Mulford’s 28 “Hoppy” novels and countless Western stories were conjured up about as far from the West as geographically possible, in Fryeburg, Maine.
Boyd’s “Hoppy” by contrast to the Mulford books, didn’t smoke, swear, drink, kiss the ladies, precipitate unnecessary violence and always used proper grammar. He insisted his character should be someone his “young friends” could look up to.
His own youth hadn’t lasted long. The son of a laborer, Boyd’s family moved from Ohio to Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1902, five years before statehood. Both his parents died when he was still a teenager, forcing him to leave school and earn his own way. Becoming a jack-of all trades, he worked as 
a grocery clerk, surveyor and in the Oklahoma oil fields before landing in California in 1919 where he picked oranges and sold cars.
Already sporting his striking trademark silver hair, he became an extra in the movies. He caught Cecil B. DeMille’s eye in 1926. DeMille cast him not as an extra but as the leading man in the director’s “The Volga Boat Man.” Roles in the film maker’s extravagant “King of Kings” and “Skyscraper” followed.
As a matinée idol in silent movies, (above) he was earning upwards of $100,000 a year, more than a million today, when a case of mistaken identity 
threatened to end his career. Newspapers ran Boyd’s photo by mistake when in fact another actor, William “Stage” Boyd (right) was arrested on drunkenness and gambling charges.
The name “Stage” had been added to the former broadway actor’s name for the very purpose of not confusing the two. The second Boyd paid dearly for his misdeeds, however. He died in 1935 at 46, a victim of alcohol and drug use.
By the time the talkies arrived Boyd’s contract was up and he was broke. Redemption came shortly, however, when he was offered the role of ranch 
foreman, Buck Rogers, in the movie “Hopalong Cassidy.” Lobbying for the lead, he won the part and went on to become one of America’s most beloved cowboy stars, the “good guy” in the black hat. (Left) The ranch foreman role went to character actor Charles Middleton, best known for the sinister villains he played in more than 100 movies.
Unlike “Hoppy” who never kissed the ladies, Boyd had five wives and four divorces in quick succession. Finally, he and actress Grace Bradley were wed in 1937. After being cast as the “good time girl” in dozens of B movies, 
Bradley (right) met Boyd on a blind date. Their marriage lasted until his death 35 years later.
In a truly farsighted moment, in 1949 Boyd purchased the television rights to all his movies for $350,000 and licensed 52 of them to a fledgling NBC. Broadcast on television in hour-long episodes, the popularity of the series led to the first weekly TV western.
Bradley, outliving her husband by nearly four decades, spent many of those years in legal combat, fighting for the rights to those movies. She died September 27, 2010, at the age of 97.
In addition to the silver screen and the small screen, Boyd made a fortune through licensing and endorsement deals. Hopalong Cassidy was the first image ever to appear on a lunch box causing the manufacturer’s orders to jump from 60,000 a year to 600,000.
One of the first Hopalong lunch boxes
True to his “Hoppy” code, however, Boyd refused to license his name to any product he considered unsavory or unsafe and never appeared at an event that charged admission. He retired in 1953 a very rich man, moved to Palm Desert, California and invested in real estate.
Boyd died of heart failure September 12, 1972 at age 74 and was interred at Glendale’s Forrest Lawn. In 1995, the good guy in the black hat was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and was awarded a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to motion pictures.
The Museum of Western Film History in Lone Pine, California, three hours north of Los Angeles, is home to an extensive updated collection of Hopalong Cassidy memorabilia including lunch boxes, comic books, costumes, games and more. The Anchor Ranch Walking Tour takes visitors to the location of many Hopalong Cassidy movies. The privately owned working ranch has provided backdrops for Westerns for more than 80 years. 
The museum’s summer hours are from April 5 to October 31, Monday through Wednesday, 10 to 6, Thursday through Saturday, 10 to 7 and Sunday, 10 to 4. Winter hours are from November 1 to April 2; 10 to 5 weekdays and Saturday and Sunday, 10 to 4. The museum is pet friendly but leashes are required. For more information go to wrangler@lonepinefilmhistorymuseum.org or call 760-876-9909.
© Text Only – 2019 – Headin’ West LLC – All photos – public domain or fair use.
*Head On West strives for historic accuracy and uses a number of sources considered reliable. When research differs on significant facts, the various points of view will be cited.