About William Boyd (actor)
William Lawrence Boyd (June 5, 1895 – September 12, 1972) was an American actor and film producer, known for portraying the cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy in dozens of Western films released during the 1930s and '40s. == Early life == Boyd was born in Hendrysburg, Ohio and reared in Cambridge, Ohio and Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he lived from 1909 to 1913. He was the son of day laborer Charles William Boyd and his wife Lida (née Wilkens). Following his father's death, Boyd moved to California and worked as an orange picker, surveyor, tool dresser and auto salesman. == Career == === Silent era and matinee idol === In Hollywood, Boyd 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 heart condition. More prominent film roles followed, including his breakout role as Jack Moreland in Cecil B. DeMille's The Road to Yesterday (1925), which earned critical praise. DeMille soon cast him as the leading man in the highly acclaimed silent drama film The Volga Boatman. another critical success, and with Boyd now firmly established as a matinee idol and romantic leading man, he began earning an annual salary of $100,000.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.