Born: June 5th, 1895 (Hendrysburg, Ohio)
Died: September 12th, 1972 (Parkinson's)
Marriage: Laura Maynard (1917-1921), Ruth Miller (1921-1924), Elinor Fair (1926-1929), Dorothy Sebastian (1930-1936) & Grace Bradley (1937-His death).
Children: He had a son with his third wife that died at nine months.
Awards: He has a star on the Walk of Fame and received a Golden Boot in 1993. In 1995, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
Interesting Fact: He was supposedly offered the role as Moses in Cecil B. DeMille's production of The Ten Commandments (1956). He would turn down the role on the grounds that his followers would be unable to see him as anything else than Hopalong Cassidy.
My Favorite Movie: I must admit that I have never seen a full film of his performances, though I have seen a large portion of his work that I enjoyed. He was like an early MacGyver.
THE CLEAN COWBOY
He was my mothers favorite cowboy star. His career began with Cecil B. DeMille, but was greatly jeopardized when an actor with a similar name, William Stage Boyd, was on the news from a scandal. His career was rebooted when he appeared on the screen as Hopalong Cassidy in 1935. His character didn't drink, smoke or cuss and became an inspiring hero for many young boys. His fame continued to flourish as he made over sixty films and had a hit TV show. In 1953, he retired to his ranch in Palm Desert, California. He passed away less than ten years later from Parkinson's disease.
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