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Here
are some basic facts and some trivia information to get you started
on the career of William Boyd as Hoppy
66 feature films from 1935-1948. In the
next two pages, you'll find a complete Hopalong Cassidy filmography,
a listing of some of the sidekicks, etc.
52 half-hour television shows --- 12 half-hour programs were
created (condensed) from the later United Artists films with
Andy Clyde and Rand Brooks;40 new half-hour shows were filmed
featuring Edgar Buchanan as 'Red Connors'.
104 radio shows, originally with Joe DuVal and later, with Andy
Clyde as Hoppy's sidekick.There's more details about the Hoppy
radio program on subsequent
webpages at the Old Corral website. There was also a Fawcett
comic book series.
Boyd's portrayal of Hoppy in 66 films is among the longest of
any actor portraying a movie character (this wasn't the longest
run as Gene Autry played himself in more films, and Al St. John
did his 'Fuzzy Q. Jones' in 80+ movies).
Boyd never was the #1 rated cowboy in the polls, but he generally
was ranked in the range of number 2 through 5. - .
The 'Hopalong' name originated from Cassidy being injured in
a shootout. In HOP-A-LONG CASSIDY (Paramount, 1935), the first
Hopalong film, Boyd/Hoppy is recovering from a wound received
in a gunfight. His answer is similar to "I'll manage to
hop along".
The Motion Picture Herald and Boxoffice polls were conducted
from the mid 1930s through the mid 1950s. The annual results
would usually list the "Top Ten" or "Top Five"
cowboy film stars. In most cases, the winners were what you
would expect --- Autry, Rogers, Holt, Starrett ... and William
Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy. Boyd/Hoppy consistently placed in
one or both polls from 1936-1952, except for the year of 1951.
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