- During the run of the Hopalong Cassidy TV series, William Boyd began making PSA-style monologues at the end of each show where he spoke to his young fans directly as "Hoppy". The character of Hopalong Cassidy imbued such traits as fair play, honesty, courtesy, and patriotism, and Boyd felt strongly about sharing these beliefs with his young viewers. These monologues included subjects such as eating the right kinds of foods, getting plenty of sleep, being a good sport, minding your mother and father, respecting police officers, attending Sunday School, following the Golden Rule, and the ethical treatment of animals.
- William Boyd lived in a cabin in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine while he made some of the Hoppy movies. It is also where he and his wife Grace spent their honeymoon. That same cabin, now known as "Hoppy Cabin", was used in 6 Hopalong Cassidy movies. It is easily recognized by the stone well in front of the house.
- During the production of Suicide Fleet (1931), William Boyd and several other actors performed an unscheduled rescue at sea when a launch exploded off the Coronado Islands in the Pacific. Nine men, members of the film expedition, were in the launch when its gas tanks blew up, throwing all into the water. Two of the men were slightly burned, but William Boyd, James Gleason, and Robert Armstrong quickly took action and plunged into the ocean to rescue their assistants.
- Television talk-show host Johnny Carson told a story of how, in the mid-1960s, he met Boyd on a plane while flying cross-country. He asked Boyd, who hadn't made any public appearances in many years, if he would like to come on Carson's show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962). Boyd politely declined, and when Carson asked why, Boyd replied that he thought it would be too much of a jolt for kids--even though they were now adults--who had grown up seeing Hoppy as a tall, strong young cowboy hero to see him as the old man that Boyd now was.
- There is a Hopalong Cassidy Museum located in Cambridge, Ohio.
- Appears as Hopalong Cassidy, with Topper the Horse, on a 44¢ USA commemorative postage stamp in the Early TV Memories issue honoring Hopalong Cassidy (1952), issued 11 August 2009.
- His career was derailed in the early 1930s when he was mistakenly identified as having been arrested for public drunkenness after his picture was mistakenly used in articles about the arrest. In fact, the culprit was William 'Stage' Boyd, an actor who later portrayed the villain in the serial The Lost City (1935).
- His only child, a son by second wife Ruth Miller, died in infancy.
- Hopalong Cassidy's beautiful white horse was named "Topper".
- The "Hoppies" launched the formula "Trio Western." Boyd was 40 years old when the series started. He got a younger partner to play the romantic leads James Ellison the only singing cowboy in the series, Russell Hayden, Brad King, Jay Kirby, Jimmy Rogers,George Reeves(only in "Bar 20") and Rand Brooks) and a second, usually older, partner for comic relief George Hayes known as "Gabby" playing Windy Holiday, (Britt Wood, Andy Clyde as California Carlson) and Edgar Buchanan as Red Connnors (as a duo with "Hoppy" in TV series).
- As Hopalong Cassidy, Boyd would frequently remove his right glove, and would complete the scene wearing only his left glove.
- In stark contrast to the character of Hopalong Cassidy as a confirmed bachelor, William Boyd was married five times.
- Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1995.
- In a shrewd business move, Boyd gambled big when he leveraged nearly everything he owned to purchase the rights to the Hopalong Cassidy film library and name. The decision would prove valuable beyond any estimate. With the advent of television Hopalong Cassidy films were broadcast and the character became massively popular. But the release of Cassidy films was only Boyd's initial step. In 1950 a Hopalong Cassidy tin lunch box was made by Aladdin Industries, and was the first lunch box to bear a licensed image. The subsequent frenzy for Hopalong Cassidy merchandise led to more than 100 companies manufacturing more than $70 million dollars worth of Hopalong Cassidy products. It is estimated that more than 2500 products were merchandised under the Hopalong Cassidy name, or the name "Hoppy's Favorite". Products were not only marketed to kids, such as Cassidy western outfits, six-guns & holsters, lunch boxes, toys, and much more, there were also products marketed to adults such as motor oil, tires, eggs, and milk. No other celebrity had utilized merchandising on the level of William Boyd, and he took this responsibility seriously. Boyd selected Hoppy merchandising very carefully, and certain products were not endorsed because Boyd did not think them appropriate. One of the most interesting of Boyd's merchandising refusals was bubble gum, which was never endorsed by Boyd as he did not approve of it.
- Boyd was Cecil B. DeMille's first choice for Moses in The Ten Commandments (1956). Boyd turned the role down, fearing the Hopalong Cassidy identification would hurt the movie.
- Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Great Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Sacred Promise.
- He received 15 thousand fan letters every week.
- After buying the rights to all of his films, he secured the rights to the name "Hopalong Cassidy" and formed a company called "Hopalong Cassidy Productions".
- He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1734 Vine Street in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.
- In 1938, an America-wide poll conducted by The Showmen's Trade Review revealed Hopalong Cassidy as the screen's favorite outdoor action hero.
- Attended Mercersburg (Pa.) Academy preparatory school.
- Star of the syndicated radio show "Hopalong Cassidy" (1950-1952). The shows were actually recorded between 1948 and 1950.
- Film studio executive Joseph Schenck pronounced William Boyd's widely acclaimed voice as the finest he had ever heard in films.
- Subsequent to his first appearance as Hopalong Cassidy in Hop-a-Long Cassidy (1935), Boyd only made four pictures in which he appeared as a different character, the last being a character named Steve Haines in Go-Get-'Em, Haines (1936). With his next picture, Hopalong Cassidy Returns (1936), Boyd returned to the role of Hopalong Cassidy, and he would never again appear as any other character.
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