Hopalong Cassidy

Hopalong was quite an interesting character in movies, TV, radio, books and real life. As I remember, he was my idol long about 1950. My uncle Tom showed up for my fifth birthday with a present I still remember today. It was a complete Hopalong Cassidy outfit, head to toe and nickel-plated cap pistols. I was in heaven. I know I had other gifts that day, but I do not remember a single one. My mother was horrified, not because of the cap pistols or the character, but because the outfit was made of wool and more suited for winter wear than August. She thought I would have a heat stroke or something, but I insisted on wearing the suit outside that day and every day I could. I could not download this picture of Hopalong Cassidy because of copyright laws, but I can put the link here so you can see it. The outfit is the one I received for my birthday. I wore it every day until my mother said it needed to be washed. That was the last time I remember seeing it. I still had the cap pistols.

William Boyd, born 1895, played the character Hopalong in movies starting in 1935 and TV in 1949. His family moved from Ohio to Tulsa, Oklahoma when he was 7 years old. His father died when he was 13, so William quit school and took menial jobs to support his mother. When he was 19, he moved to California where he did more odd jobs until he landed a spot with a movie studio and began working bit parts. He was a well known hard drinker, womanizer and all round carouser, that is until he got the first script for “Bar 20,” the first Hopalong Cassidy movie. The original Cassidy story was written in 1904, with a host of other stories and magazine subjects to follow. The original stories portrayed Hopalong as a hard drinker and womanizer, which was the life William was living. When William read the first movie script, he sensed it would be a hit and would be the first of many, so he quit the drinking and late night antics because he did not want that behavior associated with the movie hero that kids would look up to. He lived the character and became very popular. He made 66 movies in all and in 1949 he started the first TV network cowboy show. That ran into 1952.

William was the living embodiment of the character he played and in September of 1972 he rode off into the sunset forever. So long Hoppy, I will miss you until we meet again up in the sky.