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Hopalong Cassidy - "000512_0829.mp3" (Old Time Radio, 2026) · Hopalong Cassidy | Old Time Radio

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  Speaker 1: Originally broadcast in 2026, this is episode 2 of Hop
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  Speaker 1: Along Cassidy, from a run of 108. For listeners who
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  Speaker 1: keep company with the old radio schedules after hours, Hop
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  Speaker 1: Along Cassidy remains a welcome name. Here is the original broadcast.
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  Speaker 2: Biography of William Boyd William Lawrence Boyd, better known to
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  Speaker 2: millions as one of the first multimedia heroes, Hopalong Cassidy
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  Speaker 2: was born on June 5, 1895, in Belmont County, Ohio.
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  Speaker 2: He was raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and following the death
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  Speaker 2: of his father, moved to California, working many odd jobs
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  Speaker 2: until he started finding extra work in Hollywood, beginning with
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  Speaker 2: Why Change Your Wife in 1920. He became a leading
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  Speaker 2: man in silent film, starring in Cecil B. DeMille's The
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  Speaker 2: Vogel Boatman, The King of Kings, and Skyscraper. He also
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  Speaker 2: appeared in D.W. Griffith's Lady of the Pavements. Boyd's film
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  Speaker 2: contract with Radio Pictures was cut short when a 1931
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  Speaker 2: newspaper report confused him with another actor, whose name was
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  Speaker 2: William Stage Boyd, who had been arrested. He acted in
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  Speaker 2: small roles for several years, using the more nondescript name
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  Speaker 2: Bill Boyd to prevent further confusion. In 1935, he assumed
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  Speaker 2: the iconic role of Hopalong Cassidy, having first been offered
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  Speaker 2: a supporting role. Boyd changed Clarence Mulford's rough-edged character into
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  Speaker 2: a teetotaling cowboy hero that was an immediate hit. The
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  Speaker 2: Hopalong Cassidy film series, ran until 1948 for a total
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  Speaker 2: of 66 films. Believing in the future of the new
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  Speaker 2: medium of television, Boyd spent over $ 350, 000 to purchase the
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  Speaker 2: rights of the character, the books, and the films, which
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  Speaker 2: he then offered to TV, becoming extremely popular with all
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  Speaker 2: ages of viewers. He also controlled the merchandising rights for
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  Speaker 2: the character and a plethora of trading cards, lunch boxes,
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  Speaker 2: cowboy outfits, dishes, toys, and many other items that were
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  Speaker 2: offered to a ravenous public. He refused to license his
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  Speaker 2: name and the image of Hopalong Cassidy for any products
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  Speaker 2: that might be deemed unsuitable or dangerous for kids. Boyd
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  Speaker 2: was also the star of the Hopalong Cassidy radio program,
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  Speaker 2: which ran from 1948 to 1952. He portrayed himself in
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  Speaker 2: a cameo role in DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth
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  Speaker 2: in 1952, but turned down the opportunity to play Moses
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  Speaker 2: in the director's remake of The Ten Commandments, a role that,
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  Speaker 2: of course, went to Charlton Heston. Boyd was married five times,
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  Speaker 2: and after his retirement from acting, invested in real estate
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  Speaker 2: and moved to Palm Desert, California. He died on September 12, 1972.
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  Speaker 2: for the Old Time Radio Researchers Group. This is your announcer, Jimbo.
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  Speaker 1: We leave this installment of Hop Along Cassidy at the
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  Speaker 1: close of the broadcast. Follow Hop Along Cassidy for more
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  Speaker 1: classic broadcasts.