The 1930s leading man who was blacklisted by Hollywood — and secretly built a multi-million-dollar empire instead

William Boyd was born on June 5 1892. He moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma with his family when he was just 7 years old. They both passed away while the actor was in his early teens and he took on several jobs to support myself.

After being cast as the romantic lead in in The Volga Boatman (1926), William transformed into a matinée idol. Nut as silent movies made way for the talkies William struggled to attract new roles.

The major damage hit William's career when he was mistakenly run in a newspaper. The newspaper were reporting on the arrest of another actor while a very similar name – William 'Stage' Boyd.

This other actor had been arrested on drug and alcohol possession, as well as gambling, during prohibition; all of which damaged William's reputation and already flagging offers.

While this accidental story error made William virtuallyu unemployable, he found a canny way to restore his leading man fortune. The actor took a part in a low-budget Western as Hopalong Cassidy.

The character was originally written as a foul-mouthed tough-guy but William transformed him into a well-dressed hero, clothed in black and fighting for good. A positive force for good behaviour, he was a hit with kids and parents alike.

William made 54 instalments of Hoppy for producer Harry Sherman, and went on to produce and star in 12 more of his own. In 1948, the actor bought the rights to all his movies and aired them on a local NBC station.

As well as seeing the money-making opportunity TV provided, he licensed the Hopalong Cassidy name and image to lunchboxes, toy guns, comic books and much more, amassing a fortune from over 2,000 licensed projects in circulation.

William Boyd was married five times during his life. He first tied the knot in 1917, marrying Laura Maynard. They divorced after four years together in 1921. That same year, William married Ruth Miller; their marriage ended in 1924.

In 1926, he married his third wife Elinor Fair, and divorced her three years later. In 1930, he wed Dorothy Sebastian. They remained together until 1936. It was in 1937 that William found lasting love with Grace Bradley, whom he was married to until his death in 1972.

William's performance as Hopalong Cassidy wrapped in 1953 and the actor subsequently stepped back from the spotlight. In 1968, he underwent surgery to remove a tumour from his lymph gland and refused photos following the procedure to protect fans' image of their childhood cowboy hero.

The Western star died on September 12, 1972 following complications from Parkinson's disease and congestive heart failure.