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Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of short stories and novels based on the character. Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking. Shot in the leg during a gun fight, he walked with a limp that gave him his nickname.
From the 1930s to the 1950s, the character became indelibly associated with actor William Boyd, who portrayed Cassidy first in a series of sixty-six films from 1935 to 1948, then in children-oriented radio and TV series, both of which lasted until 1952. Boyd's portrayal of Cassidy had little in common with the literary character, being instead a clean-cut, sarsaparilla-drinking hero who never shot first. The plots of the film, radio and TV series were generally not taken from Mulford's writings.
At the peak of the character's popularity in the early 1950s, he spawned enormous amounts of merchandise, as well as a comic strip, additional novels by Louis L'Amour (writing as Tex Burns), and even a short-lived amusement park, "Hoppyland", in Venice, Los Angeles.
In 1950, while the character was undergoing a surge in popularity, then-aspiring author Louis L'Amour was commissioned to write four additional Hopalong Cassidy novels, this time with a characterization matching William Boyd's portrayal, rather than Mulford's writings. L'Amour wrote the novels under the pseudonym Tex Burns. Although they were his first published novels, he was unhappy with the assignment, since he preferred the original character, and publicly denied authorship of the novels for the rest of his life.
In 2005, author Susie Coffman published Follow Your Stars, new stories starring the character. In three of these stories, Coffman wrote the wife of actor William Boyd into the stories.
The juvenile lead was successively played by James Ellison, Russell Hayden, George Reeves, Rand Brooks, and Jimmy Rogers. George Hayes (later to become known as "Gabby" Hayes) originally played Cassidy's grizzled sidekick, Windy Halliday. After Hayes left the series because of a salary dispute with producer Harry Sherman (and personal differences with Boyd, according to Russell Hayden)James Horwitz, They Went Thataway, Ballantine, 1976, p. 216. he was replaced by the comedian Britt Wood as Speedy McGinnis and finally by the veteran movie comedian Andy Clyde as California Carlson. Clyde, the most durable of the sidekicks, remained with the series until it ended. A few actors of future prominence appeared in Cassidy films, notably Robert Mitchum, who appeared in seven films at the beginning of his career.
Fifty-four Hopalong Cassidy pictures were produced independently by Harry Sherman. He released them through Paramount Pictures through 1941, and then United Artists. The films were noted for fast action and superior outdoor photography (usually by Russell Harlan). Sherman wanted to make more ambitious films and tried to cancel the Cassidy series, but popular demand forced Sherman back into production. Sherman gave up the series in 1944 but Boyd revived it, producing 12 more films himself.
In November 1948 Boyd persuaded the Los Angeles NBC television station to air one Hopalong Cassidy film for a $200 rental fee. This was when almost all TV programs ran only five, 15, or 30 minutes each, like radio shows, so a feature film on TV was a special event. The broadcast was so successful that NBC rented the entire library from Boyd and broadcast the films on its national network. NBC could not wait for a television series to be produced, and edited the feature films to broadcast length. The Cassidy films commanded a premium price; Variety noted in 1950 that the cost of a single showing of a western in Los Angeles "ranges from $80 to $250. Hopalong Cassidy films are the exception, bringing $1,000 per showing" about. Variety, June 7, 1950, p. 36. Boyd incorporated his own firm, U. S. Television Office, to administer the licensing of the films and their related business deals.
While the feature films were airing on NBC, Boyd wasted no time in assembling a cast and crew to produce new half-hour films for television, again for NBC. On June 24, 1949, Hopalong Cassidy became the first network Western television series, beating The Lone Ranger to the home screen by a few months. The production schedule was so rushed that co-star Andy Clyde couldn't rearrange his schedule of movie commitments (Clyde did remain with Boyd on radio and for children's records). Edgar Buchanan was the new TV sidekick, Red Connors (a character from the original stories and a few of the early films). The theme music for the television show was written by Nacio Herb Brown (music) and L. Wolfe Gilbert (lyrics). The show ranked number 7 in the 1949 Nielsen ratings, number 9 in the 1950–1951 season and number 28 in 1951–1952. The success of the show and tie-ins inspired juvenile television westerns such as The Range Rider, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Annie Oakley, The Gene Autry Show, and The Roy Rogers Show.
There was a new demand for Hopalong Cassidy features in movie theaters, and Boyd licensed reissue distributor Film Classics to make new film prints and advertising accessories. Another 1950 enterprise saw the home-movie company Castle Films manufacturing condensed versions of the Paramount films for 16mm and 8mm film projectors; they were sold through 1966.
Mirror Enterprises Syndicate distributed a Hopalong Cassidy comic strip starting in 1949; it was bought out by King Features in 1951, running until 1955. The strip was drawn by Dan Spiegle, with scripts by Royal King Cole.
A "Hoppy Museum" consisting of a collection of products endorsed by William Boyd is located at Scott's 10th Street Antique Mall in Cambridge, Ohio.
Topper's saddle is on display at Twin Cities South Trailers, a horse trailer dealership in Pilot Point Texas.
William Boyd's collection, including Hopalong's TV production materials, is archived at the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming.
The 1951 song "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" includes a reference to "Hopalong boots" as a holiday gift desired by children.
The Hopalong Cassidy craze inspired at least four theatrical films, all produced in 1951: the comedy Callaway Went Thataway; the burlesque Skipalong Rosenbloom with Maxie Rosenbloom as the unlikely hero; the Joe McDoakes short So You Want to Be a Cowboy; and the Warner Bros. cartoon Gift Wrapped (filmed in 1951; released in March 1952).
In the 1951 film An American in Paris, during the singing of "I Got Rhythm," a French boy shouts out the name "Hopalong Cassidy" after Gene Kelly pretends to be a cowboy.
Heisman Trophy winner and NFL halfback Howard Cassady was known as Hopalong Cassady since 1952, his freshman year at Ohio State University.
Hopalong Cassidy is also referenced in Buddy Alan and Don Rich's 1970 top-twenty hit, "Cowboy Convention". In 1973, fellow film cowboy Roy Rogers released a nostalgic ballad called "Hoppy, Gene Autry and Me".
In the 1985 film Fletch, the eponymous character, played by Chevy Chase, jokes that he was close to buying a house until he learned that Hopalong Cassidy had killed himself there.
In the 1988 film Colors, a street gang member, when asked by protagonist officer Bob Hodges (Robert Duvall) what rag he is wearing from his trousers, answers “Oh, this here is my Hopalong Cassidy rag”.
In 2009, the United States Postal Service featured Cassidy as part of a series of stamps depicting early TV characters. 1001 TV Series You Must Watch Before You Die, Paul Condon,
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