William "Stage" Boyd

Who was William "Stage" Boyd?

William H. Boyd was an American actor billed as William "Stage" Boyd or William Stage Boyd.

Boyd was an early 20th-century stage actor who appeared in two Broadway plays and then worked in motion pictures. To avoid confusion with the better-known performer working under the same name, William Boyd, Boyd adopted the name William "Stage" Boyd to emphasize his experience on the legitimate stage. Such experience was considered an advantage to an actor after the introduction of talking pictures.

Boyd's arrests for alcohol possession and drug possession damaged his career and that of the other William Boyd. Many newspapers reported the arrests but published photos of the wrong William Boyd, who lost his studio contract with RKO.

Boyd's first wife, Margaret Christiansen, later married theatrical producer Harry Frazee, the one-time owner of the Boston Red Sox who is best remembered for selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees.