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The silver-haired hero dressed in black first rode tall as the star of B Westerns from 1935-48. Based on Clarence E. Mulford's stories, the character of Hopalong Cassidy was portrayed in the movies and on TV by former silent-screen idol William Boyd, who, in the early years of television, amassed a fortune by buying the rights to and telecasting his old Westerns (he also made new Hopalong films for TV). What followed was nothing less than a national licensing rage for all things Hoppy.