Lone Pine, California, 140 miles north of Los Angeles at the foot of Mount Whitney, was where police discovered Bogart in "High Sierra" and God found Captain Kirk in "Star Trek V."  But talk to the people who live there and you'll hear more stories about William Boyd.  He rode their range as Hopalong Cassidy in 66 western pictures and 106 television shows.

Paramount Pictures' executives weren't exactly thrilled over the casting of Boyd.  He had starred in too many big productions to be a cowpoke in tight-budgeted B-westerns, they argued.  And he couldn't even ride a horse! But he sure sat tall in the saddle in the eyes of a lot of kids and their parents.  There isn't anyone like Boyd, they wrote, and the responsibilities of being a hero changed the actor's life.  He turned down roles that conflicted with his image as Hoppy.  He founded Hoppy's Troopers, a club that rivaled the membership of the Boy Scouts.  He asked kids to follow Hoppy's Code of Conduct which preached honesty, decency, and fair play for all.  And he gave much of his earnings to children's hospitals and medical research teams.  "The kids deserve the money more than I do," he said. Fans grieved at the news of his retirement in '53.