64 Facts About Stephen Boyd

Stephen Boyd received his second Golden Globe Award nomination for Billy Rose's Jumbo.

Stephen Boyd appeared, sometimes as a hero and sometimes as a malefactor, in the major big-screen productions Les bijoutiers du clair de lune, The Bravados, Imperial Venus, The Fall of the Roman Empire, Genghis Khan, Fantastic Voyage and Shalako.

Stephen Boyd was born on 4 July 1931 in Glengormley, County Antrim, in a house on the Doagh Road, Whitehouse.

Stephen Boyd was the youngest of nine siblings born to Irish-Canadian parents, James Alexander Millar and his wife Martha Boyd.

At the age of 14 Stephen Boyd quit school to work and earn money to help support his family.

Stephen Boyd eventually joined the Ulster Group Theatre where he learned the behind-the-scenes tasks of the theatre.

Stephen Boyd became well known in Belfast for his contributions as a gravel-voiced policeman on the Ulster Radio programme "The McCooeys", the story of a Belfast family written by Joseph Tomelty.

Stephen Boyd eventually worked his way up to character parts and then starring roles.

Stephen Boyd later recalled this as "the best performance I ever gave in my life".

Stephen Boyd caught his first break as a doorman at the Odeon Theatre.

Stephen Boyd's next stop was Portugal to make A Hill in Korea, which featured future stars Michael Caine and Robert Shaw.

In November 1956, for Twentieth Century Fox, Stephen Boyd traveled to the British West Indies as part of a large ensemble cast in Darryl Zanuck's racially provocative film Island in the Sun starring Dorothy Dandridge, based on the Alec Waugh novel.

Stephen Boyd portrayed a young English aristocrat who becomes the lover of Joan Collins.

Stephen Boyd finally arrived in Hollywood in January 1958 to take on his first true Hollywood role as the leader of a quartet of renegade outlaws in the Twentieth Century Fox western The Bravados, which starred Gregory Peck and Joan Collins.

Stephen Boyd was hurried off to join actor Charlton Heston in Rome in May 1958 to learn the chariot racing aspect of his role.

Heston had already been practicing behind the chariot for weeks, so Stephen Boyd needed to learn quickly.

Stephen Boyd was required to wear brown contact lenses as Messala, which irritated his eyes and caused vision problems for a few months after the movie was completed.

Years after the movie was released, interim Ben-Hur screenwriter and novelist Gore Vidal revealed that Stephen Boyd had portrayed his famous character Messala in Ben-Hur with an underlying homosexual energy, as instructed to by Vidal when he greets Judah Ben-Hur in the opening sequence.

Stephen Boyd was featured in the popular TV program This Is Your Life on 3 February 1960, which featured many of Stephen Boyd's family members and acquaintances telling stories about his early life and film career.

Stephen Boyd was being sent dozens of starring roles, most of which he had to turn down due to other obligations.

Stephen Boyd opted out of the biblical epic The Story of Ruth, which didn't please Fox studios, and he was one of the front-runners to star with Marilyn Monroe in her picture Let's Make Love.

In January 1960, Boyd made a guest appearance alongside the silent-era Ben-Hur stars Ramon Novarro and Francis X Bushman on Hedda Hopper's special television programme Hedda Hopper's Hollywood.

Stephen Boyd appeared as a singing guest on The Dinah Shore Chevy Show on 13 March 1960 where he performed two Irish folk songs with Dinah Shore, "The Leprechaun Song" and "Molly Malone", and an Irish step dance.

Stephen Boyd chose to do roles in which he felt comfortable.

Stephen Boyd nearly drowned in the Ardeche river during the making of the film.

Stephen Boyd was originally chosen to play Mark Antony opposite Elizabeth Taylor in 20th Century Fox's epic production of Cleopatra under the direction of Rouben Mamoulian.

Stephen Boyd began film work in September 1960 but eventually withdrew from the problem-plagued production after Elizabeth Taylor's severe illness postponed the film for months.

On 9 January 1962, Stephen Boyd was featured in a television film from General Electric Theater called The Wall Between, co-starring Ronald Reagan and Gloria Talbott.

Stephen Boyd flew to Rome in the summer of 1962 to act with Italian superstar Gina Lollobrigida in her long-time pet project Imperial Venus, a romantic epic about the many loves of Pauline Bonaparte, the sister of Napoleon.

Stephen Boyd appeared in a humorous bedroom scene, naked with only his lower half covered by a bed-sheet.

Stephen Boyd returned to the States briefly after finishing Imperial Venus, where he appeared for the second time on The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, which aired on 11 November 1962.

Stephen Boyd arrived in Spain in early 1963 to begin work on Samuel Bronston's massive production of theThe Fall of the Roman Empire, directed by Anthony Mann.

Stephen Boyd had the opportunity to ride another chariot in this film.

Stephen Boyd flew back to Hollywood in the summer to star in a Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre episode with Louis Jourdan called War of Nerves, which aired on 3 January 1964.

Stephen Boyd then returned to Europe to film the suspenseful The Third Secret starring Pamela Franklin, Richard Attenborough, Jack Hawkins and Diane Cilento.

On 23 December 1963, Stephen Boyd became a naturalized US citizen during a ceremony at the Federal Building in Los Angeles, California.

Stephen Boyd was originally cast as the lead in Anthony Mann's World War II drama The Unknown Battle, which was set to film in early 1964 with co-stars Elke Sommer and Anthony Perkins in Norway.

In 1964, Stephen Boyd continued to make films in Europe, traveling to Yugoslavia to star as the villain Jamuga in the epic Genghis Khan.

Stephen Boyd made a 10-day visit to Iran in December 1965 to film his scenes for the United Nations film project The Poppy Is Also a Flower, written by James Bond creator Ian Fleming.

The actors, including Stephen Boyd, took part in the famous Feria del Toro de San Fermin festival in Pamplona.

Also in 1966, Stephen Boyd appeared as Nimrod in John Huston's biblical epic The Bible: In the Beginning.

Stephen Boyd grew a full beard for his next role as the iconic Irish playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw in the Off-Broadway play called The Bashful Genius written by Harold Callen.

Stephen Boyd received excellent reviews for his nuanced performance of the multi-faceted Shaw.

In early 1968, Stephen Boyd was cast as the heavy opposite Sean Connery and Brigitte Bardot in the western adventure Shalako, based on the Louis L'Amour novel.

The film was released during the volatile civil rights era and in May 1969 Stephen Boyd attended the premiere alongside Dionne Warwick in Baltimore Closely following Slaves, Stephen Boyd starred in another story about racial tension, this time a World War II made-for-television drama called Carter's Army which aired in August 1970, featuring a young Richard Pryor.

Stephen Boyd starred in and narrated a Scientology recruiting movie titled Freedom in 1970.

Stephen Boyd made three films in Spain with director Jose Antonio Nieves Conde, including Marta in 1970, The Great Swindle in 1971, and Casa Manchada in 1975.

Stephen Boyd made frequent trips back to his hometown of Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Stephen Boyd is a lean, well built charmer of 31, with a dazzling dimple, light brown curly hair, fair skin and the kind of grey eyes which take on color from what he is wearing.

Stephen Boyd was popular with Hollywood columnists, including his friend Hedda Hopper, as well as fellow actors and other members of the entertainment industry because of his charm and sense of humor.

Stephen Boyd is a blue-eyed, curly-haired chunk of masculinity, who makes no attempt to hide the fact that he just plain likes people.

Stephen Boyd will discuss any subject and enjoys a good argument.

Stephen Boyd was first married in 1958 to Italian-born MCA executive Mariella Di Sarzana during the filming of Ben-Hur.

Stephen Boyd is a nice girl but we were just not meant for each other.

Stephen Boyd's secretary Elizabeth Mills was a permanent resident at his Tarzana home during these years, though the two did not marry until 1974.

Stephen Boyd had a close relationship with actress Dolores Hart who describes what was her only romance with a co-star in her autobiography The Ear of the Heart.

Stephen Boyd eventually rejected her advances, but they remained close friends even after she turned to the cloistered life of a nun in 1963.

Stephen Boyd visited her in 1966 at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Connecticut and remained in communication with her until the early 1970s.

Stephen Boyd initially dodged Marisa Mell's amorous advances, but during the second film they made together, The Great Swindle, the two became inseparable lovers.

Stephen Boyd abruptly broke off the affair after the intensity apparently became too much to bear.

Stephen Boyd died of a massive heart attack on 2 June 1977 at the age of 45 while playing golf with his wife, Elizabeth Mills, at the Porter Valley Country Club in Northridge, California.

Stephen Boyd was in talks to play the role of the Regimental Sergeant Major in Euan Lloyd's The Wild Geese before his death.

Stephen Boyd was cremated and his ashes were interred in Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California.

Stephen Boyd is remembered on his parents' grave in the Clandeboye Cemetery, Bangor, Northern Ireland.