biographyThe zenith of Boyd's career was winning a Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actor for his role in Ben-Hur (1959; with Charlton Heston and Martha Scott). Although he starred in several other big-budget pictures, such as Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962; with Doris Day and Jimmy Durante) and The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964; with Sophia Loren and Alec Guinness), nearly all proved to be box-office failures and did nothing for Boyd's career. By the late 1960s, Boyd had moved on to lower-budgeted European films and made-for-television movies. |
the films of stephen boydThe Man Who Never Was (1956)Seven Waves Away (1957)Island in the Sun (1957)With Joan Collins in the 20th Century Fox romance Island in the SunThe Bravados (1958)The Night Heaven Fell (1958)Woman Obsessed (1959)Ben-Hur (1959)Boyd portrayed Messala, whose boyhood friendship with Judah Ben-Hur (Charlton Heston) becomes adversarial in adulthood, in William Wyler's MGM spectacle Ben-HurThe Best of Everything (1959)From Jean Negulesco's drama The Best of Everything, released by 20th Century Fox. Pictured are Hope Lange and Stephen BoydBilly Rose's Jumbo (1962)From the MGM musical Billy Rose's Jumbo with Doris Day. The box office failure of this film was the final nail in the coffin for MGM musicalsLisa (1962)The Third Secret (1964)The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964)With Sophia Loren in the Paramount historical drama The Fall of the Roman Empire. This expensive production ran for more than three hours and failed at the box officeFantastic Voyage (1966)From the 20th Century Fox science fiction flick Fantastic Voyage. LEFT: With Raquel Welch. RIGHT: With Raquel Welch and Donald PleasenceThe Oscar (1966)LEFT: With Hedda Hopper and Jean Hale in the campy drama The Oscar, one of Boyd's last big budget films. RIGHT: With Eleanor ParkerThe Caper of the Golden Bulls (1967)With Yvette Mimieux in the comedy The Caper of the Golden BullsAssignment K (1968)Kill! (1971)A Man Called Noon (1973)From the Spanish-made western A Man Called Noon. LEFT: Boyd as Rimes. RIGHT: With Richard Crenna, who portrayed the title characterlater yearsMuch of Stephen Boyd's personal life remains a mystery. Wedded twice, each of Boyd's marriages were short-lived. His first marriage to actress Mariella di Sarzana in 1958 ended after a few weeks. Boyd remarried in 1977, this time to his personal assistant. Sadly, Stephen Boyd died suddenly of a massive heart attack while playing golf at a Country Club in Northridge, California, on June 2, 1977, at age 45. He was survived by his wife, Elizabeth. In a February 2012 interview, Raquel Welch, Boyd's costar in Fantastic Voyage (1966), stated that the actor was gay. |
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