Stephen Boyd

albatros1 ( 2007-11-26 )

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Stephen Boyd (born William Millar, July 4, 1931 – June 2, 1977) - was an Irish-born actor, born in Glengormley, Northern Ireland, who starred in over fifty films. He began in British films, but it was his role in a 1957 French film The Night Heaven Fell opposite Brigitte Bardot that got him noticed. He went to Hollywood and appeared as second leads in a variety of films, including The Bravados. His role as Messala in Ben-Hur propelled him to international fame. He stared in Samuel Bronston's The Fall of the Roman Empire. He received a Golden Globe for his performance in Ben-Hur. Boyd also appeared in John Huston's Biblical epic The Bible and was top-billed in another costumed epic Genghis Khan. His non-epic roles included the musical Billy Rose's Jumbo opposite Doris Day, the Hollywood melodrama The Oscar, the sci-fi special effects extravaganza Fantastic Voyage, the spy thriller Assignment K and the international Western Shalako. His career declined in the 1970s and he appeared in several European potboilers before making a comeback in Michael Apted's British gangster thriller The Squeeze (1977). He died of a heart attack at the age of 45 while playing golf at the Porter Valley Country Club in Northridge, California. He 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 interred in Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California.