Mistaken Identity

by John Stumpner

Have you ever been accused of something you didn’t do, but had to suffer for it anyway? Misunderstandings, mistaken identity or just plain bad luck can cause problems for good people.

William Boyd was a popular actor in early movies. He had dashing good looks and was destined to be a Hollywood superstar. However, in the early 1930’s, a New York stage actor also named William Boyd was caught gambling and generally misbehaving. The news media at the time did not bother to see which William Boyd was misbehaving and ran a picture of the movie actor William Boyd in their articles. Even though they printed a correction when the mistake was discovered, William Boyd’s movie career was ruined. For the next few years, Boyd took small parts in “low budget” movies just to keep working. During this time, he was offered a small part in a cowboy movie. He asked if he could have the lead part instead. The producer did not think the movie would do well and let Boyd have the lead. The movie was very successful and William Boyd, as Hopalong Cassidy, ade any more movies and became one of the most beloved cowboy stars of all time.

William Boyd was very careful with his success. Even though he was not guilty of the bad things stage actor William Boyd had done, he was no angel. For example, he had been married and divorced 3 times. However, after he became Hopalong Cassidy, he stayed married to his fourth wife for the rest of his life. He was offered lots of money to endorse various products. But no amount of money could get him to endorse any product he thought would be bad for his “friends,” the children and youth of America. He refused to make any in person appearances as Hopalong Cassidy where his “friends” would be charged to see him. Millions of children looked up to Hopalong Cassidy, so Boyd was careful to make sure that he was the best role model in his public and personal life. Compare this to some of our various sports and entertainment stars who selfishly don’t care how badly they behave or how big a fool they make of themselves, and how they whine when they get caught misbehaving.

Bikers are sometimes suspected of being bad people for no other reason than because they are bikers. Organizations like ABATE of Wisconsin have been working to change this view of bikers in a respectful and dignified manner, not pulling outrageous stunts or offensive shenanigans like some other special interest groups do. By sticking just to motorcycle rights and freedom of the road, ABATE of Wisconsin serves as a role model for other motorcycle rights groups.

John