Hollywood actor Stephen Boyd has been commemorated with a blue plaque near his birthplace in Whitehouse, Newtownabbey.
The plaque was unveiled yesterday afternoon at Moygara, 292 Shore Road.
Boyd is famous for the chariot scene in the popular Ben-Hur, when he raced alongside Charlton Heston.
However, he was born Billy Millar from Glengormley on 4 July 1931 – the youngest of nine children and a former pupil of Ballyclare High School. And it was a chance encounter with Sir Michael Redgrave in London that launched him on his road to stardom.
Boyd’s first role was as an Irish spy in the movie The Man Who Never Was. It was released in April 1956.
Shortly after, he signed a ten-year contract with 20th Century Fox studios. In June 1956, Boyd was cast in Abandon Ship! for Columbia Studios starring Tyrone Power. This was filmed in London where the British Navy built a huge 35,000 gallon water tank for the movie.
Stephen Boyd finally arrived in Hollywood in 1958 to take on his first Hollywood role as a cowboy in the Twentieth Century Fox film The Bravados, which starred Gregory Peck and Joan Collins.
Ben-Hur was released in December 1959 and made Boyd a star overnight. His portrayal of the Roman tribune Messala earned him rave reviews.
Press columnist Erskine Johnson wrote: A brass hat and the armour of a Roman warrior in Ben-Hur does for Stephen Boyd what a tight dress does for Marilyn Monroe.
And Modern Screen magazine in 1960 stated that Boyd’s ruthless Messala had: lost the chariot race but captured the sympathy and sex appeal of Ben-Hur.
Boyd died of a heart attack in 1977, aged 46.
The Ulster History Circle is a small voluntary organisation that erects plaques in public places in towns and villages all over Northern Ireland in commemoration of men and women who have contributed to history and the arts.
