Hopalong Cassidy is a cowboy hero created by the author Clarence Mulford, who wrote a series of popular short stories and many novels based on the character. In his early writings, Mulford portrayed the character as rude, dangerous, and rough-talking. He had a wooden leg which caused him to walk with a little "hop", hence the nickname. The character—as played by movie actor William Boyd in films adapted from Mulford's books—was transformed into a clean-cut, sarsaparilla-drinking hero. Sixty-six popular films appeared. The Coming of Cassidy and Others Hopalong Cassidy Bar-20 Days Buck Peters, Ranchman The Bar-20 Three Tex Clarence E. Mulford (1883–1956) created Hopalong Cassidy in 1904 while living in Fryeburg, Maine, and the many short stories and 28 novels were adapted to radio, feature film, television, and comic books, often deviating significantly from the original stories, especially in the character's traits. But more than just writing a very popular series of Westerns, Mulford recreated an entire detailed and authentic world filled with characters drawn from his extensive library research.