Betty Boyd Biography

A 1929 Wampas Baby Star, auburn-haired Betty Boyd came to films in 1926 more or less straight from fabled Hollywood High School. A rather exotic type despite her all-American background, Boyd slaved away in Educational comedies before gaining some notoriety as Neptuna, Queen of the Mermaids in Tod Browning's The Show (1927), a sideshow attraction scaly from the waist down. Even more bizarre was Maid to Order (1931), which starred female impersonator Julian Eltinge in an ill-advised comeback attempt. Eltinge, however, stayed in male attire for the duration, leaving Boyd to contribute the film's main feminine flavor. By then, Boyd's career was quietly winding down, but a sensational divorce from Pasadena stockbroker Charles Henry Over -- complete with public accusations of adultery -- kept her name in the news for a while longer. Remarried, she later returned to Hollywood as an extra. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi