William A. Boardway

born: 11 January 1889
Oswego, New York,
United States of America
died: 24 April 1962
Los Angeles, California,
United States of America
(viral hepatitis, age 73)

Gray/brown-haired American actor and extra. Formerly a partner in a Buffalo, New York, tire company, he moved to Hollywood and began acting in films around 1925 (1930 Modern Screen article says he began in pictures five years prior; his 1962 death certificate says he was in California for 37 years) and worked in pictures for 25 years (death certificate). During the two-year period of 1928-1929, he was the second most successful male film extra in Hollywood behind Babe Green.
Real name: William Albert Boardway
Height: 5'10"
Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography.

6


1926
45 Minutes From Hollywood
Hotel guest

1927
Should Men Walk Home
Guest

1927
Now I'll Tell One
Courtroom spectator

1928
Barnum & Ringling, Inc.
Lobby guest

1929
That's My Wife
Diner

1938
Block-Heads
Tenant

Acknowledgements:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V4DH-JQ5 (WWII draft reg. card)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGKR-H4PY (death certificate)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:HGCT-Y1MM (death/burial record)
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9B8-SSVD-P (funeral service record)
https://www.familysearch.org/en/tree/person/sources/GQYN-5QM (family tree, FamilySearch.org)
https://archive.org/details/modernscreenmaga01unse/page/31/mode/1up?q=%22william+boardway%22 (Modern Screen Magazine, Nov 1930)
https://archive.org/details/modernscreenmaga01unse/page/32/mode/1up?q=%22william+boardway%22 (Modern Screen Magazine, Nov 1930)
Jesse Brisson (bio notes and research; identification in Should Men Walk Home)

This page was last updated on: 05 January 2026