Jimmy Boyd

Jimmy Boyd (January 9, 1939 – March 7, 2009) was an American singer, musician, and actor. Jimmy Boyd was born in an old farmhouse to Winnie and Leslie Boyd. In 1941 his father, Leslie, put his wife and their two sons (Kenneth, 4, and Jimmy, 2), on a train bound for Riverside, California for the second time. The family was sent back to Mississippi a year earlier by the California Welfare Department because Leslie didn't have the skills to get a go... more

Jimmy Boyd (January 9, 1939 – March 7, 2009) was an American singer, musician, and actor. Jimmy Boyd was born in an old farmhouse to Winnie and Leslie Boyd. In 1941 his father, Leslie, put his wife and their two sons (Kenneth, 4, and Jimmy, 2), on a train bound for Riverside, California for the second time. The family was sent back to Mississippi a year earlier by the California Welfare Department because Leslie didn't have the skills to get a good job. Having sold everything they owned, and only having enough money to buy tickets for his wife and the two boys, Leslie rode the rails. He hitchhiked on freight trains to join his family in California, something he had done growing up through the Depression. Hoboing from Mississippi, Louisiana and as far as West Texas, he picked cotton to help support his own family of 21 brothers and sisters. Leslie's father (Jimmy's grandfather) was known locally as "Fiddler Bill". He played fiddle at dances and family gatherings throughout the region... less