He was most famous for playing the comic strip character Dick Tracy on screen, in serials, films and television.

[2] He served in the United States Army during World War II, having been inducted into the service in San Pedro, California, in 1944.

[5] Once established in Republic Pictures' Dick Tracy serials (beginning in 1937), he was usually cast in action features (as a truck driver, lumberjack, cowboy, etc.).

[6] Republic cast Byrd as Chester Gould's comic-strip detective Dick Tracy in the 1937 serial of the same title.

RKO Radio Pictures made a feature film, Dick Tracy, in 1945, with Morgan Conway in the title role.