Boyd also appeared, sometimes as a hero and sometimes as a malefactor, in the major big-screen productions The Man Who Never Was (1956), The Night Heaven Fell (1958), The Bravados (1958), The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), Genghis Khan (1965), Fantastic Voyage (1966), The Bible: In the Beginning... (also 1966) and Shalako (1968).

In 1950, he made a coast-to-coast tour of America with the Clare Tree Major Company,[5] performing A Streetcar Named Desire [6] in the lead role as Stanley Kowalski.

[13] In November 1956, for Twentieth Century Fox, Boyd traveled to the British West Indies as part of a large ensemble cast in Darryl Zanuck's racially provocative film Island in the Sun starring Dorothy Dandridge, based on the Alec Waugh novel.

Around the same time, French actress Brigitte Bardot was given the opportunity to cast her own leading man in her next movie after her success in Roger Vadim's And God Created Woman, and she chose Boyd.

[16] From August to October 1957,[17] Bardot, Boyd, and Alida Valli filmed the lusty romance The Night Heaven Fell, directed by Roger Vadim in Paris and in the region of Málaga, Spain, specifically the small, white-washed town of Mijas.

[20] After the filming of The Bravados was complete in late March 1958, Stephen Boyd returned to Hollywood to audition for the coveted role of Messala in MGM's upcoming epic Ben-Hur.

Many other actors, including Victor Mature, Kirk Douglas, Leslie Nielsen and Stewart Granger had been considered for the part,[21] but Boyd's screen test convinced director William Wyler that he had found the perfect villain for his epic.

[23] After the filming of Ben-Hur was completed Boyd returned to Hollywood in early 1959 to star with Academy Award winner Susan Hayward in the Canadian-based drama Woman Obsessed.

Press columnist Erskine Johnson wrote, "A brass hat and the armor of a Roman warrior in Ben-Hur does for Stephen Boyd what a tight dress does for Marilyn Monroe.

Boyd was originally chosen to play Mark Antony opposite Elizabeth Taylor in 20th Century Fox's epic production of Cleopatra (1963) under the direction of Rouben Mamoulian.

During this period of waiting in April 1961 Stephen Boyd was sent to Cairo, Egypt on a publicity tour by Twentieth Century Fox along with fellow actors Julie Newmar and Barbara Eden to attend the inaugural ceremony of the sound and light show at the pyramids of Giza.

Boyd flew to Rome in the summer of 1962 to act with Italian superstar Gina Lollobrigida in her long-time pet project Imperial Venus, a romantic epic about the many loves of Pauline Bonaparte, the sister of Napoleon.

[46][47] Boyd arrived in Spain in early 1963 to begin work on Samuel Bronston's massive production of The Fall of the Roman Empire, directed by Anthony Mann.

More appreciated with the passing of time, The Fall of the Roman Empire was also recognized by critics as being a major inspiration for Ridley Scott's Academy Award-winning movie Gladiator.

[50] Boyd flew back to Hollywood in the summer to star in a Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre episode with Louis Jourdan called War of Nerves, which aired on 3 January 1964.

[58] After completing Genghis Khan, Boyd trekked to Cairo, Egypt for a brief appearance as the regal King Nimrod at The Tower of Babel in Dino de Laurentiis's production of The Bible, directed by John Huston.

[59] After all this globe-trotting, the travel-weary Boyd was very happy to return to the United States to start work on the Twentieth Century Fox science fiction adventure Fantastic Voyage.

In the summer of 1965, Boyd joined German star Elke Sommer and music legend Tony Bennett to film the Hollywood drama The Oscar, based on the eponymous Richard Sale novel.

[63] Also in 1966, Boyd appeared as Nimrod in John Huston's biblical epic The Bible: In the Beginning... (which became the year's second highest-grossing film but lost 20th Century Fox $1.5 million)[64][65] and also as Charles Grant in the cult classic Fantastic Voyage (which is also notable for launching the career of Raquel Welch).

[66] Boyd grew a full beard [67] for his next role as the iconic Irish playwright and critic George Bernard Shaw in the Off-Broadway play called The Bashful Genius written by Harold Callen.

He also made several Westerns, including Hannie Caulder with Raquel Welch in 1971, The Man Called Noon in 1973, Those Dirty Dogs in 1973, and Montana Trap [de] in 1976.

Boyd continued to travel to a wide variety of locations to work, including Australia for The Hands of Cormac Joyce in 1972, South Africa for Control Factor and The Manipulator in 1972–1973, Jamaica for the scuba diving adventure The Treasure of Jamaica Reef in 1972, Florida for the television pilot Key West in 1973, and Hawaii in his last acting stint as a guest star on the popular television show Hawaii Five-O in 1977.

[77] Silver Screen Magazine in 1960 wrote this about Boyd: A supreme individualist, like most Irishmen, he has a wonderful actor's face that easily switches from an engaging smile to sinister menace.

Far handsomer in person than on the screen ... Stephen Boyd is a lean (180 pounds), well built (six-foot-one) charmer of 31, with a dazzling dimple, light brown curly hair, fair skin and the kind of grey eyes which take on color from what he is wearing.

"[84] Boyd was popular with Hollywood columnists, including his friend Hedda Hopper, as well as fellow actors and other members of the entertainment industry because of his charm and sense of humor.

[89] He had a deep and lasting friendship with actress and French icon Brigitte Bardot with whom he starred in two movies – The Night Heaven Fell (Les bijoutiers du clair de lune) in 1958 and Shalako in 1968.

In response, Boyd wrote a letter to the Belfast Telegraph in which he clarified his remarks: I am an Ulster Protestant and I have never made any secret of the fact, but being in a business where colour, creed, political or religious beliefs mean nothing, I have naturally avoided any serious thinking on these subjects.

On one particular visit in 1971, he exclaimed his dismay about what he described as: the abysmal hopelessness of the situation in Northern Ireland where the hatred on both sides is so deeply ingrained I don’t know if even God can resolve it.

The unemployment, even in good times, the widespread poverty, religious discrimination, overpopulation – all these overshadow the cultural treasures, the writers, the artists, the poets, and musicians with so much to offer mankind.

[110] Boyd died of a massive heart attack on 2 June 1977 at the age of 45 while playing golf with his wife, Elizabeth Mills, at the Porter Valley Country Club in Northridge, California.