Actor. Born in New York City. William began his career on stage when a young child. He worked in a circus before studying architecture. In 1906 he was seen on Broadway and he moved to motion pictures in 1913. William would change his name to avoid confusion with the better-known performer working under the same name, William Boyd also best known for playing Hopalong Cassidy, A judge dictated he be professionally credited with the “stage” moniker in 1935 to differentiate the two men. Stage is credited for such movies as “What Price Glory?”; “Tenth Avenue”; “The Lady Lies”; “The Spoilers”; “State’s Attorney”; “The House on Fifty-sixth Street”;  and “Oliver Twist”. His arrests for alcohol possession, during prohibition and drug possession damaged his career. Stage was married to  Margaret Christiansen, this would end in divorce. He would die at the age of 46 from a variety of ailments related to alcohol and drug abuse. (bio by: Shock)