Jay Kirby was an American actor in films and television. He was best known for playing Johnny Travers, the youthful sidekick of Hopalong Cassidy

Hopalong Cassidy

Hopalong Cassidy is a fictional cowboy hero created in 1904 by the author Clarence E. Mulford, who wrote a series of popular short stories and twenty-eight novels based on the character....

 in six films in the 1940s.

Kirby was born William B. George in Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

. He began acting in films in 1942, when he was cast to replace Russell Hayden

Russell Hayden

Russell "Lucky" Hayden was an American film and television actor.He was born as Hayden Michael "Pate" Lucid, son of Francis J...

 as the boyish partner to cowboy hero Hopalong Cassidy. He was an aviation cadet in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 but does not appear to have served long, as his screen appearances are continuous throughout the war and afterward for several years. In 1949 he reverted to his real name, Bill George, for his last feature film and his subsequent television roles. He died at 44 and was buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery

Los Angeles National Cemetery

The Los Angeles National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in West Los Angeles, at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard. The cemetery was dedicated in 1889. Interred there are war veterans, from the Spanish-American war, World War I, World War II, Korean War,...

.