Trivia

His recording of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" was #1 on the Billboard pop music chart for 2 weeks (27 December 1952 - 3 January 1953).

Recorded the Christmas novelty hit "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" in 1952 when he was 13. Three weeks after the Yuletide kiss-and-tell was released, it was #1 on the Billboard charts. It sold 2,000,000 records in less than ten weeks. Recorded at the urging of Columbia record executive Mitch Miller, the tune made "something of an overnight national musical figure" of the vocalist, a "freckle-patch" who lived in Van Nuys, CA, "Time" magazine reported in 1952. Even Boyd himself was surprised by the song's success. "I like it personally," he told Time, "but I didn't think anyone would buy it.".

He met first wife, actress Yvonne Craig, while making the Bing Crosby film Mi papá va al colegio (1960). The marriage lasted only two years.

A classmate, Molly Bee, who also recorded the hit song "I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," died on 7 February 2009.

He was born to a struggling farm family in the Depression. His family eventually moved to California.

He was an avid tennis player and enjoyed sailing. For years he lived in Marina del Rey, CA, on a sailboat he named "Unplugged".

A fair-haired child actor who turned into an awkward, freckle-faced young suitor on film and TV, often in goofy, bucolic roles.

Drafted into the Army in the early 1960s, he performed in a couple of USO shows in Vietnam.

From 1958-61 he portrayed the recurring role of Howard, Noreen Corcoran's goofy-voiced high school boyfriend on Bachelor Father (1957). He also played the teenage nephew of Betty White on Date with the Angels (1957).

His father started giving him guitar and harmonica lessons when he was four. A few years later he was performing at barn dances.

After winning a TV talent contest, he appeared as a singer on "The Frank Sinatra Show" and was signed to a recording contract with Columbia. His first recording success was the country song "(The Angels Are Lighting) God's Little Candles". He also appeared on Ed Sullivan's variety show several times.

Boyd's recording career, which lasted until 1967, included the song hits "Dennis the Menace," sung with Rosemary Clooney, and several duets with Frankie Laine, including "The Little Boy and the Old Man," "Poor Little Piggy Bank" and "Tell Me a Story".

Born in a shack in McComb, MS, to Leslie and Winnie Boyd. His father was a carpenter. His grandfather, a well-known local musician named "Fiddler Bill," sired 21 children.

A country-western band-leader, Texas Jim Lewis, heard Jimmy sing and hired him for his Saturday-night radio show. Jimmy won a radio talent show in Los Angeles and got the contract to record "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus".

First performed as a singer at age seven at a country-western dance with the Texas Jim Lewis troupe. The young boy went on to appear with Lewis' band on radio broadcasts.

Son with Anne Forrey, Devon Boyd.

Toured the U.S. in his own music and comedy show.

Profiled in 2016 book "X Child Stars: Where Are They Now?" by Kathy Garver and Fred Ascher.