Boyd was born in 1953 in
East Berlin. Boyd's father was an American soldier. Boyd's mother was a German. Boyd completed a three-year study acting at the National Theatre School in
Rostock, followed by an additional vocal training at the Department of chanson at the Music School in East Berlin Friedrichshain. After working at several small stages in 1973 she came to the
Maxim Gorki Theatre in East Berlin, where she played for ten years. In addition, she also played first film and television roles for the East German
DEFA and
Deutscher Fernsehfunk. Her breakthrough as an actress came in 1981 in the role of the dancer Juliette Martens in
István Szabó's Oscar-winning film
Mephisto starring
Klaus Maria Brandauer. After her exit visa had been granted, in 1983, she moved with her son to West Germany and played on West German theater stages. She occurred in the popular TV-Series
Ein Fall für zwei and also in the television series
Die Sitte. In the 1990s she moderated various TV formats. == Awards ==