Boyle's paternal grandparents were Irish immigrants, and his mother was of mostly French, British and Irish descent. He was raised Catholic and attended St. Francis de Sales School and West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys. After graduating from high school in 1953, Boyle spent three years in formation with the De La Salle Brothers, a Catholic teaching order. He lived in a house of studies with other novices earning a Bachelor of Arts degree from La Salle University in Philadelphia in 1957, but left the order because he did not feel called to religious life.
