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William Holden

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William Holden
William Holden

William Holden (April 17, 1918 – on or about November 12, 1981) was an Oscar-winning American film actor.

Contents

Early life and career

Born William Franklin Beedle Jr. in O'Fallon, Illinois, he was the eldest of three sons of William Franklin Beedle, Sr., an industrial chemist, and Mary Blanche Ball, a teacher. The family, who moved to Pasadena, California when he was three, was of English descent; Holden's paternal great-grandmother, Rebecca Westfield, was born in England in 1817, while some of his mother's ancestors immigrated to the U.S. in the 17th century from Millenback, Lancaster, England. While attending Pasadena Junior College he became involved in local radio plays and with the Pasadena Playhouse, leading to his discovery by a talent scout from Paramount Pictures in 1937. His first role was in Prison Farm the following year.

Hollywood's \"Golden Boy\"

Nancy Olson and William Holden in Sunset Boulevard. All four principal cast members including Holden were nominated for Academy Awards.
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Nancy Olson and William Holden in Sunset Boulevard. All four principal cast members including Holden were nominated for Academy Awards.

His first starring role was in 1939's Golden Boy in which he played a boxer who wants to be a violinist. After Columbia Pictures picked up half of his contract he alternated between starring in several minor pictures for Paramount and Columbia before serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II, where he acted in training films. Beginning in 1950 his career rebounded when Billy Wilder tapped him to star as the down-at-the-heels screenwriter in Sunset Boulevard. Following this breakthrough film he played a series of roles that combined good looks with cynical detachment, including the prisoner of war entrepreneur in Stalag 17 (for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor), the wandering braggard in Picnic and the ill-fated prisoner in The Bridge on the River Kwai. He also played a number of sunnier roles in light comedy, such as the dashing architect in The Moon is Blue, the tutor in Born Yesterday and Humphrey Bogart's younger, playboy brother in Sabrina. In 1960, he starred opposite Nancy Kwan in the film adaptation of the novel, The World of Suzie Wong. Holden played a struggling artist, Robert Lomax who was captivated by a free-spirited Hong Kong prostitute, Suzie Wong (played by Kwan).

However, Holden starred in his share of forgettable movies (which he was forced into by studio contracts). He suffered from alcoholism and depression for many years. By the early 1960s his roles were having less critical and commercial impact. In 1966 while in Italy Holden was involved in a car accident in which the other driver was killed. It was determined Holden had been driving under the influence of alcohol; he was charged with vehicular manslaughter, and received an eight-month suspended prison sentence. Holden was overcome with guilt and friends said this led to even heavier bouts of drinking. The actor reportedly had another secret: for many years he did undercover work for the CIA, delivering messages to foreign leaders during his travels.

Later career

In 1969 he starred in director Sam Peckinpah's graphically violent Western The Wild Bunch, winning much acclaim. Five years later, he starred with Paul Newman and Steve McQueen in the blockbuster, The Towering Inferno. He was also praised for his leading performance in Network (1976), playing an older version of the character type he had perfected in the 1950s, only now more jaded and aware of his own mortality. In 1980 Holden appeared in The Earthling with child actor Ricky Schroder, playing a loner dying of cancer who goes to the Australian outback to end his days, meets a young boy whose parents have been killed in an accident, and teaches him how to survive. Schroder later named one of his sons Holden.

Private life

Holden was married to actress Brenda Marshall from 1941 until their divorce (after many long separations) in 1971. They had two sons, Peter Westfield (born in 1944) and Scott Porter (born in 1946). He also adopted Virginia, his wife's daughter from her first marriage. Holden had a busy social life, maintained a home in Switzerland and also spent much of his time working for wildlife conservation as a managing partner in an animal preserve in Africa. His Mount Kenya Safari Club in Nanyuki, Kenya (founded 1959) became a mecca for the international jet set. He began a long relationship with actress Stefanie Powers which sparked her interest in animal welfare. (After his death, Powers became the President of the William Holden Wildlife Foundation and a director of their Mount Kenya Game Ranch).

Other possible children

He had reported affairs with a number of Hollywood actresses, including Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Capucine, and a "yearly rendezvous" with Shelley Winters.

Holden is believed to have had a seven-year relationship with Eva May Hoffman, the wife of composer Emil Newman, and visual evidence strongly supports the allegation that he was the biological father of Hoffman and Newman's children Arlene and William.

Death

William Holden died as the result of a fall in his high rise apartment on the seaside cliffs of Santa Monica, California in November 1981. Holden was alone and heavily intoxicated when he apparently slipped on a throw rug, severely gashed his head on a night table, and bled to death. Evidence suggests he was conscious for at least a half an hour after the fall but may not have realized the severity of the injury and didn't summon aid. His body was found on November 16, but forensic and other evidence suggested he had been dead for several days and most likely died on November 12. He was 63 years old.

His body was cremated and his ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

Trivia

I open
Up the paper
There's a story
Of an actor
Who had died
While he was drinking
It was no one
I had heard of

Academy Awards and Nominations

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Filmography

External links
1973 star in Blue Knight on TV a mini series, made into 90 minute movie}

 

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