William Holden

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William Holden as best man at Ronald Reagan's wedding (1952)

William Holden (born April 17, 1918 as William Francis Beedle junior in O'Fallon , Illinois , † November 12, 1981 in Santa Monica , California ) was an American film actor , who won the 1954 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Film Stalag 17 was awarded. He has starred in classic films such as Twilight Boulevard , The Kwai Bridge, and The Wild Bunch . In 1999, the American Film Institute voted him the 25th greatest male screen legends in American cinema.

Life

Early life and breakthrough

William Francis Beedle (Jr.) was born on April 17th in O'Fallon, Illinois. His father, William Franklin Beedle (1891–1967), was a chemist by profession, his mother Mary Blanche Ball (1898–1990) a teacher. He had two younger brothers, Robert Westfield (1921–1944) and Richart P. (1924–1964). In 1921 the family moved to South Pasadena. Here he attended South Pasadena High School and then Junior College. He took acting classes while at Pasadena Junior College and caught the attention of a talent scout during a school play, who won him a contract with Paramount . To its discoverer, however, the name Beedle did not seem particularly suitable for an acting career. So he suggested the maiden name of his divorced wife "Holden". Holden first appeared in 1938 as an extra, but in 1939 he rose to star with the role of Joe Bonaparte in the film adaptation of Clifford Odets ' drama Golden Boy . Rouben Mamoulian convinced the studio to give Holden the role, and it was only thanks to the tireless help of his co-star Barbara Stanwyck that the inexperienced actor was able to overcome the challenges of the role. Until the end of his life, Holden sent a bouquet of red roses with a card on the recurring date when the shooting of Golden Boy Stanwyck began, on which he thanked them for their support.

Career as a movie star

In the years that followed, Holden was mostly seen in films as the "boy next door". He rarely took on roles that required more than heroism or a romantic affection for the female star in question; an exception was Western Arizona , which showed him in 1940 alongside Jean Arthur . After the war, Holden was able to win new fans with the comedy Dear Ruth in 1947 . The film adaptation of a successful Broadway play portrays the hair-raising entanglements that resulted from a cocky teenager starting a pen-friendship with a soldier under the pseudonym of the older sister. The authors claimed that the partially eccentric characters related to members of Groucho Marx's family. A year later, Holden starred alongside Robert Mitchum in Rachel and the Stranger as a farmer who buys Loretta Young for 50 dollars at a slave market and in the end falls in love with her. The film was a huge financial success, and Holden became a popular actor in romantic comedies alongside Sterling Hayden at Paramount .

However, Holden did not have his final breakthrough until 1950. He starred alongside Judy Holliday in Die ist nicht der Yesterday and starred alongside Gloria Swanson on Billy Wilder's Boulevard of Twilight . In 1954, he won an Oscar for his role as the cynical prisoner of war and wheeler JJ Sefton in the film Stalag 17 , which Wilder also directed. The following year, Holden was seen alongside Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina , who was again directed by Wilder. Successes such as Picnic (1955), in which he throws an entire city into an uproar as a sexually aggressive drifter and ends up running away with Kim Novak , or A Country Girl (1954), which shows him as an admirer of Grace Kelly , who, however, is her alcoholic Husband, played by Bing Crosby , made Holden one of the big stars of that decade. Until the mid-1960s, his name was regularly to be found among the ten biggest box office stars of the year.

His most important later films include the Western The Wild Bunch (1969) by Sam Peckinpah . He played his last artistically demanding roles in 1973 in the film Breezy , directed by Clint Eastwood, and in 1976 in the television satire Network by Sidney Lumet , in which he portrayed the news chief of a television station who fought in vain against the ruthless commercialization of television. Holden made his last film appearance in 1981 in Blake Edwards ' Hollywood satire SOB - Hollywood's Last Howler .

In 1999 the American Film Institute voted William Holden 25th among the male screen legends of American film.

Private life and death

William Holden was a good friend of the later US President Ronald Reagan . When he married his wife Nancy in 1952, he was best man. He was one of the most prominent supporters of the Republican Party , although he was hardly interested in politics.

From 1941 until the divorce in 1971, he was married to fellow actress Brenda Marshall . Very wealthy thanks to good investments, he spent the last years of his life mainly on his spacious ranch in Kenya or on extensive trips around the world. On November 16, 1981, he was found dead in his Santa Monica apartment . The forensic investigation showed that Holden will be thrown under the influence of alcohol and pitched with the head on a nightstand. The date of death was dated November 12, 1981. Actress Stefanie Powers , with whom Holden had a relationship, set up a foundation for the protection of wild animals in Africa in his memory.

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Oscar

  • Best Actor for Sunset Boulevard (1951, nominated)
  • Best Actor for Stalag 17 (1954)
  • Best Actor for Network (1977, nominated)

BAFTA Award

  • Best Actor for Picnic (1955, nominated)
  • Best Actor for Network (1976, nominated)

Emmy Award

  • Best Actor for The Blue Knight (1974)

The asteroid (9340) was named Williamholden after William Holden .

literature

  • Lawrence J. Quirk , Nancy Lawrence: The Complete Films of William Holden. Citadel Press, Secaucus / New Jersey 1986, ISBN 0-8065-0987-2 .
  • Michelangelo Capua, William Holden - Biography, McFarland & Company, Jefferson and London 1966 (reprint 2010)

Web links

Commons : William Holden  - Collection of Images
personal data
SURNAME Holden, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Beedle, William Francis junior (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film actor
DATE OF BIRTH April 17, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH O'Fallon , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH November 16, 1981
Place of death Santa Monica , California