William Holden (1918

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Biography

William Franklin Holden was an American actor and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film Stalag 17 (1953) and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for The Blue Knight (1973).

Timeline

The story of William Holden, told in moments.

1918 Birth

Born William Franklin Beedle Jr. in O'Fallon, Illinois. His father was an industrial chemist. Family moved to South Pasadena when he was three. Got into acting through radio plays at Pasadena Junior College.

Did your father's chemistry career influence your analytical mind? What was South Pasadena like for a future movie star? Was radio acting at college the accidental beginning?

1950 Life

Starred in Sunset Boulevard as the struggling screenwriter Joe Gillis. Billy Wilder cast him after several bigger names turned it down. Holden was 31. The role made him a star.

How did getting the role bigger names turned down feel? Was Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard a role that found you? Did Billy Wilder change everything?

1953 Event

Won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Stalag 17, playing a cynical American POW accused of being a German informer. Named one of the top 10 box office stars for six consecutive years after that.

What was winning the Oscar at 35 like? Did six consecutive years as a top box office star feel sustainable? Was Stalag 17 the role that proved your range?

1969 Life

Starred in The Wild Bunch, Sam Peckinpah's ultraviolent Western about aging outlaws. It was controversial. Audiences walked out. Critics now consider it one of the greatest Westerns ever made.

What drew you to The Wild Bunch's violence? Were audiences right to walk out? Is it the greatest Western ever made?

1981 Death

Found dead in his Santa Monica apartment at 63. He'd hit his head on a bedside table, likely while intoxicated, and bled to death. His body wasn't discovered for four days. He'd struggled with alcoholism for decades.

Did alcoholism feel like a slow surrender? Was there a moment you could have turned it around? What do you want people to remember beyond how it ended?

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