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Naked Photos of William Holden are available at MaleStars.com. They currently feature over 65,000 Nude Pics, Biographies, Video Clips, Articles, and Movie Reviews of famous stars.

 

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Actresses who appeared with William Holden on screen:

Audrey Hepburn
Julie Andrews
Rosanna Arquette
Grace Kelly
Angelica Huston
Anjelica Huston
Sophia Loren
Faye Dunaway
Lucille Ball
Jaqueline Bisset
Jacqueline Bisset
Ursula Andress
Anne Archer
Kim Novak
Shelley Winters
Claudia Cardinale


William Holden
Birthday: April 17, 1918

Birth Place: O'Fallon, Illinois, USA
Height: 5' 1"

Below is a complete filmography (list of movies he's appeared in) for William Holden. If you have any corrections or additions, please email us at corrections@actorsofhollywood.com. We'd also be interested in any trivia or other information you have.

 

Biography

The son of a chemical analyst, American actor William Holden plunged into high school and junior college sports activities as a means of "proving himself" to his demanding father. Nonetheless, Holden's forte would be in what he'd always consider a "sissy" profession: acting. Spotted by a talent scout during a stage production at Pasadena Junior College, Holden was signed by both Paramount and Columbia, who would share his contract for the next two decades. After one bit role, Holden was thrust into the demanding leading part of boxer Joe Bonaparte in Golden Boy (1939). He was so green and nervous that Columbia considered replacing him, but co-star Barbara Stanwyck took it upon herself to coach the young actor and build up his confidence — a selfless act for which Holden would be grateful until the day he died. After serving as a lieutenant in the Army's special services unit, Holden returned to films, mostly in light, inconsequential roles. Director Billy Wilder changed all that by casting him as Joe Gillis, an embittered failed screenwriter and "kept man" of Gloria Swanson in the Hollywood-bashing classic Sunset Boulevard (1950). Wilder also directed Holden in the role of the cynical, conniving, but ultimately heroic American POW Sefton in Stalag 17 (1953), for which the actor won an Oscar. Holden became a man of the world, as it were, when he moved to Switzerland to avoid heavy taxation on his earnings; while traversing the globe, he developed an interest in African wildlife preservation, spending much of his off-camera time campaigning and raising funds for the humane treatment of animals. Free to be selective in his film roles in the '60s and '70s, Holden evinced an erratic sensibility: For every Counterfeit Traitor (1962) and Network (1976), there would be a walk-through part in The Towering Inferno (1974) or Ashanti (1978). His final film role was in S.O.B. (1981), which, like Sunset Boulevard, was a searing and satirical indictment of Hollywood. But times had changed, and one of the comic highlights of S.O.B. was of a drunken film executive urinating on the floor of an undertaker's parlor. Holden's death in 1981 was the result of blood loss from a fall he suffered while alone.

Movie Credits
S.O.B. (1981)
[ Robert Loggia ][ Robert Vaughn ][ Larry Hagman ][ Blake Edwards ][ Corbin Bernsen ]
The Earthling (1980)
[ Rick Schroder ]
When Time Ran Out... (1980)
[ Paul Newman ][ Ernest Borgnine ][ Pat Morita ][ Burgess Meredith ][ Red Buttons ]
Ashanti (1979)
[ Michael Caine ][ Omar Sharif ][ Peter Ustinov ][ Rex Harrison ]
Escape to Athena (1979)
[ Roger Moore ][ Elliott Gould ][ David Niven ][ Telly Savalas ][ Richard Roundtree ]
Damien: Omen II (1978)
[ Lance Henriksen ]
Fedora (1978)
[ Henry Fonda ][ Billy Wilder ][ Stephen Collins ]
Network (1976)
[ Robert Duvall ][ Lance Henriksen ][ Sidney Lumet ][ Ned Beatty ][ Lane Smith ]
21 Hours at Munich (1976)
[ Franco Nero ]
The Towering Inferno (1974)
[ Paul Newman ][ Steve McQueen ][ Fred Astaire ][ Robert Wagner ][ John Williams ]
Open Season (1974)
[ Peter Fonda ]
Breezy (1973)
[ Clint Eastwood ]
The Blue Knight (1973)
[ Sam Elliott ][ Jamie Farr ][ Howard Hesseman ][ Joe Flaherty ]
The Revengers (1972)
[ Ernest Borgnine ][ James Daughton ]
Wild Rovers (1971)
[ Tom Skerritt ][ Ryan O'Neal ][ Blake Edwards ][ Karl Malden ][ Joe Don Baker ]
Arbre de Noël, L' (1969)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
[ Ernest Borgnine ][ Sam Peckinpah ][ Ben Johnson ][ Warren Oates ][ Robert Ryan ]
The Devil's Brigade (1968)
[ Cliff Robertson ][ Richard Dawson ][ Carroll O'Connor ][ Dana Andrews ][ Harry Carey Jr. ]
Casino Royale (1967)
[ Woody Allen ][ Orson Welles ][ Peter Sellers ][ Peter O'Toole ][ Billy Wilder ]
Alvarez Kelly (1966)
[ Richard Widmark ][ Harry Carey Jr. ]
The 7th Dawn (1964)
Paris - When It Sizzles (1964)
[ Frank Sinatra ][ Tony Curtis ][ Mel Ferrer ]
The Lion (1962)
The Counterfeit Traitor (1962)
[ Klaus Kinski ]
Satan Never Sleeps (1962)
The World of Suzie Wong (1960)
The Horse Soldiers (1959)
[ John Wayne ][ Jack Lord ][ John Ford ][ Ken Curtis ][ Strother Martin ]
The Key (1958)
[ Michael Caine ][ Johnny Crawford ]
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
[ Alec Guinness ]
Toward the Unknown (1956)
[ James Garner ]
The Proud and Profane (1956)
[ Claude Akins ]
Picnic (1955)
[ Cliff Robertson ]
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1955)
[ Mickey Rooney ][ Dennis Weaver ]
The Country Girl (1954)
[ Bing Crosby ][ George Chakiris ]
Miyamoto Musashi (1954)
[ Toshirô Mifune ]
Sabrina (1954)
[ Humphrey Bogart ][ Billy Wilder ]
Executive Suite (1954)
Jungfrau auf dem Dach, Die (1953)
[ David Niven ]
Escape from Fort Bravo (1953)
Forever Female (1953)
[ George Reeves ]
The Moon Is Blue (1953)
[ David Niven ]
Stalag 17 (1953)
[ Billy Wilder ][ Peter Graves ]
The Turning Point (1952)
Boots Malone (1952)
[ Harry Morgan ]
Submarine Command (1951)
[ William Bendix ]
Force of Arms (1951)
Born Yesterday (1950)
Union Station (1950)
[ Johnny Crawford ]
Sunset Blvd. (1950)
[ Billy Wilder ][ Buster Keaton ]
Father Is a Bachelor (1950)
Dear Wife (1949)
Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949)
Streets of Laredo (1949)
[ William Bendix ]
The Dark Past (1948)
[ Lee J. Cobb ]
Apartment for Peggy (1948)
Rachel and the Stranger (1948)
[ Robert Mitchum ]
The Man from Colorado (1948)
[ Glenn Ford ]
Dear Ruth (1947)
Blaze of Noon (1947)
[ Sterling Hayden ][ William Bendix ]
Young and Willing (1943)
The Fleet's In (1942)
Meet the Stewarts (1942)
The Remarkable Andrew (1942)
[ Robert Urich ]
Texas (1941)
[ Glenn Ford ]
I Wanted Wings (1941)
[ Ray Milland ]
Arizona (1940)
Those Were the Days! (1940)
[ Alan Ladd ][ William Frawley ]
Our Town (1940)
Invisible Stripes (1939)
[ Humphrey Bogart ]
Golden Boy (1939)
[ Lee J. Cobb ]
Million Dollar Legs (1939)
Prison Farm (1938)

Trivia

  • Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#57). [1995]
  • Was the best man at Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis's wedding in 1952.
  • Father of actor Scott Holden.
  • Died from a laceration to his forehead which was caused by hitting his head during a bout of heavy drinking. He apparently remained conscious for half an hour or so after the injury but never realized he should phone for help. Had he done so, he would surely have lived.
  • He fathered two sons with his wife Brenda Marshall. Peter Wesfield (known as "West") Holden was born November 17, 1943 and Scott Holden was born May 2, 1946. He also had a daughter, Virginia Holden, from Brenda Marshall's previous marriage whom he adopted.
  • Not to be confused with the character actor William Holden.
  • Brian Donlevy was his best man when Holden married Brenda Marshall in 1941. A Congregationalist Church service was planned in Las Vegas. Since William and Brian were still filming The Remarkable Andrew (1942), there were delays and it was 3am before they arrived for the ceremony. By that time the minister had long gone to bed. It was 4pm Sunday before another preacher could be found to perform the wedding. After they were married, they had a champagne breakfast and hopped a plane back to Los Angeles so he and Brian could wrap up shooting, and Brenda was off to Canada to film some location footage that she was still working on. It would be three more months before they would have a real honeymoon (one mishap after another postponed it ... including the TWO of them having to undergo emergency appendectomies)!
  • He was very instrumental in animal preservation in Africa. In the 1970s he purchased a large acreage of land with his own money and began an animal sanctuary. His love of the wild animal was shared with his then companion Stefanie Powers (from "Hart to Hart" (1979)). He would appear on talk shows to promote the saving of animals and to spread the word of anti-poaching and illegal animal trade.
  • A hygiene fanatic, he reportedly showered up to four times daily.
  • Ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
  • Family: Mother: Mary Beedle (nee Ball). Father: William Franklin Beedle, born 1892. Brother: Robert Westfield Beedle, born 1921; died January 1, 1944. Brother: Richard P. Beedle, born 1925. Son: Peter Westfield Holden (aka Peter West Holden), businessman; born November 17, 1943. Son: Scott Holden, actor; born May 2, 1946; began career early 70s; appeared as a veterinarian in Breezy (1973), starring his father. Stepdaughter: Virginia Holden, actress; daughter of Holden's wife, Brenda Marshall, by her previous marriage to actor Richard Gaines; Holden adopted her after marrying Marshall.
  • Immortalized in [Canadian band], Blue Rodeo's song "Floating" with the lyric: "I need love and it's you, And I feel like William Holden floating in a pool" - Greg Keelor, the writer of the song, said this: "That sort of quiet desperation at the end of a relationship when nothing's really making sense and I sort of had the image of William Holden at the beginning of Sunset Blvd. (1950) in my head, and I'd always sort of related to that character floating in that pool. I was always hoping for the opportunity to play the gigolo for some wealthy woman. This is a song about identifying with that sort of compromised existence."
  • Although it is thought by some that J.D. Salinger got the name for his hero Holden Caulfield in "The Catcher in the Rye" when he saw a marquee for this film, starring William Holden and Joan Caulfield, Salinger's first Holden Caulfield story, "I'm Crazy," appeared in Collier's on December 22, 1945, a year and a half before this movie came out.
  • Stepfather of Virginia Holden.
  • Won Best Actor for his role in Stalag 17 (1953). When accepting his statue at the Acadamy Awards, simply stated, "Thank you" and walked off.
  • Holden said that, at some point, he lost his passion for acting and that it eventually just became a job so that he could support himself.
  • He was voted the 63rd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
  • Was very active in the Republican party.
  • Was named #25 Actor on the 50 Greatest Screen Legends by the AFI
  • Was friends with photographer Peter Beard.
  • Is portrayed by Gabriel Macht in The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000) (TV)
  • In the song 'Tom's Diner' by Suzanne Vega, the lyrics 'I open up the paper/there's a story of an actor/who died while he was drinking/he was no one I had heard of' refer to Holden, whose death was indeed reported in the New York Post on November 18, 1981, when the song was written.
  • Made two films with Audrey Hepburn Sabrina and Paris When It Sizzles
  • His younger brother, Robert Beedle, was actually a Navy fighter pilot who was killed in action in World War II, and after The Bridges at Toko-Ri was released, was remembered by his squadron-mates as having been very much like Holden's character of Lt Harry Brubaker in that movie.
  • Was an avid art collector. His private collection at his exclusive hilltop home in Palm Springs featured antique Asian art. Upon his death, the priceless collection was donated to the Palm Springs Museum of Art, where it is proudly displayed today.

Naked Photos of William Holden are available at MaleStars.com. They currently feature over 65,000 Nude Pics, Biographies, Video Clips, Articles, and Movie Reviews of famous stars.

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