william holden

William Holden was born on April 17, 1918 in Illinois into a wealthy family. His parents decided to move to Pasadena, California, shortly after little William was born. In 1937, while still a college student, he was hired by a movie studio.

He got his first supporting role in Prison Farm the following year; and his great debut as a protagonist was in Sueño dorado , from 1939, where he gave life to a boxer who wanted to be a violinist. Holden garnered much more success after his return from World War II, thanks to roles where he combined his handsome good looks and tough-guy face. During the following decades he became a very popular actor among the public and quite in demand in Hollywood. But because of the contracts with the film studios of the time, he was forced to accept many jobs in mediocre productions. This and his well-known fondness for drinking were major problems that the actor faced throughout his career.

In 1940, he starred in the drama Sinfonía de la vida ; during these years he became an icon of western movies thanks to films like Texas (1941) and  The Man from Colorado (1948). Holden received his first Oscar nomination in 1950 for his role in the excellent Twilight of the Gods ; he also tried his hand at comedy with Born Yesterday , where he again did a good job. And from the comic genre he went to film noir. In The Turning Point (1952) he played a journalist trying to get evidence to catch a dangerous mobster. A year later he was awarded an Academy Award for his leading role in Traitor in Hell ., war film directed by Billy Wilder .

He repeated with Wilder in Sabrina (1954), a well-known and great comedy where he completed a love triangle with  Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart themselves . That same year, she shared the bill with another great cinematographic beauty thanks to the film La anguish of living , a drama where Ella Grace Kelly gets one of her best jobs. Also in 1954 she managed to win the leading role in a drama directed by Robert Wise , The Tower of the Ambitious .

On numerous occasions, the actor declared his love for Europe and the good memories he had of working on the continent during the filming of The Bridges of Toko-Ri (1955), where he would meet Kelly again. The same year his intervention in Picnic was also popular . Despite having a reputation as an unloving gentleman, Holden always surrounded himself with beautiful actresses. In 1956 he starred with Deborah Kerr in the war film Heroes Cry Too . In 1957 he presented one of his most important works, the highly praised and award-winning The Bridge on the River Kwai .

In 1962 he released the thriller Spy by Mandate , and two years later he again starred in a love story with Hepburn in Encounter in Paris . In 1967 she had a supporting role in the spoof Casino Royale and in 1969 she returned to the West and starred in the powerful film The Wild Bunch . She had the opportunity to work under the orders of Blake Edwards in Two Men Against the West (1971).

His last works were very different. From a movie with a lot of action like  The Colossus in Flames (1974); even an interesting drama,  Network. An implacable world (1976), with a nomination for Best Supporting Actor included. In 1981 Edwards called him back and formed a couple with Julie Andrews in SOB (You are honest Bandits) .

William Holden was married to actress Brenda Marshall for 30 years until their divorce in 1971. They had two children and he adopted his wife’s daughter from a previous marriage. But Hollywood was not everything for Holden since a good part of his time was dedicated to her animal reserve in Africa, along with his later partner De ella Stefanie Powers . The actor became a true environmental activist and whenever he could he made a trip to Kenya.

He died on November 16, 1981 at the age of 63 as a result of a fall at his home in Los Angeles. Gossips say that he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of his death.