In 1950, he got his breakthrough when he made an appearance in an effective film known as “Sunset Boulevard”. His net well worth makes him among the richest actors in Hollywood, too. He was probably the most acknowledged actors, who was simply born in 1918 and passed on in 1981. In 1953, William Holden was awarded the Academy Award for Greatest Actor, which was provided to him due to his appearance in “Stalag 17”. In the 1950s or more till the 1970s, William Holden was regarded as one of the primary box office celebrities. The American Film Institute positioned him 25th on its set of the 25 very best male stars of Vintage Hollywood Cinema. Therefore, his acting profession not merely added up revenues to the quantity of William Holden net well worth, but also gained him many awards and acknowledgement. It was in another of those takes on that he was observed by way of a talent scout doing work for Paramount Photos. These films also have added up lots of revenues to the full total size of William Holden net well worth. William Holden managed to get to the set of the Top 10 Celebrities of the entire year six instances, in the time of 1954-1958 and once again in 1961. In 1973, William Holden made an appearance in a TV film known as “The Blue Knight” and for his part in it, the actor was awarded a Primetime Emmy Award for Exceptional Business lead Actor. The actor was created in 1918 in Illinois. Holden starred in films such as for example Stalag 17, the Blue Knight, Sunset Boulevard, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Sabrina, Picnic, The Crazy Bunch, Network, and The Towering Inferno. His dad was employed in chemical sectors, whereas his mom was a schoolteacher. William Holden grew up with his two more youthful brothers. When he was three years old, everyone relocated to South Pasadena. William Holden net well worth: William Holden was an American actor who experienced a net well worth of $20 million. It had been also this time around when he started to work in r / c. He appeared in a few productions with the Playbox. William Holden could be remembered from many Hollywood movies, which became large successes, such as for example “Sunset Boulevard”, “Picnic”, “Sabrina”, “The Crazy Bunch”, “Network”, “The Bridge on the River Kwai” and “The Towering Inferno”. In the next year, he made an appearance in his 1st film known as “Prison Farm”. Holden received an Academy Award for Greatest Actor in a respected Part in 1954 for Stalag and was nominated for the same award in 1951 for Sunset Blvd. Another film where he appeared was known as “Invisible Stripes”, where he starred following to George Raft and Humphrey Bogart. After that, he made an appearance in a film adaptation known as “Our City”. In it, he made an appearance as George Gibbs.It’s been announced that the full total estimate of William Holden net well worth gets to 2 million dollars, by at this time. Holden was listed #25 on the American Film Institute’s AFI’s 100 Years…100 Celebrities list. After his part in the latter film, William Holden started to get increasingly more roles in a variety of other movies, including “Stalag 17”, “THE UNITED STATES Woman”, “The Bridges at Toko-Ri”, “Like Is a Many-Splendored Factor”, “THE MAIN ELEMENT”, “The Equine Soldiers”, “The Moon Is definitely Blue”, “Born Yesterday” and “Forever Woman”. There, he attended junior university. William Holden was created in O’Fallon, Illinois in April 1918 and passed on in November 1981. He was one of the primary draws at the package office through the 1950s. His actual birth name is definitely William Franklin Beedle, Jr. In 1939, he got his first starring part in a movie known as “Golden Boy”. and in 1977 for Network. He also earned a Primetime Emmy Award in 1974 for Greatest Lead Actor in a restricted Series for The Blue Knight. Holden was awarded a Celebrity on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 at 1651 Vine Road. Most of these films not merely made him even more known, but also added up to the full total sum of William Holden net well worth. He was also called one of the Top 10 Celebrities of the entire year from 1954 to 1958 and again in 1961. His stepdaughter Virginia Holden Gaines authored the publication Developing Up with William Holden: A Memoir in 2011. William Holden passed on on November 12, 1981 at 63 yrs . old from children accident.
| # | Fact |
|---|
| 1 |
Appeared in nine films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Our Town (1940), Born Yesterday (1950), Sunset Blvd. (1950), The Country Girl (1954),Picnic (1955), Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The Towering Inferno (1974) and Network (1976). Of those, only The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) won in the category. |
| 2 |
Holden bequeathed $250,000 to girlfriend Stephanie Powers, $50,000 to former co-star Capucine, and $50,000 to socialite friend Patricia Stauffer. The bulk of his estate was divided between ex-wife Brenda Marshall, their two actor sons, his step-daughter, his sister, and his mother. |
| 3 |
"Hollwood Reporter" reported that Holden had signed to play the coach in That Championship Season (1982), but his death precluded that, and he was replaced by Robert Mitchum. Holden had also agreed to co-star with old friend Glenn Ford in "Dime Novel Sunset", which was never made. |
| 4 |
Billy Wilder on Holden's death: "If someone had said to me, 'Holden's dead,' I would have assumed that he had been gored by a water buffalo in Kenya, that he had died in a plane crash approaching Hong Kong, that a crazed, jealous woman had shot him, and he drowned in a swimming pool. But to be killed by a bottle of vodka and a night table - what a lousy fade-out of a great guy!". |
| 5 |
For a time in 1943, Holden shared an apartment in Ft. Worth, Texas with baseball superstar Hank Greenberg while both of them were serving stateside in WWII. |
| 6 |
Was a Boy Scout. |
| 7 |
He was a favorite actor of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy but disappointed her immensely when she discovered he was a Republican. |
| 8 |
Holden did not legally change his name from Beedle until he joined the USAF in 1942. |
| 9 |
Holden was vice-president of the Screen Actors Guild and Parks Commissioner for Los Angeles. |
| 10 |
Holden acted with wife Brenda Marshall professionally for the only time in a "Theater Guild on the Air" production of "The Lost Weekend.". |
| 11 |
Toward the Unknown (1956) was the only movie made by his production company, "Toluca Productions". |
| 12 |
Felt he didn't deserve the Academy Award for Best Actor for Stalag 17 (1953), and that the award should have gone to Burt Lancaster for From Here to Eternity (1953). His wife also felt that the honor was just a belated apology for snubbing his nomination for Sunset Blvd. (1950). |
| 13 |
Was considered for the role of "Maurice Novak" in Career (1959). |
| 14 |
Was originally cast for the lead in The Rainmaker (1956), role eventually played by Burt Lancaster. |
| 15 |
In the last years of his life he increasingly suffered from emphysema. |
| 16 |
Although married to Brenda Marshall for over 30 years, they were actually separated for most of their marriage. At the time of his death, he was the companion of Stefanie Powers. |
| 17 |
Held a press conference in late 1980 to deny newspaper reports that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. |
| 18 |
A Japanophile, someone preoccupied with Japanese culture, he befriended actor Toshirô Mifune on a visit to Japan in 1954. After seeing the film Mifune was working on at that time, Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1954), Holden offered to distribute the film in America. The producers agreed to let Holden record a narration to explain the film when it was released in America. This addition led American critics to wrongly think that Holden had recut the film for American distribution. |
| 19 |
Died one day before his eldest son Peter's 38th birthday. |
| 20 |
Turned down Marlon Brando's role in Sayonara (1957) in order to make The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). |
| 21 |
For The Horse Soldiers (1959) both Holden and John Wayne received $775,000, plus twenty per cent of the overall profits, an unheard-of sum for that time. The final contract, heralded as marking the beginning of mega-deals for Hollywood stars, involved six companies and numbered twice the pages of the movie's script. The film, however, was a critical and commercial failure, with no profits to be shared in the end. |
| 22 |
Father of Scott Holden, Arlene Holden and Peter Holden. |
| 23 |
Was the Top Box Office Star of 1956, as ranked by Quigley Publications' annual poll of movie exhibitors, The Top Ten Money-Making Stars, the definitive list of movie stars' pull at the box office. |
| 24 |
He appeared among the top ten box office stars six times, as ranked by Quigley Publications' annual poll of movie exhibitors, The Top Ten Money-Making Stars, the definitive list of movie stars' pull at the box office. He actually topped the list in 1956, two years after entering it at #7 in 1954, the year he won the Best Actor Oscar with his performance in Stalag 17 (1953). In 1955, he was ranked #4, then hit #1 for the first and only time in 1956, and then dropped to #7 in 1957 before rebounding slightly to #6 in 1958. After five straight years in the Top 10, he dropped off the list in 1959 and 1960, but reappeared in the Top Ten in 1961, ranked in eighth place. His 1961 appearance among the Top Ten Box Office stars was his last. |
| 25 |
Moved to Switzerland for tax reasons in 1959, and did not return to live in Hollywood until 1967. |
| 26 |
He had a daughter, Arlene, in 1937 with actress Eva May Hoffman. Arlene was raised by her mother and her stepfather, composer Emil Newman. |
| 27 |
Starred alongside Grace Kelly in The Country Girl (1954) and Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina (1954). Both actresses were nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for their performances in these films. Kelly won. |
| 28 |
Starred alongside Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd. (1950) and Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday (1950). Both actresses were nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for their performances in these films. Holliday won. |
| 29 |
He was so grateful to Barbara Stanwyck for her insistence on casting him in Golden Boy (1939), his first big role, that he reportedly sent her flowers every year on the anniversary of the first day of the filming. |
| 30 |
Holden was cast as Pike Bishop in The Wild Bunch (1969) after the role had been turned down by Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, James Stewart, Charlton Heston, Gregory Peck, Sterling Hayden, Richard Boone and Robert Mitchum. Marvin actually accepted the role but pulled out after he was offered a larger pay deal to star in Paint Your Wagon (1969). |
| 31 |
Turned down The Guns of Navarone (1961) because producer Carl Foreman wouldn't meet his fee of $750,000 + 20% of the gross. |
| 32 |
He enjoyed firework displays. |
| 33 |
Turned down Henry Fonda's role in Mister Roberts (1955). |
| 34 |
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 391-397. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998. |
| 35 |
Was involved in a serious road accident in Italy in July 1966. |
| 36 |
He was of mostly English, with more distant Irish and French, ancestry. |
| 37 |
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. |
| 38 |
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 (1954) was released, he was remembered by his squadron-mates as having been very much like Holden's character of Lt. Harry Brubaker in that movie. |
| 39 |
Made two films with Audrey Hepburn: Sabrina (1954) and Paris When It Sizzles (1964). |
| 40 |
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. Vega has subsequently expressed embarrassment at these lyrics. |
| 41 |
Is portrayed by Gabriel Macht in The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000) |
| 42 |
Was friends with photographer Peter Beard. |
| 43 |
Was named #25 Actor on the 50 Greatest Screen Legends by the AFI |
| 44 |
Considered himself to be a moderate Republican, although he was never involved in any political campaigns and never endorsed a candidate. In 1947 he joined the Committee for the First Amendment to oppose blacklisting in Hollywood, and was later very upset by the blacklisting of his close friends Dalton Trumbo and Larry Parks. |
| 45 |
He was voted the 63rd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. |
| 46 |
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. |
| 47 |
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. |
| 48 |
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 Dear Ruth (1947), 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. |
| 49 |
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." |
| 50 |
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. |
| 51 |
Ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean. |
| 52 |
A hygiene fanatic, he reportedly showered up to four times daily. |
| 53 |
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. |
| 54 |
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)! |
| 55 |
Not to be confused with the character actor William Holden. |
| 56 |
Adopted his stepdaughter, Virginia Holden (Virginia Gaines), from Ardis Ankerson's (Brenda Marshall's) first marriage. He and Marshall had two sons together, Peter Westfield "West" Holden, born November 17, 1943, and Scott Holden (Scott Porter Holden, born May 2, 1946. |
| 57 |
He suffered a laceration to his forehead and bled to death, after he slipped on a throw rug and hit his head on a table. Claims that he was intoxicated at the time are disputed. |
| 58 |
Was the best man at Ronald Reagan's and Nancy Reagan' wedding in 1952. |
| 59 |
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#57). |
| 60 |
Appeared in nine films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Our Town (1940), Born Yesterday (1950), Sunset Blvd. (1950), The Country Girl (1954),Picnic (1955), Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The Towering Inferno (1974) and Network (1976). Of those, only The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) won in the category. |
| 61 |
Holden bequeathed $250,000 to girlfriend Stephanie Powers, $50,000 to former co-star Capucine, and $50,000 to socialite friend Patricia Stauffer. The bulk of his state was dived among ex-wife Brenda Marshall, their two actor sons, his step-daughter, his sister, and his mother. |
| 62 |
"Hollwood Reporter" reported that Holden had signed to play the coach in That Championship Season (1982), but his death precluded that, and he was replaced by Robert Mitchum. Holden had also agreed to co-star with old friend Glenn Ford in "Dime Novel Sunset", which was never made. |
| 63 |
Billy Wilder on Holden's death: "If someone had said to me, 'Holden's dead,' I would have assumed that he had been gored by a water buffalo in Kenya, that he had died in a plane crash approaching Hong Kong, that a crazed, jealous woman had shot him, and he drowned in a swimming pool. But to be killed by a bottle of vodka and a night table - what a lousy fade-out of a great guy!". |
| 64 |
For a time in 1943, Holden shared an apartment in Ft. Worth, Texas with baseball superstar Hank Greenberg while both of them were serving stateside in WWII. |
| 65 |
Was a Boy Scout. |
| 66 |
He was a favorite actor of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy but disappointed her immensely when she discovered he was a Republican. |
| 67 |
Holden did not legally change his name from Beedle until he joined the USAF in 1942. |
| 68 |
Holden was vice-president of the Screen Actors Guild and Parks Commissioner for Los Angeles. |
| 69 |
Holden acted with wife Brenda Marshall professionally for the only time in a "Theater Guild on the Air" production of "The Lost Weekend.". |
| 70 |
Toward the Unknown (1956) was the only movie made by his production company, "Toluca Productions". |
| 71 |
Felt he didn't deserve the Academy Award for Best Actor for Stalag 17 (1953), and that the award should have gone to Burt Lancaster for From Here to Eternity (1953). His wife also felt that the honor was just a belated apology for snubbing his nomination for Sunset Blvd. (1950). |
| 72 |
Was considered for the role of "Maurice Novak" in Career (1959). |
| 73 |
Was originally cast for the lead in The Rainmaker (1956), role eventually played by Burt Lancaster. |
| 74 |
In the last years of his life he increasingly suffered from emphysema. |
| 75 |
Although married to Brenda Marshall for over 30 years, they were actually separated for most of their marriage. At the time of his death, he was the companion of Stefanie Powers. |
| 76 |
Held a press conference in late 1980 to deny newspaper reports that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. |
| 77 |
A Japanophile, someone preoccupied with Japanese culture, he befriended actor Toshirô Mifune on a visit to Japan in 1954. After seeing the film Mifune was working on at that time, Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1954), Holden offered to distribute the film in America. The producers agreed to let Holden record a narration to explain the film when it was released in America. This addition led American critics to wrongly think that Holden had recut the film for American distribution. |
| 78 |
Died one day before his eldest son Peter's 38th birthday. |
| 79 |
Turned down Marlon Brando's role in Sayonara (1957) in order to make The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). |
| 80 |
For The Horse Soldiers (1959) both Holden and John Wayne received $775,000, plus twenty per cent of the overall profits, an unheard-of sum for that time. The final contract, heralded as marking the beginning of mega-deals for Hollywood stars, involved six companies and numbered twice the pages of the movie's script. The film, however, was a critical and commercial failure, with no profits to be shared in the end. |
| 81 |
Father of Scott Holden, Arlene Holden and Peter Holden. |
| 82 |
Was the Top Box Office Star of 1956, as ranked by Quigley Publications' annual poll of movie exhibitors, The Top Ten Money-Making Stars, the definitive list of movie stars' pull at the box office. |
| 83 |
He appeared among the top ten box office stars six times, as ranked by Quigley Publications' annual poll of movie exhibitors, The Top Ten Money-Making Stars, the definitive list of movie stars' pull at the box office. He actually topped the list in 1956, two years after entering it at #7 in 1954, the year he won the Best Actor Oscar with his performance in Stalag 17 (1953). In 1955, he was ranked #4, then hit #1 for the first and only time in 1956, and then dropped to #7 in 1957 before rebounding slightly to #6 in 1958. After five straight years in the Top 10, he dropped off the list in 1959 and 1960, but reappeared in the Top Ten in 1961, ranked in eighth place. His 1961 appearance among the Top Ten Box Office stars was his last. |
| 84 |
Moved to Switzerland for tax reasons in 1959, and did not return to live in Hollywood until 1967. |
| 85 |
He had a daughter, Arlene, in 1937 with actress Eva May Hoffman. Arlene was raised by her mother and her stepfather, composer Emil Newman. |
| 86 |
Starred alongside Grace Kelly in The Country Girl (1954) and Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina (1954). Both actresses were nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for their performances in these films. Kelly won. |
| 87 |
Starred alongside Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd. (1950) and Judy Holliday in Born Yesterday (1950). Both actresses were nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for their performances in these films. Holliday won. |
| 88 |
He was so grateful to Barbara Stanwyck for her insistence on casting him in Golden Boy (1939), his first big role, that he reportedly sent her flowers every year on the anniversary of the first day of the filming. |
| 89 |
Holden was cast as Pike Bishop in The Wild Bunch (1969) after the role had been turned down by Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, James Stewart, Charlton Heston, Gregory Peck, Sterling Hayden, Richard Boone and Robert Mitchum. Marvin actually accepted the role but pulled out after he was offered a larger pay deal to star in Paint Your Wagon (1969). |
| 90 |
Turned down The Guns of Navarone (1961) because producer Carl Foreman wouldn't meet his fee of $750,000 + 20% of the gross. |
| 91 |
He enjoyed firework displays. |
| 92 |
Turned down Henry Fonda's role in Mister Roberts (1955). |
| 93 |
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 391-397. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998. |
| 94 |
Was involved in a serious road accident in Italy in July 1966. |
| 95 |
He was of mostly English, with more distant Irish and French, ancestry. |
| 96 |
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. |
| 97 |
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 (1954) was released, he was remembered by his squadron-mates as having been very much like Holden's character of Lt. Harry Brubaker in that movie. |
| 98 |
Made two films with Audrey Hepburn: Sabrina (1954) and Paris When It Sizzles (1964). |
| 99 |
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. Vega has subsequently expressed embarrassment at these lyrics. |
| 100 |
Is portrayed by Gabriel Macht in The Audrey Hepburn Story (2000) |
| 101 |
Was friends with photographer Peter Beard. |
| 102 |
Was named #25 Actor on the 50 Greatest Screen Legends by the AFI |
| 103 |
Considered himself to be a moderate Republican, although he was never involved in any political campaigns and never endorsed a candidate. In 1947 he joined the Committee for the First Amendment to oppose blacklisting in Hollywood, and was later very upset by the blacklisting of his close friends Dalton Trumbo and Larry Parks. |
| 104 |
He was voted the 63rd Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. |
| 105 |
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. |
| 106 |
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. |
| 107 |
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 Dear Ruth (1947), 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. |
| 108 |
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." |
| 109 |
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. |
| 110 |
Ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean. |
| 111 |
A hygiene fanatic, he reportedly showered up to four times daily. |
| 112 |
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. |
| 113 |
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)! |
| 114 |
Not to be confused with the character actor William Holden. |
| 115 |
Adopted his stepdaughter, Virginia Holden (Virginia Gaines), from Ardis Ankerson's (Brenda Marshall's) first marriage. He and Marshall had two sons together, Peter Westfield "West" Holden, born November 17, 1943, and Scott Holden (Scott Porter Holden, born May 2, 1946. |
| 116 |
He suffered a laceration to his forehead and bled to death, after he slipped on a throw rug and hit his head on a table. Claims that he was intoxicated at the time are disputed. |
| 117 |
Was the best man at Ronald Reagan's and Nancy Reagan' wedding in 1952. |
| 118 |
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#57). |
| # | Quote |
|---|
| 1 |
Let's face it, it's pretty difficult to kiss someone who is a stranger. I don't think anyone in movies enjoys playing a love scene. Kissing someone is an intimate act, and when you have to do it in front of other people it's not easy. |
| 2 |
The other day I drove into the garage of my Palm Springs house with some groceries. Suddenly one of those tour buses pulled up and a voice said, "This is William Holden's house, and I think I just saw him pull in." I flattened myself against the garage wall - the garage was separate from the house - and tried to hide. But the bags got heavy so I finally thought to hell with it, and walked out. And the voice said, "There he is, folks, I told you he'd come out sooner or later." |
| 3 |
[on Toni and Ralph Helfer] Years after our initial meeting in Africa, I visited Ralph and Toni at Africa USA in Sangus, California, and there I was even more amazed at the rapport the two of them had with their wildlife. Toni is an absolutely fearless human being who is totally loved by every animal she has ever touched. She is undaunted by any endeavor or undertaking. A remarkable painter, naturalist, zoologist, conservationist, and now author. Toni Helfer has the courage and the curiosity we all should have. For the sake of the world I wish Ralph and Toni a long, rich, and productive life. |
| 4 |
I made Toward the Unknown (1956) as an actor by day and, by night, a caster, a cuter, and a producer. I'll never do anything like that again. |
| 5 |
I found the jungle a beautiful and fascinating place to be, I like to come here because I want to stay away from the jungle as much as I can. |
| 6 |
[on Humphrey Bogart] I hated that bastard. |
| 7 |
[on working with Clint Eastwood on Breezy (1973)] He's even-tempered -- a personality trait not much in evidence among directors. The crew is totally behind him and that really helps things go smoothly. |
| 8 |
[on Barbara Stanwyck] Thirty-nine years ago this month, we were working in a film together called Golden Boy (1939). It wasn't going so well and I was going to be replaced. But due to this lovely human being and her encouragement and above all her generosity, I'm here tonight. |
| 9 |
I'm a whore, all actors are whores. We sell our bodies to the highest bidder. |
| 10 |
I don't really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life - to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up. |
| 11 |
Movie acting may not have a certain kind of glory as true art, but it is damn hard work. |
| 12 |
Take any picture you can. One out of four will be good, one out of ten will be very good, and one out of 15 will get you an Academy Award. |
| 13 |
For me, acting is not an all-consuming thing, except for the moment when I am actually doing it. |
| 14 |
Let's face it, it's pretty difficult to kiss someone who is a stranger. I don't think anyone in movies enjoys playing a love scene. Kissing someone is an intimate act, and when you have to do it in front of other people it's not easy. |
| 15 |
The other day I drove into the garage of my Palm Springs house with some groceries. Suddenly one of those tour buses pulled up and a voice said, "This is William Holden's house, and I think I just saw him pull in." I flattened myself against the garage wall - the garage was separate from the house - and tried to hide. But the bags got heavy so I finally thought to hell with it, and walked out. And the voice said, "There he is, folks, I told you he'd come out sooner or later." |
| 16 |
[on Toni and Ralph Helfer] Years after our initial meeting in Africa, I visited Ralph and Toni at Africa USA in Sangus, California, and there I was even more amazed at the rapport the two of them had with their wildlife. Toni is an absolutely fearless human being who is totally loved by every animal she has ever touched. She is undaunted by any endeavor or undertaking. A remarkable painter, naturalist, zoologist, conservationist, and now author. Toni Helfer has the courage and the curiosity we all should have. For the sake of the world I wish Ralph and Toni a long, rich, and productive life. |
| 17 |
I made Toward the Unknown (1956) as an actor by day and, by night, a caster, a cuter, and a producer. I'll never do anything like that again. |
| 18 |
I found the jungle a beautiful and fascinating place to be, I like to come here because I want to stay away from the jungle as much as I can. |
| 19 |
[on Humphrey Bogart] I hated that bastard. |
| 20 |
[on working with Clint Eastwood on Breezy (1973)] He's even-tempered -- a personality trait not much in evidence among directors. The crew is totally behind him and that really helps things go smoothly. |
| 21 |
[on Barbara Stanwyck] Thirty-nine years ago this month, we were working in a film together called Golden Boy (1939). It wasn't going so well and I was going to be replaced. But due to this lovely human being and her encouragement and above all her generosity, I'm here tonight. |
| 22 |
I'm a whore, all actors are whores. We sell our bodies to the highest bidder. |
| 23 |
I don't really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life - to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up. |
| 24 |
Movie acting may not have a certain kind of glory as true art, but it is damn hard work. |
| 25 |
Take any picture you can. One out of four will be good, one out of ten will be very good, and one out of 15 will get you an Academy Award. |
| 26 |
For me, acting is not an all-consuming thing, except for the moment when I am actually doing it. |
$20 Million
