WILLIAM HOLDEN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

William Holden was born on April 17th, 1918 and was the oldest of three children, all boys.  His birth name was William Franklin Beedle Jr.  He was born in O'Fallon, Illinois and was the son of Mary Blanche and William Franklin Beedle Sr.  His mother was a school teacher and his father a chemist. 
 
At the age of three, his family relocated to Southern California living in South Pasadena.  Holden graduated from South Pasadena High School and attended junior college at Pasadena City College.  It was there that he first gained interest in the performing arts.  He began with working on local radio plays.  He was discovered by a talent scout from Paramount Pictures while he was playing the character of an eighty year old man in a play at the Playbox Theater in 1937.
 
Paramount Pictures signed him to contract and his first small role in a film was in, "Prison Farm" (1938) and then only one year later he was cast in a starring role in Golden Boy" (1939).  Paramount agreed to share him with Columbia Pictures and he alternated between working for both film companies.
 
He briefly took a break from acting during World War II to join the United States Army Air Force serving as a 2nd Lieutenant and also using his acting experience to act in training films.  Upon his return to making films, William was hired by Billy Wilder to star in, "Sunset Boulevard" (1950) in which he earned his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor.  He was again nominated for another Best Actor Award for his role on "Stalag 17" (1953) in which this time he won the award.
 
Holden's career was at an all time high with starring roles in a number of films throughout the 50's.  He was named one of the "Top Ten Stars of the Year" six times and was one of the biggest box office draws during the 1950's.  He was cast in, "Executive Suite" (1954), "The Country Girl" (1954), "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" (1954), "The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) and "The Key" (1958).  Holden also starred in lighter comedies such as, "Born yesterday" (1950) and "Sabrina" (1954) opposite Audrey Hepburn.  Hepburn and Holden had a romantic involvement despite him being married, however when Hepburn became aware that Holden had undergone a vasectomy, she broke off any chance of marriage as she really wanted children of her own.
 
Like most actors, not every single project they were cast in was a success and Holden too, starred in some films that were for the most part forgettable.  William also had a minor setback when he was in Italy in 1966 and he killed another driver in a drunk driving accident where he received an eight month suspended sentence for vehicle manslaughter. 
 
He did however after, continue to work on some very decent roles.  Holden was admired for his role on, "Network" (1976) and in 1980 he worked with a child actor, Ricky Schroder in "The Earthling" (1980).  His final years included appearances on, "When Time Ran Out" (1980) and
"S.O.B" (1981). 
 
Holden had a very successful professional life but his personal one had some ups and downs.  He was married to an actress, Ardis Ankerson in 1941 and they remained together until 1971.  Although they separated numerous times throughout the years, they tried to keep the union together.  They had two sons together and he also adopted and helped raise his wife's daughter Virginia from a previous relationship.  He did however, suffer from alcohol addiction and that played a role in his death, according to the autopsy report.
 
On November 12th, 1981, Holden was alone and intoxicated in his apartment in Santa Monica, California when he fell and hit his head causing himself to bleed to death.  His body was only found four days later.  His will requested that he be cremated and have his ashes scattered in the pacific Ocean and there was no funeral or memorial service held for him as that was also what he wished in his will.  
 
William Holden was named by the American Film Institute's, 100 years 100 stars as number twenty five on the list.  Holden had a home in Switzerland as well as California and was very involved in Wildlife conservation.  When he passed, actress Stephanie Powers, whom he had had a nine year relationship with, set up the, William Holden Wildlife Foundation at Holden's Mount Kenya Game Ranch.
 
 
Filmography

1938  Prison Farm
1939  Million Dollar Legs
1939  Golden Boy
1939  Invisible Stripes
1940  Our Town
1940  Those Were the Days!
1940  Arizona
1941  I Wanted Wings
1941  Texas
1942  The Fleet's In
1942  The Remarkable Andrew
1942  Meet the Stewarts
1943  Young and Willing
1947  Blaze of Noon
1947  Dear Ruth
1947  Variety Girl
1948  The Man from Colorado
1948  Rachel and the Stranger
1948  Apartment for Peggy
1948  The Dark Past
1949  Streets of Laredo
1949  Miss Grant Takes Richmond
1949  Dear Wife
1950  Father Is a Bachelor
1950  Sunset Boulevard
1950  Union Station
1950  Born Yesterday
1951  Force of Arms
1951  Submarine Command
1952  Boots Malone
1952  The Turning Point
1953  Stalag 17
1953  The Moon Is Blue
1953  Forever Female
1953  Escape from Fort Bravo
1954  Sabrina
1954  Executive Suite
1954  Sabrina
1954  The Country Girl
1954  The Bridges at Toko-Ri
1955  Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
1955  Picnic
1956  The Proud and Profane
1956  Toward the Unknown
1957  The Bridge on the River Kwai
1958  The Key
1959  The Horse Soldiers
1959  The World of Suzie Wong
1962  Satan Never Sleeps
1962  The Counterfeit Traitor
1962  The Lion
1964  Paris, When It Sizzles
1964  The 7th Dawn
1966  Alvarez Kelly
1967  Casino Royale
1968  The Devil's Brigade
1969  The Wild Bunch
1969  The Christmas Tree
1971  Wild Rovers
1972  The Revengers
1973  Breezy
1974  Open Season
1974  The Blue Knight
1974  The Towering Inferno
1976  Network
1978  Fedora
1978  Damien: Omen II
1979  Ashanti
1980  The Earthling
1980  When Time Ran Out
1981  S.O.B.