William Franklin Holden (né Beedle; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor. He was an Academy Award and Primetime Emmy Award winner, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. He was named one of the "Top 10 Stars of the Year" six times (1954–1958, 1961), and appeared as 25th on the American Film Institute's list of 25 greatest male stars of Classical Hollywood cinema.
Holden began appearing in films the late 1930s, playing his first lead role in the boxing drama Golden Boy (1939). He would establish himself as a reliable and bankable leading man during the following decade, twice winning the National Board of Review Award, and would gain further critical recognition with his performance as Joe Gillis in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard (1950). In 1954, he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of a prisoner-of-war in Wilder's Stalag 17.
Holden would go star in a several popular and critically-acclaimed films, including Sabrina (1954), Executive Suite (1954), Picnic (1955), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The World of Suzie Wong (1960), The Wild Bunch (1969) and Network (1976). He won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie for the made-for-TV film The Blue Knight (1973).
Holden was born William Franklin Beedle Jr. on April 17, 1918, in O'Fallon, Illinois, son of Mary Blanche Beedle (née Ball; 1898–1990), a schoolteacher, and her husband, William Franklin Beedle Sr. (1891–1967), an industrial chemist. He had two younger brothers: Robert Westfield Beedle (1921–1944) who was killed in action in World War II, and Richard P. Beedle (1924–1964).
His family moved to South Pasadena when he was three. After graduating from South Pasadena High School, Holden attended Pasadena Junior College, where he became involved in local radio plays.
Holden appeared uncredited in Prison Farm (1939) and Million Dollar Legs (1939) at Paramount.
A version of how he obtained his stage name "Holden" was given by George Ross of Billboard in 1939: "William Holden, the lad just signed for the coveted lead in Golden Boy, used to be Bill Beedle. And here is how he obtained his new movie tag. On the Columbia lot is an assistant director and scout named Harold Winston. Not long ago, he was divorced from the actress, Gloria Holden, but carried the torch after the marital rift. Winston was one of those who discovered the Golden Boy newcomer and who renamed him—in honor of his former spouse!"
Holden's first starring role was in Golden Boy (1939), costarring Barbara Stanwyck, in which he played a violinist-turned-boxer. The film was made for Columbia, which negotiated a sharing agreement with Paramount for Holden's services.
Holden was still an unknown actor when he made Golden Boy, while Stanwyck was already a film star. She liked Holden and went out of her way to help him succeed, devoting her personal time to coaching and encouraging him, which made them lifelong friends. When she received her Honorary Oscar at the 1982 Academy Award ceremony, Holden had died in an accident just a few months prior. At the end of her acceptance speech, she paid him a personal tribute: "I loved him very much, and I miss him. He always wished that I would get an Oscar. And so tonight, my golden boy, you got your wish".
Next he starred with George Raft and Humphrey Bogart in the Warner Bros. gangster epic Invisible Stripes (1939), billed below Raft and above Bogart.
Back at Paramount, he starred with Bonita Granville in Those Were the Days! (1940) followed by the role of George Gibbs in the film adaptation of Our Town (1940), done for Sol Lesser at United Artists.
Columbia put Holden in a Western with Jean Arthur, Arizona (1940), then at Paramount he was in a hugely popular war film, I Wanted Wings (1941) with Ray Milland and Veronica Lake.
He did another Western at Columbia, Texas (1941) with Glenn Ford, and a musical comedy at Paramount, The Fleet's In (1942) with Eddie Bracken, Dorothy Lamour, and Betty Hutton.
He stayed at Paramount for The Remarkable Andrew (1942) with Brian Donlevy, then made Meet the Stewarts (1943) at Columbia. Paramount reunited Bracken and him in Young and Willing (1943).
Holden served as a second lieutenant and then a first lieutenant in the United States Army Air Force during World War II. He acted in training films, including Reconnaissance Pilot (1943), for the First Motion Picture Unit.
Holden's first film back from the services was Blaze of Noon (1947), an aviator picture at Paramount directed by John Farrow. He followed it with a romantic comedy, Dear Ruth (1947) and he was one of many cameos in Variety Girl (1947). RKO borrowed him for Rachel and the Stranger (1948) with Robert Mitchum and Loretta Young. Holden starred in the 20th Century Fox film Apartment for Peggy (1948). At Columbia, he starred in film noirs, The Dark Past (1948), The Man from Colorado (1949) and Father Is a Bachelor (1950). At Paramount, he did another Western, Streets of Laredo (1949). Columbia teamed him with Lucille Ball for Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949), and the sequel to Dear Ruth, Dear Wife (1949).
Holden's career took off again in 1950 when Billy Wilder tapped him to play a down-at-heel screenwriter taken in by a faded silent film actress (Gloria Swanson) in Sunset Boulevard. Holden earned his first Best Actor Oscar nomination for the role.
Getting the role was a lucky break for Holden, as Montgomery Clift was initially cast but backed out of his contract. Swanson later said, "Bill Holden was a man I could have fallen in love with. He was perfection on and off screen." And Wilder commented "Bill was a complex guy, a totally honorable friend. He was a genuine star. Every woman was in love with him." Paramount reunited him with Nancy Olson, one of his Sunset Boulevard costars, in Union Station (1950).