The final round of Monty's best actor tournament is underway over at All Good Things. Cary Grant versus William Holden. Grant's presence in the final is no surprise—he's pretty much steamrollered his competition since the beginning of the tourney—but William Holden had to eek out a last minute, one-vote victory over William Powell to gain the right to face him.Since I've already written at length about Cary Grant (here), how about some photos of William Holden, from his first credited role in 1939's Golden Boy to his last film, Blake Edwards' S.O.B., completed just prior to Holden's death in 1981.
Click here to vote.
age 21—Golden Boy (1939) (with Barbara Stanwyck)
age 32—Sunset Boulevard (1950)
age 36—Picnic (1955) (with Kim Novak)
age 39—The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
age 51—The Wild Bunch (1969)
age 58—Network (1976)
age 63—S.O.B. (with Larry Hagman)
Heartbreaking. He looks about ninety in the last photo.
ReplyDeleteI know this won't be on anyone's list of must sees, but he was absolutely gorgeous in an 'I Love Lucy' episode.
Okay, laugh you film lovers. But, he was just beautiful.
Oh, and a good actor.
In so many of his roles, Holden brought a marvelous sense of ambivalence that set him in a different class than most of his square-jawed colleagues. It served him particularly well in Sunset Boulevard, and in my mind, provided the saving grace for his slightly-too-old-for-the-role casting in "Picnic." Wonderful actor. A tragedy that the booze did him in,
ReplyDeleteI believe I know the "Lucy" episode you speak of. My favourite part is when he rests his chin on the partition between his and Lucy's tables. And then when she fixes her "nose" back at her house. Hilarious episode and William was great in it as the straight man.
ReplyDeleteYes, mine too! I tried to find that image of him looking at her. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteIt's a hilarious episode.
Wow, I don't think I would have recognized Holden in Golden Boy! He did seem to be at his peak (looks-wise) in the Lucy episode. Wasn't that right at the time he did The Country Girl?
ReplyDeleteWonderful look back at William Holden's films. My favorite William Holden films are: Rachel and the Stranger (1948)a western film starring Loretta Young, William Holden, and Robert Mitchum and Sunset Boulevard(1950).
ReplyDeleteThingy, I remember that I LOVE LUCY episode and I agree, he looked gorgeous in it. That's the one where Lucy burns the tip of her nose (it's wax or something.)
ReplyDeleteI liked Holden in the early westerns. Loved his blond hair and he always looked as if he were having fun.
It's all later when it changed for him, I think.
He aged rapidly, that's for sure.
Sad.
He was beautiful, but smoking and excessive drinking are not kind to beauty (darn it!).
ReplyDeleteHe was beautiful, but smoking and excessive drinking are not kind to beauty (darn it!).
ReplyDeleteFortunately, movie blogging makes us healthy, wealthy and young!
Bill was a good guy, he came to my aid in East Africa when the operation I was involved in went extremely bad, Bill saved my life.
ReplyDeleteBill drank too much, and talked too much; that's unfortunately what cost him he's life. He was too much of a security risk, Bill's death was to appear as an accident.
A great actor.
ReplyDeleteI'd imagine not only drinking and smoking but probably sun exposure too.
Sun and smoking prematurely ages people. I’ve been interested in this subject all my life and have observed the differences of how people look who smoke from those that don’t. It caused me to quit smoking at age 28. I had enough observation by then. And the sun, my generation baked their skin in the worst ways in the sun. I went to school for cosmetology at age 17 and was taught about how and what and why the sun ages the skin. I was told by my instructor that age 17 is peak age and it’s downhill from there. I never forgot that and protected my face with large brimmed hats when in the sun or a piece of cloth over my face if sunbathing. It makes a huge difference when I compare my face to my friends and family that have baked their faces from early ages on purpose and some still do despite my warnings I’m glad I listened to the warnings. I always try to tell young people who smoke to quit if not for their health then for their vanity it worked for me lol oh well no usually ever listens to me so … I’m here just to confirm Holden was a smoker.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was a kid (so 50+ years ago!) doing a science project -- I asked my dad, a two-pack a day smoker, to take a drag on a cigarette and blow the smoke through a folded handkerchief. The result was a dark brown, sluggy tar that penetrated all the way through the fabric. Not only was he depositing that in his lungs with every breath but also sharing that secondhand smoke with all of us (this was ten-fifteen years before secondhand smoke was a recognized problem).
ReplyDeleteHe picked up his habit while serving in the Pacific during World War II. They used to hand out cigarettes to the soliders like candy and gum ...
The project didn't stop him from smoking --- nicotine is a powerful addiction -- and he died of an unrelated cancer at age 56, forty-five years ago this coming August.
Wonderful man, a key influence on my movie obession. Gone much too soon.