The Final Four

For various reasons (a road trip, the dog's surgery and one long, long Mary Pickford essay), I haven't been able to promote Monty's best actor tournament over at All Good Things as much as I normally would, but I'm here to tell you, the final four is set and voting starts today.

The match-ups: William Powell versus William Holden; and Cary Grant versus Paul Newman

Click here to vote.

The Tale of the Tape

BOUT ONE

Representing the Silent/1930s bracket
William Powell
Birth Name: William Horatio Powell
Birth Date: July 29, 1892
Birthplace: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Height: 6'
Film Debut: Sherlock Holmes (1922)
Three To See: One Way Passage, The Thin Man and My Man Godfrey
A Gem You Might Have Missed: I Love You Again
Katie-Bar-The-Door Awards: 1 win—Best Actor (Comedy/Musical) (1936) (The Great Ziegfeld, The Ex-Mrs. Bradford, My Man Godfrey, Libeled Lady and After The Thin Man)
Academy Awards: 3 Oscar nominations, no wins
Marriages: Eileen Wilson (1915-1930, divorced); Carole Lombard (1931-1933, divorced); Diana Lewis (1940-1984, his death)



Representing the 1950s bracket
William Holden
Birth Name: William Franklin Beedle
Birth Date: April 17, 1918
Birthplace: O'Fallon, Illinois
Height: 5'11"
Film Debut: Prison Farm (1938) (uncredited)
Three To See: Sunset Boulevard, Stalag 17 and The Wild Bunch
A Gem You Might Have Missed: Born Yesterday
Katie-Bar-The-Door Awards: 2 wins—Best Actor (Drama) (1950) (Sunset Boulevard) and Best Actor (Drama) (1969) (The Wild Bunch)
Academy Awards: 3 Oscar nominations, 1 win (Stalag 17)
Marriages: Brenda Marshall (1941-1971, divorced)



BOUT TWO

Representing the 1940s bracket
Cary Grant
Birth Name: Archibald Alexander Leach
Birth Date: January 18, 1904
Birthplace: Bristol, England
Height: 6'1½"
Film Debut: This Is The Night (1932)
Three To See: The Awful Truth, His Girl Friday and North By Northwest
A Gem You Might Have Missed: Holiday
Katie-Bar-The-Door Awards: 3 wins—Best Actor (Comedy/Musical) (1937) (The Awful Truth); Best Supporting Actor (1940) (The Philadelphia Story) and Best Actor (Drama) (1959) (North By Northwest)
Academy Awards: 2 Oscar nominations, 0 wins; honorary Oscar (1970)
Marriages: Virginia Cherrill (1934-1935, divorced); Barbara Hutton (1942-1945, divorced); Betsy Drake (1949-1962, divorced); Dyan Cannon (1965-1968, divorced); Barbara Harris (1981-1986, his death)



Representing the 1960s bracket
Paul Newman
Birth Name: Paul Leonard Newman
Birth Date: January 26, 1925
Birthplace: Shaker Heights, Ohio
Height: 5'9½"
Film Debut: The Silver Chalice (1954)
Three To See: The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke and The Sting
A Gem You Might Have Missed: Slap Shot
Katie-Bar-The-Door Awards: 1 win—Best Actor (Drama) (1961) (The Hustler)
Academy Awards: 10 nominations, 1 win (The Color of Money), honorary Oscar (1986); Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (1994)
Marriages: Jackie Witte (1949-1958, divorced); Joanne Woodward (1958-2008, his death)