Holden, William

1918 – He was born this year in O'Fallon, Illinois, he was the eldest of three sons of William Franklin Beedle, Sr., an industrial chemist, and Mary Blanche Ball, a teacher.

1937 – He attended Pasadena Junior College; he became involved in local radio plays. A talent scout from Paramount Pictures spotted him this year while appearing as an old man in a play at the Playbox, a private theatre owned by Pasadena Playhouse director Gillmor Brown.

1939 – His first starring role was in Golden Boy, in which he played a violinist turned boxer. He was originally looked over in the first Broadway production for the lead role.

1941 – He was married to actress Brenda Marshall from this year until their divorce (after many long separations) in 1971.

1951 – He received Best Actor Nomination in the Academy Award for Sunset Boulevard.

1952 – He had a busy social life; he was best man at the marriage of his friend Ronald Reagan to Nancy Davis in this year.

1953 - Following this breakthrough film, he played a series of roles that combined good looks with cynical detachment, including the prisoner-of-war entrepreneur in Stalag 17, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

1954 – He played the role of a pressured young engineer/family man in Executive Suite.

1954 – He portrayed the role of an acerbic playwright in The Country Girl.

1955 – He was starred in the movie “Picnic” as a wandering braggart.

1960 – He starred opposite Nancy Kwan in the film adaptation of the novel The World of Suzie Wong, playing a struggling artist captivated by a free-spirited Hong Kong prostitute.

1964 - However, he starred in his share of forgettable movies, which he was, forced to do by studio contracts, such as Paris When It Sizzles.

1966 – He suffered from alcoholism and depression for many years. In this year, Holden was involved in a car accident in Italy in which the other driver was killed.

1969 – He starred in director Sam Peckinpah's graphically violent Western The Wild Bunch, winning much acclaim.

1977 – He was nominated Best Actor in the Academy Awards for the movie “Network”.

1981 – He died as the result of a fall in his high-rise apartment on the seaside cliffs of Santa Monica, California in November 1981. His body was cremated and his ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean.