Early life and career
Born William Franklin Beedle Jr. around O'Fallon, Illinois he moved with his wealthy family to Pasadena, California when he was three. His father, William Franklin Beedle, Sr., was an industrial chemist & his mother, Mary Blanche Ball, the teacher. A personal was of English descent; Holden's paternal awesome-grandmother, Rebecca Westfield, was innate inside England in 1817, while a bit of of his mother's root immigrated to the U.S. in the 17th century from Millenback, Lancaster, England. When attending Pasadena Junior College he became exposed around local radio plays & a Pasadena Playhouse, leading to his discovery by a talent scout from either Paramount Pictures in 1937. His number one role was around Prison Farm the following season.

Hollywood's "Golden Boy"
His number one starring role was within 1939's Golden Boy in which he played the boxer world health organization wants to exist as a fiddler. Fallowing Columbia Pictures picked up half of his contract he alternated between starring around many minor pictures for Paramount & Columbia prior to serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II, where he acted within step by step training films. Beginning within 1950 his career rebounded while Billy Wilder tapped him to star as a down at a heels film writer inside Sunset Boulevard. Ensuing this breakthrough he played a series of roles that mixed his practiced looks & misanthropic detachment, including the prisoner of war enterpriser inside Stalag 17 (for which he won an Academy Award for Better Actor), a mobile braggard around Picnic and the ill-unlucky captive in The Bridge on the River Kwai. He too played a total of sunnier area around lightly comedy by owning good deal profits, like the dashing designer in The Moon is Blue, the coach inside Born Yesterday and Humphrey Bogart's younger brother within Sabrina.

Yet, Holden starred around to a higher degree his part of forgettable pic which he was forced into by studio contracts & suffered from either alcoholism and severe depression for many years. Per early Sixties his roles were getting less critical & commercial impact. Around 1966 piece within Italy Holden was involved inside a good car accident where the more driver was flushed. It was determined Holden got been driving under the influence of alcohol, he was charged with vehicular manslaughter & received an eight-year suspended prison phrase. Holden was overcome by using guilt & friends said this led to possibly heavily swallowing. A actor reportedly experienced a second secret inside his life: For numbers of years he did undercover act for the CIA, delivering messages to foreign leaders when you took his travels.

Later career
Around 1969 he got the role inside director Sam Peckinpah's graphically violent movie The Wild Bunch. He was praised for his leading performance inside Network (1976), playing an older version of the character nature & severity he experienced perfected in the Fifties, nowadays further jaded and caring of his have mortality. Within 1980 Holden appeared in The Worldling big actor Ricky Schroder, playing the lone wolf death of cancer world health organization goes to the Australian Outback to end his times, meets the immature son whose parents keep around been flushed inside an accident & teaches him to subsist. Schroder thought and so extremely of Holden, he known as one of his sons when him.

Private life and death
Holden was married to the actress Brenda Marshall from 1941 to 1971, when it divorced. A few experienced ii sons & he adopted a girl of his married woman's number one marriage. Holden experienced the occupy social life, maintained the range in Switzerland and also spent much of his instance working for wildlife conservation as a managing partner within an carnal preserve in Africa. He began the relationship sustaining actress Stefanie Powers who shared his interest in sensual welfare (Powers late became President of the "William Holden Wildlife Foundation" & the director of their Mount Kenya Game Ranch).

Holden reportedly experienced the septet month affair by owning Eva Could Hoffman (married woman of composer Emil Newman, Randy Newman's uncle) which produced two toddlers, Arlene Newman (world health organization late married Dennis Crosby) and William Robert Newman.

William Holden died of the fall within his highrise flat on the seaside drop-off of Santa Monica, California in 1981. His system was obtained in 16 November, however forensic grounds to believe suggested he got died in in November 12th. Holden experienced been alone, heavy intoxicated, & slipped in the carpeting, gashed his head in the table, & bled to demise. Grounds to believe suggests he was conscious for at least half an hour when a fall, however might not use completed a hardship of the injury, & failing to summon help.

Holden's system was cremated. His ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

Trivia
Holden's acceptance speech for his Oscar was a shortest in record: "Thank you."

Holden, based on data from Suzanne Vega, is the "actor" mentioned in the following lyrics of the song Tom's Diner (his death was on the New York Post's front page on the day she wrote the song):

Academy Awards and Nominations
Best Actor Nomination for Sunset Boulevard (1951) Best Actor Award for Stalag 17 (1954) Best Actor Nomination for Network (1976)

Filmography
S.O.B. (1981) The Earthling (1980) When Time Ran Out (1980) Ashanti (1979) Fedora (1978) Damien: Omen II (1978) Network (1976) The Towering Inferno (1974) Open Season (1974) Breezy (1973) The Revengers (1972) Wild Rovers (1971) The Christmas Tree (1969) The Wild Bunch (1969) ''The Devil's Brigade (1968) Casino Royale (1967) Alvarez Kelly (1966) The 7th Dawn (1964) Paris, When It Sizzles (1964) The Lion (1962) The Counterfeit Traitor (1962) Satan Never Sleeps (1962) The World of Suzie Wong (1960) The Horse Soldiers (1959) The Key (1958) The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Toward the Unknown (1956) The Proud and Profane (1956) Picnic (1955) Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1955) The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1955) The Country Girl (1954) Sabrina (1954) Executive Suite (1954) Escape from Fort Bravo (1954) Forever Female (1953) Stalag 17 (1953) The Moon Is Blue (1953) The Turning Point (1952) Submarine Command (1952) Boots Malone (1952) Force of Arms (1951) Born Yesterday (1950) Union Station (1950) Sunset Boulevard (1950) Father Is a Bachelor (1950) Dear Wife (1949) Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949) Streets of Laredo (1949) The Man from Colorado (1949) The Dark Past (1948) Apartment for Peggy (1948) Rachel and the Stranger (1948) Dear Ruth (1947) Blaze of Noon (1947) Young and Willing (1943) Meet the Stewarts (1942) The Remarkable Andrew (1942) The Fleet's In (1942) Texas (1941) I Wanted Wings (1941) Arizona (1940) Those Were the Days (1940) Our Town (1940) Invisible Stripes (1939) Golden Boy (1939) Prison Farm'' (1938)