William Holden
A California native, William Holden started his career as an actor performing in local radio plays. His film career began in earnest when he landed the lead role in Golden Boy (1939). This was actually his third film. In it he starred opposite the already established star and his future life-long friend, Barbara Stanwyck. Following Golden Boy, Holden went on to make a mixture of romantic and adventure films, among them Arizona (1940) - before joining the war - Apartment for Peggy (1948) and Streets of Laredo (1949), when he returned to the film industry. Although Holden was making a steady stream of films, they were now mostly mediocre after his career starter, Golden Boy.
His career really began to take off when he secured two major roles in 1950. Screenwriter, producer, and director Billy Wilder cast Holden as screenwriter Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard (1950). He was also cast as Paul Verrall, a tutor for an up and coming politician’s girlfriend in Born Yesterday (1950), opposite Judy Holliday. His image as a leading man only continued to grow after he won his only Oscar for the war film Stalag 17 (1953). He went onto start in Sabrina (1954), The Country Girl (1954), Picnic (1956), and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). Astonishingly, he continued to work up until the year of his death in 1981. Just years before, he would star in The Network (1976) and The Earthling (1980).
Throughout his long career, Holden was able to maintain the image of a strong leading man. Tough, yet romantic, sarcastic, yet lovable. He had a particular knack for playing characters who were down and out. Despite their being seemingly unsympathetic, he brought them to life and made his audiences invest in their outcome. He was more than a tough guy.
Core Films
*= my personal favorites
Golden Boy (1939)
Born Yesterday (1950)*
Sunset Boulevard (1950)*
Stalag 17 (1953)*
The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954)
The Country Girl (1954)*
Sabrina (1954)
Love is a Many-Slendored Thing (1955)*
The Picnic (1955)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)*
The Horse Soldiers (1959)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
Wild Rovers (1971)
Network (1976)
The Earthling (1980)
For More
Books
Biography; Golden Boy: The Untold Story of William Holden by Bob Thomas: https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Boy-Untold-William-Holden/dp/0312336977
