William Holden

Born: 17 April 1918 Birthplace: O'Fallon, Illinois Death: 12 November 1981 (head injury) Best Known As: Star of Stalag 17 Name at birth: William Franklin Beedle, Jr. Holden was a major leading man of the 1950s, when he played heroic cynics in the war movies Stalag 17 (1953) and Bridge On the River Kwai (1957) and the not-so-heroic cynic Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard (1950). In 1954 alone he starred with Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn in the romantic comedy Sabrina, with Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby in The Country Girl, and with Kelly and Mickey Rooney in The Bridges at Toko-Ri. Holden had a career resurgence in the 1970s, being nominated for a best actor Oscar for Network (1976, co-starring Faye Dunaway). Holden died in 1981; he was found in his apartment four days after he apparently fell, hit his head on a bedside table and bled to death. Holden enlisted in the U.S. Air Force during World War II... He won a best actor Academy Award for Stalag 17 and was nominated for Sunset Boulevard and Network... Holden was best man at the 1952 wedding of Ronald and Nancy Reagan... In the 1970s Holden had a long romantic relationship with the actress Stefanie Powers.