Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Happy Birthday, William Holden!!!




Happy 94th birthday to one of my "beloveds,"  my #1 guy---the sensational William Holden!!  (April 17, 1918-November 12, 1981).

Born with the name William Franklin Beadle, Jr., the incredibly talented, fabulously good-looking Mr. Holden is one of my two all-time favorite actors.  I completely adore this man!!   He has occupied #1 status for about three years now (though he shares that status with Robert Ryan).  I have Audrey Hepburn to thank for bringing him into my life, as my introduction to classic movies began with Roman Holiday.  As I sought out more of Miss Hepburn's works, naturally, I discovered Sabrina...which led to my discovery of the gorgeous Mr. Holden.  Completely taken with the incredible smile he flashed several times in that film, I simply had to see more of his works, and as I did, I grew more and more impressed.  He was terrific in nearly every role he took on; I found that he especially excelled when portraying a cynical, angry, troubled, or difficult to get along with man.

Despite how great he was in complex dramatic roles, Mr. Holden also was more than capable in comedic roles.   While I don't generally lean to comedy, I do enjoy several of Holden's comedy films, and the episode of I Love Lucy in which he guest stars is one of the funniest things I have ever seen.  I  have watched it numerous times and never tire of it.

My absolute favorite of Mr. Holden's films also happens to be one of my top 5 favorite movies period---Sunset Boulevard.  Nominated for a Best Actor Academy Award for his work in Sunset Boulevard, this incredibly talented actor gave perhaps the best performance of his career in that film.  Now to be honest, I think he gave terrific performances in nearly all of his roles---including Stalag 17, the film for which he did receive his Oscar---however, I really believe Sunset Boulevard was the performance of his career and that he ought to have won that year.  That film, which comes in at #4 on my all-time favorite movie list, is reviewed HERE.




Rounding out my list of five favorite William Holden films are:

2.  Stalag 17  (Mr. Holden's Academy Award winning role---reviewed HERE)





3.  Sabrina  (with Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn---reviewed HERE)




4.  Bridges at Toko-Ri  (with Grace Kelly and Fredric March---reviewed HERE)





5.  Born Yesterday  (with Judy Holliday and Broderick Crawford---reviewed HERE)




Incidentally, all five of these are 5-star films for me.  I have a couple other 5-star Holden films, so I had to think long and hard before deciding which ones to include here and which ones to put a bit further down the list.

So, Mr. William Holden, here's to you on your 94th birthday.  You were a truly brilliant actor, and I completely adore you.  You will always be one of my #1 guys.  Thanks for bringing so much viewing pleasure to my life with all your wonderful films.