William Powell
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- July 29, 1892
- Died
- March 5, 1984 (aged 91)
- Birthplace
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Biography
William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the Thin Man series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters created by Dashiell Hammett. Powell was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times: for The Thin Man (1934), My Man Godfrey (1936), and Life with Father (1947). After high school, he left home for New York and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts at the age of 18. In 1912, Powell graduated from the AADA, and worked in some vaudeville and stock companies. After several successful experiences on the Broadway stage, he began his Hollywood career in 1922, playing a small role as an evil henchman of Professor Moriarty in a production of Sherlock Holmes with John Barrymore. His most memorable role in silent movies was as a bitter film director opposite Emil Jannings' Academy Award-winning performance as a fallen general in The Last Command (1928). This success, along with Powell's pleasant speaking voice, led to his first starring role as amateur detective Philo Vance in the "talkie" The Canary Murder Case (1929). Powell's most famous role was that of Nick Charles in six Thin Man films, beginning with The Thin Man in 1934, based upon Dashiell Hammett's novel. The role provided a perfect opportunity for Powell, with his resonant speaking voice, to showcase his sophisticated charm and witty sense of humor, and he received his first Academy Award nomination for The Thin Man. Myrna Loy played his wife, Nora, in each of the Thin Man films. Their on-screen partnership, beginning alongside Clark Gable in 1934 with Manhattan Melodrama, was one of Hollywood's most prolific, and they appeared in 14 films together. Loy and Powell starred in the Best Picture of 1936, The Great Ziegfeld, with Powell in the title role and Loy as Ziegfeld's wife Billie Burke. That same year, he also received his second Academy Award nomination, for the comedy My Man Godfrey. In 1935, he starred with Jean Harlow in Reckless. A serious romance developed between them, and in 1936, they were reunited on screen and with Loy and Spencer Tracy in the screwball comedy Libeled Lady. However, Harlow surprisingly and quickly became ill, and died from uremia at the age of 26 in June 1937 before they could marry. His distress over her death, as well as a cancer diagnosis of his own, caused him to accept fewer acting roles. Powell's career slowed considerably in the 1940s, although he received his third Academy Award nomination in 1947 for his role as the cantankerous Clarence Day, Sr., in Life with Father. His last film was 1955's Mister Roberts. Powell died in Palm Springs, California, on March 5, 1984, at the age of 91 from heart failure, nearly 30 years after his retirement. He is buried at the Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California, near his third wife Diana Lewis, and his only child, his son William David Powell.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
The Love Story of Jean Harlow and William Powell
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts
Movie · as Self - Actor (archive footage)
Discovering Jean Harlow
Movie · as archive footage
William Powell: A True Gentleman
Movie
Alias Nick and Nora
Movie
Jean Harlow: Platinum Bombshell
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
Movie · as (archive footage)
Two Tragic Blondes - Marilyn Monroe And Jean Harlow
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Movie · as (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Movie · as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
That's Entertainment, Part II
Movie · as (archive footage)
It's Showtime
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Big Parade of Comedy
Movie · as Nick Charles (archive footage)
Mister Roberts
Movie · as Doc
How to Marry a Millionaire
Movie · as J.D. Hanley
The Girl Who Had Everything
Movie · as Steve Latimer
The Treasure of Lost Canyon
Movie · as Homer 'Doc' Brown
It's a Big Country
Movie · as Professor
Take One False Step
Movie · as Andrew Gentling
Dancing in the Dark
Movie · as Emery Slade
Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid
Movie · as Arthur Peabody
Life with Father
Movie · as Clarence Day Sr.
Song of the Thin Man
Movie · as Nick Charles
The Senator Was Indiscreet
Movie · as Senator Melvin G. Ashton
The Hoodlum Saint
Movie · as Terence Ellerton 'Terry' O'Neill
Ziegfeld Follies
Movie · as Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
The Great Morgan
Movie · as William Powell (voice) (uncredited)
The Heavenly Body
Movie · as William S. Whitley
The Thin Man Goes Home
Movie · as Nick Charles
Twenty Years After
Movie · as (archive footage)
The Youngest Profession
Movie · as William Powell
Crossroads
Movie · as David Talbot aka Jean Pelletier
Love Crazy
Movie · as Steve Ireland
Shadow of the Thin Man
Movie · as Nick Charles
I Love You Again
Movie · as Larry Wilson aka George Carey
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Movie · as Self
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Movie · as Self
Another Thin Man
Movie · as Nick Charles
From the Ends of the Earth
Movie · as Self
The Baroness and the Butler
Movie · as Johann Porok
Double Wedding
Movie · as Charles Lodge
The Emperor's Candlesticks
Movie · as Baron Stephan Wolensky
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
Movie · as Charles
The Romance of Celluloid
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Libeled Lady
Movie · as Bill Chandler
My Man Godfrey
Movie · as Godfrey
After the Thin Man
Movie · as Nick Charles
The Great Ziegfeld
Movie · as Florenz 'Flo' Ziegfeld Jr.
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
Movie · as Dr. Lawrence 'Brad' Bradford
Reckless
Movie · as Ned Riley
Rendezvous
Movie · as Lt. William 'Bill' Gordon / Anson Meridan
Star of Midnight
Movie · as Clay Dalzell
Escapade
Movie · as Fritz
La Fiesta de Santa Barbara
Movie · as Self
The Thin Man
Movie · as Nick Charles
Manhattan Melodrama
Movie · as Jim Wade
Evelyn Prentice
Movie · as John Prentice
The Key
Movie · as Capt. Bill Tennant
Fashions of 1934
Movie · as Sherwood Nash
Private Detective 62
Movie · as Donald Free
The Kennel Murder Case
Movie · as Philo Vance
Double Harness
Movie · as John Fletcher
One Way Passage
Movie · as Dan Hardesty
High Pressure
Movie · as Gar Evans
Jewel Robbery
Movie · as The Robber
Lawyer Man
Movie · as Anton "Tony" Adam
Man of the World
Movie · as Michael Trevor
The Road to Singapore
Movie · as Hugh Dawltry
Ladies' Man
Movie · as Jamie Darricott
The Benson Murder Case
Movie · as Philo Vance
Street of Chance
Movie · as John D. Marsden / 'Natural' Davis
Behind the Make-Up
Movie · as Gardoni
For the Defense
Movie · as William Foster
Shadow of the Law
Movie · as Jim Montgomery aka John Nelson
Paramount on Parade
Movie · as Philo Vance
The Voice of Hollywood
Movie
The Canary Murder Case
Movie · as Philo Vance
The Greene Murder Case
Movie · as Philo Vance
The Four Feathers
Movie · as Capt. William Trench
Interference
Movie · as Philip Voaze
Charming Sinners
Movie · as Karl Kraley
Pointed Heels
Movie · as Robert Courtland
The Last Command
Movie · as Lev Andreyev
Feel My Pulse
Movie · as Her Nemesis
Forgotten Faces
Movie · as Froggy
Partners in Crime
Movie · as Smith
The Drag Net
Movie · as Dapper Frank Trent
The Vanishing Pioneer
Movie · as John Murdock
Beau Sabreur
Movie · as Becque
Paid to Love
Movie · as Prince Eric
Nevada
Movie · as Clan Dillon
Special Delivery
Movie · as Harold Jones
New York
Movie · as Trent Regan
Love's Greatest Mistake
Movie · as Don Kendall
Time to Love
Movie · as Prince Alado
She's a Sheik
Movie · as Kada
Senorita
Movie · as Manuel Oliveros
Beau Geste
Movie · as Boldini
The Great Gatsby
Movie · as George Wilson
The Runaway
Movie · as Jack Harrison
Aloma of the South Seas
Movie · as Van Templeton
White Mice
Movie · as Roddy Forrester
Sea Horses
Movie · as Lorenzo Salvia
Desert Gold
Movie · as Snake Landree
Tin Gods
Movie · as Tony Santelli
Too Many Kisses
Movie · as Don Julio
Faint Perfume
Movie · as Barnaby Powers
My Lady's Lips
Movie · as Scott Seddon
The Beautiful City
Movie · as Nick Di Silva
Romola
Movie · as Tito Melema
Dangerous Money
Movie · as Prince Arnoldo da Pescia
The Bright Shawl
Movie · as Gaspar De Vaca
Under the Red Robe
Movie · as Duke of Orleans
Sherlock Holmes
Movie · as Forman Wells
When Knighthood Was in Flower
Movie · as Francis I
Outcast
Movie · as DeValle