WP
William Powell
Actor
Born July 28, 1892Died March 5, 1984 (91 years)
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
Filmography
| 1990 | Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home to · as (archive Footage) |
| 1987 | James Stewart: A Wonderful Life - Hosted by Johnny Carson · as Nick Charles (clip From After The Thin Man (1936)) |
| 1984 | Going Hollywood: The '30s · as (archive Footage) |
| 1982 | Hollywood: The Gift of Laughter · as Actor - Unidentified 'thin Man' Film |
| 1976 | America at the Movies · as Clarence 'father' Day |
| 1976 | That's Entertainment, Part II · as (archive Footage) |
| 1969 | Hollywood: The Selznick Years · as Jim Wade (archive Footage) (uncredited) |
| 1964 | The Big Parade of Comedy · as Nick Charles (archive Footage) |
| 1955 | Mister Roberts · as Doc |
| 1953 | How to Marry a Millionaire · as J.d. Hanley |
| 1953 | The Girl Who Had Everything · as Steve Latimer |
| 1952 | The Treasure of Lost Canyon · as Homer 'doc' Brown |
| 1951 | It's a Big Country: An American Anthology · as Professor |
| 1951 | The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story · as Cast |
| 1949 | Dancing in the Dark · as Emery Slade |
| 1949 | Take One False Step · as Andrew Gentling |
| 1948 | Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid · as Mr. Peabody |
| 1947 | The Senator Was Indiscreet · as Senator Melvin G. Ashton |
| 1947 | Life with Father · as Clarence Day Sr. |
| 1947 | Song of the Thin Man · as Nick Charles |
| 1946 | The Hoodlum Saint · as Terence Ellerton 'terry' O'neill |
| 1946 | The Great Morgan · as William Powell (voice) (uncredited) |
| 1945 | Ziegfeld Follies · as Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. |
| 1944 | The Thin Man Goes Home · as Nick Charles |
| 1944 | The Heavenly Body · as William S. Whitley |
| 1942 | Crossroads · as David Talbot Aka Jean Pelletier |
| 1941 | Shadow of the Thin Man · as Nick Charles |
| 1941 | Love Crazy · as Steve Ireland |
| 1940 | I Love You Again · as Larry Wilson Aka George Carey |
| 1939 | Another Thin Man · as Nick Charles |
| 1938 | The Baroness and the Butler · as Johann Porok |
| 1937 | Double Wedding · as Charles Lodge |
| 1937 | The Emperor's Candlesticks · as Baron Stephan Wolensky |
| 1937 | The Last of Mrs. Cheyney · as Charles |
| 1936 | After the Thin Man · as Nick Charles |
| 1936 | Libeled Lady · as William 'bill' Stephens Chandler |
| 1936 | My Man Godfrey · as Godfrey |
| 1936 | The Ex-Mrs. Bradford · as Dr. Lawrence 'brad' Bradford |
| 1936 | The Great Ziegfeld · as Florenz 'flo' Ziegfeld Jr. |
| 1935 | Rendezvous · as Lt. William 'bill' Gordon / Anson Meridan |
| 1935 | Escapade · as Fritz |
| 1935 | Reckless · as Ned Riley |
| 1935 | Star of Midnight · as Clay Dalzell |
| 1934 | Evelyn Prentice · as John Prentice |
| 1934 | The Key · as Capt. Bill Tennant |
| 1934 | The Thin Man · as Nick Charles |
| 1934 | Manhattan Melodrama · as Jim Wade |
| 1934 | Fashions of 1934 · as Sherwood Nash |
| 1933 | The Kennel Murder Case · as Philo Vance |
| 1933 | Double Harness · as John Fletcher |
| 1933 | Private Detective 62 · as Donald Free |
| 1932 | Lawyer Man · as Anton Adam |
| 1932 | One Way Passage · as Dan Hardesty |
| 1932 | Jewel Robbery · as The Robber |
| 1932 | High Pressure · as Gar Evans |
| 1931 | The Road to Singapore · as Hugh Dawltry |
| 1931 | Ladies' Man · as Jamie Darricott |
| 1931 | Man of the World · as Michael Trevor |
| 1930 | For the Defense · as William Foster |
| 1930 | Shadow of the Law · as Jim Montgomery Aka John Nelson |
| 1930 | Paramount on Parade · as Philo Vance |
| 1930 | The Benson Murder Case · as Philo Vance |
| 1930 | Behind the Make-Up · as Gardoni |
| 1930 | Street of Chance · as John D. Marsden / 'natural' Davis |
| 1929 | Pointed Heels · as Robert Courtland |
| 1929 | Charming Sinners · as Karl Kraley |
| 1929 | The Greene Murder Case · as Philo Vance |
| 1929 | The Four Feathers · as Capt. William Trench |
| 1929 | The Canary Murder Case · as Philo Vance |
| 1928 | Interference · as Philip Voaze |
| 1928 | Feel My Pulse · as Her Nemesis |
| 1928 | Beau Sabreur · as Becque |
| 1928 | The Last Command · as Lev Andreyev |
| 1927 | Nevada · as Clan Dillon |
| 1927 | Paid to Love · as Prince Eric |
| 1927 | Special Delivery · as Harold Jones |
| 1926 | Beau Geste · as Boldini |
| 1926 | The Runaway · as Jack Harrison |
| 1926 | Desert Gold · as Snake Landree |
| 1925 | Too Many Kisses · as Don Julio |
| 1924 | Romola · as Tito Melema |
| 1923 | The Bright Shawl · as Gaspar De Vaca |
| 1922 | When Knighthood Was in Flower · as Francis I |
| 1922 | Sherlock Holmes · as Forman Wells |