William Powell | |
|---|---|
 1936 portrait forMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer byGeorge Hurrell | |
| Born | William Horatio Powell (1892-07-29)July 29, 1892 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | March 5, 1984(1984-03-05) (aged 91) Palm Springs, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Desert Memorial Park,Cathedral City, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1911–1955 |
| Spouses | |
| Partner | Jean Harlow (1934–1937) |
| Children | William David Powell |
William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor, known primarily for his film career. Under contract withMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired withMyrna Loy in 14 films, including theThin Man series based on theNick and Nora Charles characters created byDashiell Hammett. Powell was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actor three times: forThe Thin Man (1934),My Man Godfrey (1936), andLife with Father (1947).
Powell was born inPittsburgh in 1892,[1] the only child of Nettie Manila (née Brady) and Horatio Warren Powell, anaccountant.[2][3] In 1907, young William moved with his family toKansas City, Missouri, where he graduated fromCentral High School four years later.[4]
.jpg)
After high school, Powell enrolled at theUniversity of Kansas to study law, but after a week he relocated to New York City, where he attended theAmerican Academy of Dramatic Arts.[3][5] In 1912, Powell left the AADA, and began working invaudeville and stock companies.[6] He also appeared onBroadway.[7][8] Powell began his Hollywood career in 1922, in a production ofSherlock Holmes withJohn Barrymore. He performed asFrancis I inWhen Knighthood Was in Flower withMarion Davies.[9]
Powell remained under contract to Paramount throughout the 1920s, before signing withWarner Bros.
Powell portrayed a vengeful film director in the silent movieThe Last Command (1928). His first starring role wasPhilo Vance inThe Canary Murder Case (1929). He played Vance atParamount Pictures four times. His strong stage-developed voice became a powerful asset whentalking pictures were introduced.
Powell appeared asNick Charles in sixThin Man films, beginning withThe Thin Man in 1934, based uponDashiell Hammett'snovel. This movie provided Powell with his firstAcademy Award nomination, in 1935[10]
Powell starred inThe Great Ziegfeld, (1936), opposite hisThe Thin Man co-star,Myrna Loy, who played Ziegfeld's wife,Billie Burke. In 1937, Powell received his second Academy Award nomination for the comedyMy Man Godfrey.[11]
In 1935, he starred withJean Harlow inReckless. In 1936, Harlow and Powell appeared inLibeled Lady, and they became romantically involved off-set. He gave her a handsome ring, but did not ask her to marry him, so she referred to it as her "unengagement ring". Powell had been unhappy with his previous marriage to popular actor Carole Lombard, and this apparently kept him from entering a similar arrangement with Harlow, who was a sex symbol to the film-going public during that time. They kept company but did not live together. Harlow fell ill from undiagnosed kidney failure while working on a film withClark Gable, and died before the film was completed, fromuremia, at age 26 in June 1937.[12]
Powell received his third Academy Award nomination in 1947 for his role as Clarence Day Sr. inLife with Father.[13] His last film was playing the character Doc in 1955'sMister Roberts.
On April 15, 1915, Powell marriedEileen Wilson, who was born Julia Mary Tierney. The couple had a son,William David Powell. They divorced in 1930. Powell's son became a television writer and producer before a period of ill health and depression led to his suicide in 1968.[14]
On June 26, 1931, Powell married actressCarole Lombard. They divorced in 1933, but starred inMy Man Godfrey three years later. Powell was devastated by her death in an airplane crash in 1942.[15] He was romantically involved withJean Harlow, his co-star inReckless (1935), until her unexpected death from illness in 1937.[16][17] On January 6, 1940, three weeks after they met, Powell married his third wife, actressDiana Lewis, who cancelled her film career to be his full-time wife. They remained married until his death in 1984.[18]
ARepublican, Powell supportedThomas Dewey in the1944 United States presidential election[19] and the1948 United States presidential election.[20]
In March 1938, Powell was diagnosed with rectal cancer.[5][21] He underwent surgery and experimental radium treatment, which put the disease in full remission within two years. Given his own health and sorrow over Jean Harlow's death, Powell did not undertake any film roles for more than a year during this period.[22]
Powell died inPalm Springs, California, on March 5, 1984, at the age of 91 from pneumonia. He is buried at theDesert Memorial Park inCathedral City, California, near his third wife, Diana Lewis, and his only child, William David Powell.[1][23]
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor in 1947 forLife with Father andThe Senator Was Indiscreet.[24]
William Powell has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame at 1636 Vine Street.
In 1992, a Golden Palm Star on thePalm Springs, California,Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.[25]
| Year | Program | Episode/source |
|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Lux Radio Theatre | The Thin Man |
| 1938 | Lux Radio Theatre | My Man Godfrey |
| 1939 | Lux Radio Theatre | One Way Passage |
| 1939 | Lux Radio Theatre | The Ex-Mrs. Bradford |
| 1940 | The Campbell Playhouse | It Happened One Night |
| 1940 | Lux Radio Theatre | Love Affair |
| 1940 | Lux Radio Theatre | After the Thin Man |
| 1940 | Lux Radio Theatre | Manhattan Melodrama[26] |
| 1941 | Lux Radio Theatre | Hired Wife |
| 1942 | Lux Radio Theatre | Love Crazy |
| 1943 | Lux Radio Theatre | The Lady Has Plans |
| 1944 | Lux Radio Theatre | Shadow of a Doubt |
| 1944 | Lux Radio Theatre | Suspicion |
| 1946 | Reader's Digest Radio Edition | He Fell in Love with a Picture[26]: 33 |
| 1948 | Lux Radio Theatre | I Love You Again |
| 1948 | Lux Radio Theatre | Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid |
| 1949 | Screen Directors Playhouse | Love Crazy[27] |
| 1953 | Suspense | "The Man Who Cried Wolf"[28] |
.jpg)
.jpg)
