William Powell
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
Credits
- 2017 · Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts as Self - Actor (archive footage)
- 2005 · William Powell: A True Gentleman as
- 1993 · Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell as Self (archive footage)
- 1990 · Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To as (archive footage)
- 1988 · James Stewart: A Wonderful Life as Self (archive footage)
- 1986 · The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn as Self (archive footage)
- 1984 · Going Hollywood: The '30s as (archive footage)
- 1983 · Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1976 · That's Entertainment, Part II as (archive footage)
- 1976 · It's Showtime as Self (archive footage)
- 1975 · Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? as Self (archive footage)
- 1964 · The Big Parade of Comedy as Nick Charles (archive footage)
- 1961 · Hollywood: The Selznick Years as Jim Wade (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 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 as Professor
- 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
- 1945 · Ziegfeld Follies as Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
- 1945 · The Great Morgan as William Powell (voice) (uncredited)
- 1944 · The Thin Man Goes Home as Nick Charles
- 1944 · The Heavenly Body as William S. Whitley
- 1944 · Twenty Years After as (archive footage)
- 1943 · The Youngest Profession as William Powell
- 1942 · Crossroads as David Talbot aka Jean Pelletier
- 1941 · Shadow of the Thin Man as Nick Charles
- 1941 · Love Crazy as Steve Ireland
- 1940 · A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound as Self
- 1940 · I Love You Again as Larry Wilson aka George Carey
- 1940 · Hollywood: Style Center of the World as Self
- 1939 · Another Thin Man as Nick Charles
- 1939 · From the Ends of the Earth as Self
- 1938 · The Baroness and the Butler as Johann Porok
- 1937 · Double Wedding as Charles Lodge
- 1937 · The Romance of Celluloid as Self (archive footage)
- 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 · La Fiesta de Santa Barbara as Self
- 1935 · Rendezvous as Lt. William 'Bill' Gordon / Anson Meridan
- 1935 · Escapade as Fritz
- 1935 · Star of Midnight as Clay Dalzell
- 1935 · Reckless as Ned Riley
- 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 · The Voice of Hollywood as
- 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 · Street of Chance as John D. Marsden / 'Natural' Davis
- 1930 · Behind the Make-Up as Gardoni
- 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 · Forgotten Faces as Froggy
- 1928 · The Vanishing Pioneer as John Murdock
- 1928 · The Drag Net as Dapper Frank Trent
- 1928 · Partners in Crime as Smith
- 1928 · Feel My Pulse as Her Nemesis
- 1928 · Beau Sabreur as Becque
- 1928 · The Last Command as Lev Andreyev
- 1927 · She's a Sheik as Kada
- 1927 · Nevada as Clan Dillon
- 1927 · Paid to Love as Prince Eric
- 1927 · Time to Love as Prince Alado
- 1927 · Special Delivery as Harold Jones
- 1927 · Senorita as Manuel Oliveros
- 1927 · Love's Greatest Mistake as Don Kendall
- 1927 · New York as Trent Regan
- 1926 · The Great Gatsby as George Wilson
- 1926 · Tin Gods as Tony Santelli
- 1926 · Beau Geste as Boldini
- 1926 · Aloma of the South Seas as Van Templeton
- 1926 · The Runaway as Jack Harrison
- 1926 · Desert Gold as Snake Landree
- 1926 · Sea Horses as Lorenzo Salvia
- 1926 · White Mice as Roddy Forrester
- 1925 · The Beautiful City as Nick Di Silva
- 1925 · My Lady's Lips as Scott Seldon
- 1925 · Faint Perfume as Barnaby Powers
- 1925 · Too Many Kisses as Don Julio
- 1924 · Romola as Tito Melema
- 1924 · Dangerous Money as Prince Arnoldo da Pescia
- 1923 · Under the Red Robe as Duke of Orleans
- 1923 · The Bright Shawl as Gaspar De Vaca
- 1922 · Outcast as DeValle
- 1922 · When Knighthood Was in Flower as Francis I
- 1922 · Sherlock Holmes as Forman Wells