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William Powell
Acting

William Powell
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1892-07-29,Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Gender
Male
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.

Filmography

How to Marry a Millionaire

6.831

How to Marry a Millionaire
1953-10-29

7.504

The Thin Man
1934-05-25

6.808

Love Crazy
1941-05-23

6.4

Double Wedding
1937-10-15

I Love You Again

7.2

I Love You Again
1940-08-09

Take One False Step

5.389

Take One False Step
1949-08-14

7.3

Libeled Lady
1936-10-09

The Heavenly Body

5.6

The Heavenly Body
1944-03-23

7.581

My Man Godfrey
1936-09-02

One Way Passage

7.4

One Way Passage
1932-10-04

Manhattan Melodrama

7.05

Manhattan Melodrama
1934-05-04

Life with Father

6.7

Life with Father
1947-09-13

After the Thin Man

7.341

After the Thin Man
1936-12-25

Shadow of the Thin Man

7

Shadow of the Thin Man
1941-11-21

Another Thin Man

7.134

Another Thin Man
1939-11-17

The Thin Man Goes Home

7.108

The Thin Man Goes Home
1944-12-24

Song of the Thin Man

6.753

Song of the Thin Man
1947-08-28

5.921

Crossroads
1942-07-23

The Great Ziegfeld

6.302

The Great Ziegfeld
1936-04-08

Ziegfeld Follies

6.017

Ziegfeld Follies
1945-08-26

The Senator Was Indiscreet

6.167

The Senator Was Indiscreet
1947-12-31

7.077

Mister Roberts
1955-07-10

5.8

High Pressure
1932-01-10

Private Detective 62

6.12

Private Detective 62
1933-06-10

The Benson Murder Case

5.912

The Benson Murder Case
1930-04-13

6.511

Jewel Robbery
1932-07-08

5.143

Reckless
1935-04-19

The Canary Murder Case

5.7

The Canary Murder Case
1929-02-16

The Last Command

7.3

The Last Command
1928-01-21

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

7

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983-02-25

6.6

Feel My Pulse
1928-02-26

Sherlock Holmes

6.14

Sherlock Holmes
1922-03-07

When Knighthood Was in Flower

5.792

When Knighthood Was in Flower
1922-09-15

6.667

Romola
1924-12-06

The Treasure of Lost Canyon

6

The Treasure of Lost Canyon
1952-03-01

The Girl Who Had Everything

6.25

The Girl Who Had Everything
1953-03-27

Dancing in the Dark

6

Dancing in the Dark
1949-12-02

The Hoodlum Saint

5.5

The Hoodlum Saint
1946-04-04

It's a Big Country

5.875

It's a Big Country
1951-11-20

Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid

6.625

Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid
1948-08-11

4.875

Rendezvous
1935-10-25

Star of Midnight

5.88

Star of Midnight
1935-04-19

The Baroness and the Butler

5.281

The Baroness and the Butler
1938-02-18

The Emperor's Candlesticks

4.944

The Emperor's Candlesticks
1937-07-02

Evelyn Prentice

6.532

Evelyn Prentice
1934-11-09

The Ex-Mrs. Bradford

6.2

The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
1936-04-24

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney

5.932

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
1937-02-19

4.909

The Key
1934-06-09

Fashions of 1934

6.542

Fashions of 1934
1934-02-14

The Kennel Murder Case

6.095

The Kennel Murder Case
1933-10-28

The Greene Murder Case

6

The Greene Murder Case
1929-08-11

Man of the World

6.2

Man of the World
1931-03-24

The Four Feathers

5

The Four Feathers
1929-06-01

6.5

Paid to Love
1927-07-23

The Youngest Profession

5

The Youngest Profession
1943-02-26

7

Nevada
1927-08-01

6.077

Lawyer Man
1932-12-24

7.6

Interference
1929-01-04

Street of Chance

6.773

Street of Chance
1930-02-08

8

Escapade
1935-07-05

6.5

Double Harness
1933-07-21

6.4

Beau Geste
1926-08-24

Charming Sinners

7.5

Charming Sinners
1929-08-17

The Road to Singapore

5.583

The Road to Singapore
1931-09-02

6.3

Pointed Heels
1929-12-21

Behind the Make-Up

6.833

Behind the Make-Up
1930-01-18

For the Defense

5.292

For the Defense
1930-07-19

The Bright Shawl

7

The Bright Shawl
1923-04-22

The Great Gatsby

9

The Great Gatsby
1926-11-21

4.571

Ladies' Man
1931-04-16

Going Hollywood: The '30s

9

Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984-01-01

Forgotten Faces

7

Forgotten Faces
1928-08-05

10

The Runaway
1926-04-04

Partners in Crime

6

Partners in Crime
1928-03-17

Shadow of the Law

6.667

Shadow of the Law
1930-06-06

Special Delivery

6

Special Delivery
1927-05-06

Paramount on Parade

6.111

Paramount on Parade
1930-04-22

Aloma of the South Seas

8

Aloma of the South Seas
1926-05-15

The Big Parade of Comedy

7.167

The Big Parade of Comedy
1964-09-02

La Fiesta de Santa Barbara

6.071

La Fiesta de Santa Barbara
1935-12-07

The Voice of Hollywood

0

The Voice of Hollywood
1930-08-30

Too Many Kisses

5.875

Too Many Kisses
1925-01-11

Dangerous Money

9

Dangerous Money
1924-10-13

Under the Red Robe

6

Under the Red Robe
1923-11-12

3

Outcast
1922-12-07

9

Sea Horses
1926-02-22

The Beautiful City

9

The Beautiful City
1925-10-25

8

Desert Gold
1926-03-22

10

My Lady's Lips
1925-07-01

7

White Mice
1926-01-31

7

Faint Perfume
1925-06-08

9

Tin Gods
1926-09-19

Love's Greatest Mistake

9

Love's Greatest Mistake
1927-02-20

9

New York
1927-01-30

8

She's a Sheik
1927-11-12

10

Time to Love
1927-06-18

6.5

The Drag Net
1928-05-01

The Vanishing Pioneer

9

The Vanishing Pioneer
1928-06-23

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

6.333

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975-08-06

Hollywood: Style Center of the World

6

Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940-05-29

That's Entertainment, Part II

7

That's Entertainment, Part II
1976-05-16

The Romance of Celluloid

7

The Romance of Celluloid
1937-08-27

A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound

6.857

A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940-10-24

The Great Morgan

6

The Great Morgan
1945-01-01

From the Ends of the Earth

0

From the Ends of the Earth
1939-05-28

The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn

8.333

The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
1986-03-09

9

Beau Sabreur
1928-01-22

William Powell: A True Gentleman

7.5

William Powell: A True Gentleman
2005-08-02

Twenty Years After

8

Twenty Years After
1944-01-01

Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To

8.5

Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
1990-06-04

8

Senorita
1927-04-01

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life

6.5

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
1987-03-13

7.5

It's Showtime
1976-03-31

Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts

6.5

Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts
2017-06-14

Jean Harlow: Platinum Bombshell

0

Jean Harlow: Platinum Bombshell
1996-05-20

The Love Story of Jean Harlow and William Powell

0

The Love Story of Jean Harlow and William Powell
2023-02-20

Discovering Jean Harlow

10

Discovering Jean Harlow
2015-12-01

Two Tragic Blondes - Marilyn Monroe And Jean Harlow

9

Two Tragic Blondes - Marilyn Monroe And Jean Harlow
1989-04-09