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.
How to Marry a Millionaire
(J.D. Hanley)
The Thin Man
(Nick Charles)
Love Crazy
(Steve Ireland)
Double Wedding
(Charles Lodge)
I Love You Again
(Larry Wilson aka George Carey)
Take One False Step
(Andrew Gentling)
Libeled Lady
(William 'Bill' Stephens Chandler)
The Heavenly Body
(William S. Whitley)
My Man Godfrey
(Godfrey)
One Way Passage
(Dan Hardesty)
Manhattan Melodrama
(Jim Wade)
Life with Father
(Clarence Day Sr.)
After the Thin Man
(Nick Charles)
Shadow of the Thin Man
(Nick Charles)
Another Thin Man
(Nick Charles)
The Thin Man Goes Home
(Nick Charles)
Song of the Thin Man
(Nick Charles)
Crossroads
(David Talbot aka Jean Pelletier)
The Great Ziegfeld
(Florenz 'Flo' Ziegfeld Jr.)
Ziegfeld Follies
(Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.)
The Senator Was Indiscreet
(Senator Melvin G. Ashton)
Mister Roberts
(Doc)
High Pressure
(Gar Evans)
Private Detective 62
(Donald Free)
The Benson Murder Case
(Philo Vance)
Jewel Robbery
(The Robber)
Reckless
(Ned Riley)
The Canary Murder Case
(Philo Vance)
The Last Command
(Lev Andreyev)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
(Self (archive footage) (uncredited))
Feel My Pulse
(Her Nemesis)
Sherlock Holmes
(Forman Wells)
When Knighthood Was in Flower
(Francis I)
Romola
(Tito Melema)
The Treasure of Lost Canyon
(Homer 'Doc' Brown)
The Girl Who Had Everything
(Steve Latimer)
Dancing in the Dark
(Emery Slade)
The Hoodlum Saint
(Terence Ellerton 'Terry' O'Neill)
It's a Big Country
(Professor)
Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid
(Arthur Peabody)
Rendezvous
(Lt. William 'Bill' Gordon / Anson Meridan)
Star of Midnight
(Clay Dalzell)
The Baroness and the Butler
(Johann Porok)
The Emperor's Candlesticks
(Baron Stephan Wolensky)
Evelyn Prentice
(John Prentice)
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
(Dr. Lawrence 'Brad' Bradford)
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
(Charles)
The Key
(Capt. Bill Tennant)
Fashions of 1934
(Sherwood Nash)
The Kennel Murder Case
(Philo Vance)
The Greene Murder Case
(Philo Vance)
Man of the World
(Michael Trevor)
The Four Feathers
(Capt. William Trench)
Paid to Love
(Prince Eric)
The Youngest Profession
(William Powell)
Nevada
(Clan Dillon)
Lawyer Man
(Anton "Tony" Adam)
Interference
(Philip Voaze)
Street of Chance
(John D. Marsden / 'Natural' Davis)
Escapade
(Fritz)
Double Harness
(John Fletcher)
Beau Geste
(Boldini)
Charming Sinners
(Karl Kraley)
The Road to Singapore
(Hugh Dawltry)
Pointed Heels
(Robert Courtland)
Behind the Make-Up
(Gardoni)
For the Defense
(William Foster)
The Bright Shawl
(Gaspar De Vaca)
The Great Gatsby
(George Wilson)
Ladies' Man
(Jamie Darricott)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
((archive footage))
Forgotten Faces
(Froggy)
The Runaway
(Jack Harrison)
Partners in Crime
(Smith)
Shadow of the Law
(Jim Montgomery aka John Nelson)
Special Delivery
(Harold Jones)
Paramount on Parade
(Philo Vance)
Aloma of the South Seas
(Van Templeton)
The Big Parade of Comedy
(Nick Charles (archive footage))
La Fiesta de Santa Barbara
(Self)
The Voice of Hollywood
Too Many Kisses
(Don Julio)
Dangerous Money
(Prince Arnoldo da Pescia)
Under the Red Robe
(Duke of Orleans)
Outcast
(DeValle)
Sea Horses
(Lorenzo Salvia)
The Beautiful City
(Nick Di Silva)
Desert Gold
(Snake Landree)
My Lady's Lips
(Scott Seldon)
White Mice
(Roddy Forrester)
Faint Perfume
(Barnaby Powers)
Tin Gods
(Tony Santelli)
Love's Greatest Mistake
(Don Kendall)
New York
(Trent Regan)
She's a Sheik
(Kada)
Time to Love
(Prince Alado)
The Drag Net
(Dapper Frank Trent)
The Vanishing Pioneer
(John Murdock)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
(Self (archive footage))
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
(Self)
That's Entertainment, Part II
((archive footage))
The Romance of Celluloid
(Self (archive footage))
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
(Self)
The Great Morgan
(William Powell (voice) (uncredited))
From the Ends of the Earth
(Self)
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
(Self (archive footage))
Beau Sabreur
(Becque)
William Powell: A True Gentleman
Twenty Years After
((archive footage))
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
((archive footage))
Senorita
(Manuel Oliveros)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
(Self (archive footage))
It's Showtime
(Self (archive footage))
Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts
(Self - Actor (archive footage))
Jean Harlow: Platinum Bombshell
(Self (archive footage))
The Love Story of Jean Harlow and William Powell
(Self (archive footage))