William Holden - biography

“For me, acting is not an all-consuming thing, except for the moment when I am actually doing it.”

“I was bare-chested in quite a few Picnic scenes, so I had to shave my chest every day.  The censor said hairy chests weren’t nice.  Do you think it’s fun standing in front of a mirror running a razor all the way down to your navel at 6 am every morning?”

“I’m a whore, all actors are whores.  We sell our bodies to the highest bidder.”

“In Sunset Boulevard, I had to sit on Gloria Swanson’s bed with one foot firmly on the floor - and my overcoat on!  Hell, I was living off her in that film.  Everybody in the audience knew I was a kept man, so why did they have to be so modest?”

“It’s true.  I get 50,000 dollars a year from the profits from The Bridge On the River Kwai.  Sounds like something.  Until you break it down: 10 per cent goes to the agent, 20 per cent is withheld for taxes, fifty per cent of what’s left goes to my ex-wife - and I end up seeing 5,800 dollars from my 10 per cent of the gross profits.”

“Movie acting may not have a certain kind of glory as true art, but it is damn hard work.”

“They tested more than a hundred actors for [Golden Boy] and I got it.  I had to play a violinist-turned-prizefighter, which wasn’t easy considering I couldn’t fight or play the violin.  I wasn’t even sure I could act.”

“Take any picture you can.  One out of four will be good, one out of ten will be very good, and one out of 15 will get you an Academy Award.”

“[On Barbara Stanwyck:] Thirty-nine years ago this month, we were working in a film together called Golden Boy (1939).  It wasn’t going so well and I was going to be replaced.  But due to this lovely human being and her encouragement and above all her generosity, I’m here tonight.”

“[On Clint Eastwood:] He’s even-tempered - a personality trait not much in evidence among directors.  The crew is totally behind him and that really helps things go smoothly.”

“[On Humphrey Bogart:] I hated that bastard.”

“I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life - to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.”

William Holden has appeared in the following films:
Road House (1928)
Dynamite (1929)
Fast Life (1929)
The Trespasser (1929)
Three Faces East (1930)
Holiday (1930)
Numbered Men (1930)
What a Widow! (1930)
Dance, Fools, Dance (1931)
The Man Who Came Back (1931)
Six Cylinder Love (1931)
Prison Farm (1938)
Million Dollar Legs (1939)
Golden Boy (1939)
Invisible Stripes (1939)
Our Town (1940)
Those Were the Days! (1940)
Arizona (1940)
I Wanted Wings (1941)
Texas (1941)
The Fleet’s In (1942)
The Remarkable Andrew (1942)
Meet the Stewarts (1942)
Young and Willing (1943)
Blaze of Noon (1947)
Dear Ruth (1947)
The Man from Colorado (1948)
Rachel and the Stranger (1948)
Apartment for Peggy (1948)
The Dark Past (1948)
Streets of Laredo (1949)
Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949)
Dear Wife (1949)
Father Is a Bachelor (1950)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Union Station (1950)
Born Yesterday (1950)
Force of Arms (1951)
Submarine Command (1951)
Boots Malone (1952)
The Turning Point (1952)
Stalag 17 (1953)
The Moon Is Blue (1953)
Escape from Fort Bravo (1953)
Die Jungfrau auf dem Dach (1953)
Forever Female (1954)
Executive Suite (1954)
Sabrina (1954)
Miyamoto Musashi (1954)
The Country Girl (1954)
The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954)
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)
Picnic (1955)
The Proud and Profane (1956)
Toward the Unknown (1956)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Key (1958)
The Horse Soldiers (1959)
The World of Suzie Wong (1960)
Satan Never Sleeps (1962)
The Counterfeit Traitor (1962)
The Lion (1962)
Paris – When It Sizzles (1964)
The 7th Dawn (1964)
Alvarez Kelly (1966)
Casino Royale (1967)
The Devil’s Brigade (1968)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
L’Arbre de Noël (1969)
Wild Rovers (1971)
The Revengers (1972)
Breezy (1973)
Open Season (1974)
The Towering Inferno (1974)
Network (1976)
Fedora (1978)
Damien: Omen II (1978)
Escape to Athena (1979)
Ashanti (1979)
When Time Ran Out... (1980)
The Earthling (1980)
S.O.B. (1981)