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 a

t 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.

Born

Jul 29, 1892

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Died

Mar 05, 1984

Known For

Acting

Movies

120 acting

0 crew

Popularity

0.9

movie

Known For

White Mice

1926 • as Roddy Forrester

★ 7.0

The Thin Man

1934 • as Nick Charles

★ 7.5

How to Marry a Millionaire

1953 • as J.D. Hanley

★ 6.8

New York

1927 • as Trent Regan

★ 9.0

Charming Sinners

1929 • as Karl Kraley

★ 7.0

Libeled Lady

1936 • as Bill Chandler

★ 7.3

Outcast

1922 • as DeValle

★ 3.0

Mister Roberts

1955 • as Doc

★ 7.0

After the Thin Man

1936 • as Nick Charles

★ 7.4

The Great Ziegfeld

1936 • as Florenz 'Flo' Ziegfeld Jr.

★ 6.3

My Man Godfrey

1936 • as Godfrey

★ 7.6

Shadow of the Thin Man

1941 • as Nick Charles

★ 7.0

That's Entertainment, Part II

1976 • as (archive footage)

★ 7.0

Ziegfeld Follies

1945 • as Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.

★ 6.0

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

1975 • as Self (archive footage)

★ 6.3

Another Thin Man

1939 • as Nick Charles

★ 7.1

Senorita

1927 • as Manuel Oliveros

★ 8.0

The Thin Man Goes Home

1944 • as Nick Charles

★ 7.1

The Emperor's Candlesticks

1937 • as Baron Stephan Wolensky

★ 5.0

It's Showtime

1976 • as Self (archive footage)

★ 7.5

The Big Parade of Comedy

1964 • as Nick Charles (archive footage)

★ 7.2

The Youngest Profession

1943 • as William Powell

★ 5.2

Manhattan Melodrama

1934 • as Jim Wade

★ 7.0

The Kennel Murder Case

1933 • as Philo Vance

★ 6.1

I Love You Again

1940 • as Larry Wilson aka George Carey

★ 7.2

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

1983 • as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

★ 7.0

Romola

1924 • as Tito Melema

★ 6.7

Evelyn Prentice

1934 • as John Prentice

★ 6.6

Song of the Thin Man

1947 • as Nick Charles

★ 6.7

The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies

1995 • as Self (archive footage)

★ 8.0

Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To

1990 • as (archive footage)

★ 8.5

Twenty Years After

1944 • as (archive footage)

★ 8.0

The Greene Murder Case

1929 • as Philo Vance

★ 6.1

It's a Big Country

1951 • as Professor

★ 5.9

Going Hollywood: The '30s

1984 • as (archive footage)

★ 9.0

Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts

2017 • as Self - Actor (archive footage)

★ 6.5

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life

1987 • as Self (archive footage)

★ 6.5

Dancing in the Dark

1949 • as Emery Slade

★ 6.2

Discovering Jean Harlow

2015 • as archive footage

★ 10.0

Crossroads

1942 • as David Talbot aka Jean Pelletier

★ 5.9

Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid

1948 • as Arthur Peabody

★ 6.5

movie

Two Tragic Blondes - Marilyn Monroe And Jean Harlow

1989 • as Self (archive footage)

★ 9.0

One Way Passage

1932 • as Dan Hardesty

★ 7.3

The Canary Murder Case

1929 • as Philo Vance

★ 5.8

Life with Father

1947 • as Clarence Day Sr.

★ 6.7

Love Crazy

1941 • as Steve Ireland

★ 6.8

The Girl Who Had Everything

1953 • as Steve Latimer

★ 6.2

The Ex-Mrs. Bradford

1936 • as Dr. Lawrence 'Brad' Bradford

★ 6.3

Special Delivery

1927 • as Harold Jones

★ 6.0

Jewel Robbery

1932 • as The Robber

★ 6.5

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney

1937 • as Charles

★ 5.9

Hollywood: Style Center of the World

1940 • as Self

★ 5.8

Rendezvous

1935 • as Lt. William 'Bill' Gordon / Anson Meridan

★ 5.0

The Baroness and the Butler

1938 • as Johann Porok

★ 5.4

Paramount on Parade

1930 • as Philo Vance

★ 5.9

Fashions of 1934

1934 • as Sherwood Nash

★ 6.6

Pointed Heels

1929 • as Robert Courtland

★ 6.2

The Bright Shawl

1923 • as Gaspar De Vaca

★ 7.0

The Hoodlum Saint

1946 • as Terence Ellerton 'Terry' O'Neill

★ 5.6

Aloma of the South Seas

1926 • as Van Templeton

★ 8.0

From the Ends of the Earth

1939 • as Self

★ 5.0

The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn

1986 • as Self (archive footage)

★ 8.3

The Romance of Celluloid

1937 • as Self (archive footage)

★ 7.0

The Treasure of Lost Canyon

1952 • as Homer 'Doc' Brown

★ 6.0

The Last Command

1928 • as Lev Andreyev

★ 7.4

Reckless

1935 • as Ned Riley

★ 5.2

Star of Midnight

1935 • as Clay Dalzell

★ 5.9

Time to Love

1927 • as Prince Alado

★ 10.0

Lawyer Man

1932 • as Anton "Tony" Adam

★ 6.1

Desert Gold

1926 • as Snake Landree

★ 8.0

Double Wedding

1937 • as Charles Lodge

★ 6.4

When Knighthood Was in Flower

1922 • as Francis I

★ 5.8

The Benson Murder Case

1930 • as Philo Vance

★ 6.2

Shadow of the Law

1930 • as Jim Montgomery aka John Nelson

★ 6.7

The Heavenly Body

1944 • as William S. Whitley

★ 5.6

A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound

1940 • as Self

★ 6.8

The Road to Singapore

1931 • as Hugh Dawltry

★ 5.6

The Great Gatsby

1926 • as George Wilson

★ 9.0

Feel My Pulse

1928 • as Her Nemesis

★ 6.6

Take One False Step

1949 • as Andrew Gentling

★ 5.5

My Lady's Lips

1925 • as Scott Seddon

★ 10.0

The Great Morgan

1945 • as William Powell (voice) (uncredited)

★ 6.0

The Senator Was Indiscreet

1947 • as Senator Melvin G. Ashton

★ 6.3

Double Harness

1933 • as John Fletcher

★ 6.5

La Fiesta de Santa Barbara

1935 • as Self

★ 6.1

The Love Story of Jean Harlow and William Powell

2023 • as Self (archive footage)

Man of the World

1931 • as Michael Trevor

★ 6.2

Sherlock Holmes

1922 • as Forman Wells

★ 6.2

The Voice of Hollywood

1930

Sea Horses

1926 • as Lorenzo Salvia

★ 9.0

Ladies' Man

1931 • as Jamie Darricott

★ 4.6

For the Defense

1930 • as William Foster

★ 5.7

Jean Harlow: Platinum Bombshell

1996 • as Self (archive footage)

Under the Red Robe

1923 • as Duke of Orleans

★ 6.0

Nevada

1927 • as Clan Dillon

★ 6.7

Interference

1929 • as Philip Voaze

★ 7.6

Behind the Make-Up

1930 • as Gardoni

★ 6.9

She's a Sheik

1927 • as Kada

★ 8.0

Paid to Love

1927 • as Prince Eric

★ 6.5

Private Detective 62

1933 • as Donald Free

★ 6.2

The Key

1934 • as Capt. Bill Tennant

★ 5.1

High Pressure

1932 • as Gar Evans

★ 5.8

Beau Sabreur

1928 • as Becque

★ 9.0

Beau Geste

1926 • as Boldini

★ 6.4

Love's Greatest Mistake

1927 • as Don Kendall

★ 9.0

The Beautiful City

1925 • as Nick Di Silva

★ 9.0

William Powell: A True Gentleman

2005

★ 7.5

Forgotten Faces

1928 • as Froggy

★ 7.0

Faint Perfume

1925 • as Barnaby Powers

★ 7.0

Street of Chance

1930 • as John D. Marsden / 'Natural' Davis

★ 6.8

The Runaway

1926 • as Jack Harrison

★ 10.0

Escapade

1935 • as Fritz

★ 7.0

The Four Feathers

1929 • as Capt. William Trench

★ 5.0

The Vanishing Pioneer

1928 • as John Murdock

★ 9.0

Partners in Crime

1928 • as Smith

★ 6.0

The Drag Net

1928 • as Dapper Frank Trent

★ 6.5

Tin Gods

1926 • as Tony Santelli

★ 9.0

Dangerous Money

1924 • as Prince Arnoldo da Pescia

★ 9.0

Alias Nick and Nora

2005

★ 7.0

Too Many Kisses

1925 • as Don Julio

★ 5.9

William Powell

Known For

The Thin Man

How to Marry a Millionaire

Libeled Lady

Mister Roberts

After the Thin Man

The Great Ziegfeld

My Man Godfrey

Shadow of the Thin Man

Another Thin Man

The Thin Man Goes Home

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