Cast
William Powell
Acting
Cast
William Powell
Known for
Acting
Born
1892-07-29
From
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Died
1984-03-05
Also known as William H. Powell, William Horatio Powell
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.
The Baroness and the Butler
as Johann Porok
Mister Roberts
as Doc
How to Marry a Millionaire
as J.D. Hanley
The Thin Man
as Nick Charles
The Key
as Capt. Bill Tennant
My Man Godfrey
as Godfrey
Pointed Heels
as Robert Courtland
Evelyn Prentice
as John Prentice
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
as Self (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
as Self (archive footage)
Special Delivery
as Harold Jones
Ziegfeld Follies
as Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
Interference
as Philip Voaze
New York
as Trent Regan
The Great Ziegfeld
as Florenz 'Flo' Ziegfeld Jr.
Crossroads
as David Talbot aka Jean Pelletier
Rendezvous
as Lt. William 'Bill' Gordon / Anson Meridan
Libeled Lady
as William 'Bill' Stephens Chandler
White Mice
as Roddy Forrester
Manhattan Melodrama
as Jim Wade
The Hoodlum Saint
as Terence Ellerton 'Terry' O'Neill
Lawyer Man
as Anton "Tony" Adam
Song of the Thin Man
as Nick Charles
The Emperor's Candlesticks
as Baron Stephan Wolensky
The Thin Man Goes Home
as Nick Charles
I Love You Again
as Larry Wilson aka George Carey
Life with Father
as Clarence Day Sr.
That's Entertainment, Part II
as (archive footage)
After the Thin Man
as Nick Charles
Another Thin Man
as Nick Charles
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
It's Showtime
as Self (archive footage)
Reckless
as Ned Riley
The Romance of Celluloid
as Self (archive footage)
Sea Horses
as Lorenzo Salvia
High Pressure
as Gar Evans
Beau Geste
as Boldini
Love Crazy
as Steve Ireland
The Treasure of Lost Canyon
as Homer 'Doc' Brown
Twenty Years After
as (archive footage)
Shadow of the Thin Man
as Nick Charles
The Big Parade of Comedy
as Nick Charles (archive footage)
Double Wedding
as Charles Lodge
The Youngest Profession
as William Powell
From the Ends of the Earth
as Self
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
as Self
Tin Gods
as Tony Santelli
It's a Big Country
as Professor
The Kennel Murder Case
as Philo Vance
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
as Self (archive footage)
The Last Command
as Lev Andreyev
Charming Sinners
as Karl Kraley
Faint Perfume
as Barnaby Powers
Take One False Step
as Andrew Gentling
Jewel Robbery
as The Robber
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
as Dr. Lawrence 'Brad' Bradford
Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid
as Arthur Peabody
Going Hollywood: The '30s
as (archive footage)
One Way Passage
as Dan Hardesty
Private Detective 62
as Donald Free
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
as Self
The Benson Murder Case
as Philo Vance
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
as Charles
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
as (archive footage)
Street of Chance
as John D. Marsden / 'Natural' Davis
The Heavenly Body
as William S. Whitley
The Girl Who Had Everything
as Steve Latimer
La Fiesta de Santa Barbara
as Self
Ladies' Man
as Jamie Darricott
Fashions of 1934
as Sherwood Nash
The Canary Murder Case
as Philo Vance
Forgotten Faces
as Froggy
Star of Midnight
as Clay Dalzell
The Greene Murder Case
as Philo Vance
Sherlock Holmes
as Forman Wells
Shadow of the Law
as Jim Montgomery aka John Nelson
Dancing in the Dark
as Emery Slade
Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts
as Self - Actor (archive footage)
The Voice of Hollywood
When Knighthood Was in Flower
as Francis I
The Bright Shawl
as Gaspar De Vaca
Senorita
as Manuel Oliveros
The Vanishing Pioneer
as John Murdock
Romola
as Tito Melema
Discovering Jean Harlow
as archive footage
For the Defense
as William Foster
Under the Red Robe
as Duke of Orleans
Paramount on Parade
as Philo Vance
The Runaway
as Jack Harrison
The Four Feathers
as Capt. William Trench
William Powell: A True Gentleman
Beau Sabreur
as Becque
Man of the World
as Michael Trevor
The Road to Singapore
as Hugh Dawltry
Nevada
as Clan Dillon
Partners in Crime
as Smith
Behind the Make-Up
as Gardoni
The Drag Net
as Dapper Frank Trent
Escapade
as Fritz
Double Harness
as John Fletcher
The Senator Was Indiscreet
as Senator Melvin G. Ashton
Aloma of the South Seas
as Van Templeton
Paid to Love
as Prince Eric
Jean Harlow: Platinum Bombshell
as Self (archive footage)
Feel My Pulse
as Her Nemesis
Dangerous Money
as Prince Arnoldo da Pescia
The Great Morgan
as William Powell (voice) (uncredited)
Two Tragic Blondes - Marilyn Monroe And Jean Harlow
Desert Gold
as Snake Landree
She's a Sheik
as Kada
The Great Gatsby
as George Wilson
The Beautiful City
as Nick Di Silva
My Lady's Lips
as Scott Seldon
Too Many Kisses
as Don Julio
The Love Story of Jean Harlow and William Powell
as Self (archive footage)
Time to Love
as Prince Alado
Love's Greatest Mistake
as Don Kendall
Outcast
as DeValle