William 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.
Known For
J.D. Hanley
How to Marry a Millionaire
Nick Charles
The Thin Man
Charles Lodge
Double Wedding
Larry Wilson aka George Carey
I Love You Again
Steve Ireland
Love Crazy
Andrew Gentling
Take One False Step
William 'Bill' Stephens Chandler
Libeled Lady
William S. Whitley
The Heavenly Body
Godfrey
My Man Godfrey
Dan Hardesty
One Way Passage
Jim Wade
Manhattan Melodrama
Clarence Day Sr.
Life with Father
Nick Charles
After the Thin Man
Nick Charles
Another Thin Man
Nick Charles
Shadow of the Thin Man
Nick Charles
The Thin Man Goes Home
Nick Charles
Song of the Thin Man
David Talbot aka Jean Pelletier
Crossroads
Florenz 'Flo' Ziegfeld Jr.
The Great Ziegfeld
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
Ziegfeld Follies
Senator Melvin G. Ashton
The Senator Was Indiscreet
Doc
Mister Roberts
Gar Evans
High Pressure
Donald Free
Private Detective 62
Philo Vance
The Benson Murder Case
The Robber
Jewel Robbery
Ned Riley
Reckless
Lev Andreyev
The Last Command
Philo Vance
The Canary Murder Case
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Her Nemesis
Feel My Pulse
Forman Wells
Sherlock Holmes
Francis I
When Knighthood Was in Flower
Tito Melema
Romola
Steve Latimer
The Girl Who Had Everything
Homer 'Doc' Brown
The Treasure of Lost Canyon
Professor
It's a Big Country
Emery Slade
Dancing in the Dark
Arthur Peabody
Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid
Terence Ellerton 'Terry' O'Neill
The Hoodlum Saint
Johann Porok
The Baroness and the Butler
Baron Stephan Wolensky
The Emperor's Candlesticks
Charles
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
Dr. Lawrence 'Brad' Bradford
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
Lt. William 'Bill' Gordon / Anson Meridan
Rendezvous
Clay Dalzell
Star of Midnight
John Prentice
Evelyn Prentice
Capt. Bill Tennant
The Key
Sherwood Nash
Fashions of 1934
Philo Vance
The Kennel Murder Case
Philo Vance
The Greene Murder Case
Michael Trevor
Man of the World
Capt. William Trench
The Four Feathers
Prince Eric
Paid to Love
William Powell
The Youngest Profession
Clan Dillon
Nevada
Anton Adam
Lawyer Man
Philip Voaze
Interference
John D. Marsden / 'Natural' Davis
Street of Chance
Fritz
Escapade
John Fletcher
Double Harness
Boldini
Beau Geste
Karl Kraley
Charming Sinners
Hugh Dawltry
The Road to Singapore
Robert Courtland
Pointed Heels
Gardoni
Behind the Make-Up
William Foster
For the Defense
Gaspar De Vaca
The Bright Shawl
George Wilson
The Great Gatsby
Jamie Darricott
Ladies' Man
(archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Jim Wade (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
Froggy
Forgotten Faces
Jack Harrison
The Runaway
Smith
Partners in Crime
Jim Montgomery aka John Nelson
Shadow of the Law
Harold Jones
Special Delivery
Philo Vance
Paramount on Parade
Van Templeton
Aloma of the South Seas
Nick Charles (archive footage)
The Big Parade of Comedy
Self
La Fiesta de Santa Barbara
The Voice of Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell
DeValle
Outcast
Duke of Orleans
Under the Red Robe
Prince Arnoldo da Pescia
Dangerous Money
Don Julio
Too Many Kisses
Barnaby Powers
Faint Perfume
Scott Seldon
My Lady's Lips
Nick Di Silva
The Beautiful City
Roddy Forrester
White Mice
Lorenzo Salvia
Sea Horses
Snake Landree
Desert Gold
Tony Santelli
Tin Gods
Trent Regan
New York
Don Kendall
Love's Greatest Mistake
Prince Alado
Time to Love
Kada
She's a Sheik
Dapper Frank Trent
The Drag Net
John Murdock
The Vanishing Pioneer
Self (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Self
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
Becque
Beau Sabreur
William Powell (voice) (uncredited)
The Great Morgan
Self (archive footage)
The Romance of Celluloid
Self
From the Ends of the Earth
Self
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
(archive footage)
Twenty Years After
Self (archive footage)
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
(archive footage)
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
William Powell: A True Gentleman
Manuel Oliveros
Senorita
Self (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Self (archive footage)
It's Showtime
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Cinecittà Babilonia: sesso, droga e camicie nere
Self (archive footage)
Platinum Bombshell
self
The Love Story of Jean Harlow and William Powell
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
118
Gender
Male
Birthday
1892-07-28
Place of Birth
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Also Known As
William H. Powell