William Holden Movies

William Holden in 1969's The Wild Bunch
William Holden in 1969’s The Wild Bunch

Want to know the best William Holden movies?  How about the worst William Holden movies?  Curious about William Holden’s box office grosses or which William Holden movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which William Holden movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

This William Holden page comes from a suggestion from fellow movie watcher mckbirdbks, as well as lots of Holden support from more movie lovers Steve Lensman, Flora Breen Robison and BERN1960 (whose every comment lately has been…”still waiting on that William Holden page”). So without any further delay…here is a movie page on the one… the only…. William Holden.

William Holden (1918-1981) was an Oscar® winning actor who appeared in motion pictures from 1939 to 1981. After appearing in two uncredited parts, Holden got his big break in 1939’s Golden Boy. Golden Boy was not a huge hit, but people became aware of William Holden the actor. For the next 10 years, he appeared in numerous movies, but it is safe to say his career was disappointing. That changed when Holden appeared in 1950’s Sunset Boulevard. He received his first Oscar® nomination for that role and it started a 10 year run for Holden that was filled with classic blockbuster movies. He won an Oscar® for 1953’s Stalag 17, appeared in the box office hits….1954’s Sabrina, 1954’s The Bridges of Toko-Ri, and 1955’s Picnic. He also helped Grace Kelly win her Oscar® for 1954’s The Country Girl and was the lead actor in 1957’s The Bridge on the River Kwai…which won the Oscar® for Best Picture.

From 1962 to 1981, Holden would appear in almost one movie a year. During this time period only three movies really stand out….1969’s The Wild Bunch, 1974’s The Towering Inferno and 1976’s Network….for which Holden would receive his final Oscar® nomination. William Holden passed away in November 1981 from injuries from a fall and his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean. And finally…… one of my father’s favorite movies was The Bridge on the River Kwai….so I am sure he would be happy to see that it finished ranked number one of all of Holden’s movies according to Cogerson Movie Score.

His IMDb page shows 77 acting credits from 1938-1981. This page will rank 66 William Holden movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, cameos and his uncredited or bit roles were not included in the rankings.

What a cast! Bogart, Hepburn and William Holden in 1954's Sabrina
What a cast! Bogart, Hepburn and William Holden in 1954’s Sabrina

William Holden Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

William Holden Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort William Holden movies by co-stars of his movies.
  • Sort William Holden movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort William Holden movies by yearly box office rank
  • Sort William Holden movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort William Holden movies by how many Oscar® nominations and Oscar® wins each movie won received
  • Sort William Holden movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
 
William Holden in his Oscar® winning performance in 1953's Stalag 17
William Holden in his Oscar® winning performance in 1953’s Stalag 17

Possibly Interesting Facts About William Holden

1. William Holden was Ronald Reagan’s best man, when Reagan married Nancy Davis in 1952. Holden also did the honors for lifelong friend, Glenn Ford, when Ford married Cynthia Hayward in 1977.

2. According to the book, Golden Boy: The Untold Story of William Holden by Bob Thomas, William Holden and Audrey Hepburn considered getting married while filming the 1954’s Sabrina. Hepburn ended the relationship when she found out Holden could no longer have children. When Hepburn and Holden were filming 1964’s Paris When It Sizzles, Holden tried to rekindle the relationship. At one point, Holden climbed a tree outside Hepburn’s hotel window looking for a kiss from her. After the kiss, Holden promptly fell out of the tree and crashed landed on a parked car.

3. William Holden appeared on Quigley Publishing’s Top Ten Money Making Stars list six times between 1954-1961. In 1956 he appeared as the number one Top Money Making Star.

4. William Holden received 3 Oscar® nominations for acting. He won the Oscar® for 1953’s Stalag 17. His other two nominations were for 1950’s Sunset Boulevard and 1976’s Network. He never received a Golden Globe® nomination.

5. He was so grateful to Barbara Stanwyck for her insistence on casting him in 1939’s Golden Boy, that he sent her flowers every year on the anniversary of the first day of the filming. He was also grateful to Montgomery Clift for turning down the lead role in Sunset Boulevard. After Clift turned the role down, the role went to Holden. Sunset Boulevard is considered the turning point in Holden’s 40 year career.

6. Has one of the shortest acceptance speeches in the history of the Oscars®. When his named was called as Best Actor for Stalag 17, Holden walked to the podium, said “Thank you” and left the stage.

7. Entertainment Weekly voted William Holden as the 63rd Greatest Movie Star. Holden also finished 25th in the American Film Institute’s Greatest Screen Legends poll.

8. William Holden was married one time in his life. Holden married Ardis Ankerson in 1941. They divorced in 1971. William Holden had three children….sons Peter and Scott and daughter, Virginia. Virginia was Ankerson’s daughter from her first marriage. Holden legally adopted her.

9. Roles William Holden turned down or was seriously considered for: Strangers on a Train, North By Northwest, The Guns of Navarone, The Omen, The Americanization of Emily, Mister Roberts and The Trouble With Harry.

10. Check out William Holden’s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

Steve’s William Holden You Tube Video

Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.

For comments….all you need is a name and a comment….please ignore the rest.

(Visited 1 times)

109 thoughts on “William Holden Movies”

  1. Again awesome movie page! I forget that William Holden was in all of those movies I’ve seen. I thought he was awesome, but he always seems to be outshone by his contemporaries. Who’s next? My vote goes for the great Barbara Stanwyck!

    Reply

    1. Hey Alecia thanks for stopping by my Holden movie page….I think because his peak years were so long ago …and the fact that he has been gone for 30 years….his impact has lost a lot of steam over the years…..but he and Marlon Brando owned the 1950s….with Oscar wins and blockbuster hits. Barbara Stanwyck will be a good one….I will make her 3rd in the movie line….I think hub #99 will be a current actor…hub #100 is going to be a non movie page….so that leaves Ms. Stanwyck with Movie PAge #101….thanks for the comments

      Reply

  2. Holden’s Stalag 17 and Bridge Over The River Kwai Made Holden A Favorite Of My Father…

    Quote From Another Bio:William Holden came from a wealthy family (the Beedles)So Was Holdend’s Real Last Name Beedle?

    Informative,Professional And Awesome As Usual Cogerson!;)

    Reply

    1. Hey Mentalist acer…I think our fathers had similiar taste in movies….William Holden was indeed born William Beedle….his dad was chemist and his mother was a school teacher. Thanks for the compliment and for stopping by my movie page.

      Reply

  3. Another winning movie page of a classic actor who was taken way to early. My favorite Holden movie is The Country Girl, I saw that many many years ago, Grace Kelly and Holden made a great screen team, they made another movie together but it was not nearly as good as The Country Girl. Great ranking system that always gives me lots of stuff to look

    Reply

    1. Hey Fay, welcome back if you are the Fay I think you are…long time no see. As for Country Girl it is indeed a great one….Holden is good in the movie….but Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby outshine….the other Kelly/Holden movie is The Bridge at Toko-Ri…which was actually filmed before Country Girl but another huge hit for them…thanks for the compliments and for checking in.

      Reply

  4. He was a big star who isn’t too well remembered today. Holden has been in so many great films. Sunset Blvd., Bridge on the River Kwai and Network were probably his best. (sunset Blvd. is my favorite Holden film.)

    The first time I became aware of Holden as a kid was when he appeared in that “I Love Lucy” episode and ended up getting a pie in the face.

    Another well done Movie Score page. Keep ’em coming.

    Rob

    Reply

    1. Hey Rob I agree William Holden is not remembered much these days….probably because his peak time was 1950 to 1960…after that his movies did not generate a ton of interest with a few exceptions like Wild Bunch and Network….another factor could be he seemed to have a rough life outside the cinema….with bad relationships with his ex-wife, his children and with alcohol. I saw that episode of I Love Lucy about three times before I finally became aware of who William Holden was…Sunset Boulevard is a classic….I really liked the butler in that movie….thanks for stopping by and as always thanks for the comments.

      Reply

  5. William Holden! Cogerson, you know how to pick the INTERESTING ones! My Mom & Dad liked him so much…..thus I watched most of his movies. But I can honestly say not ALL. I never would have guessed he did 66!!! Up & awesome as always!!

    Reply

    1. Hey fpherj48….I know what you mean by your parents liking William Holden….two of the movies my father always seemed to reference where Stalag 17 and Bridge on the River Kwai….I bought my dad the Blu-Ray copy of Bridge on the River Kwai…but he was never able to watch it…one of the things I regret most about my father’s passing. But on to happier things….yep he made 66 movies in roughly 40 years….almost 1.5 movies every year he was an actor….he was a very busy and much demanded actor…thanks for stopping by my latest movie page.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.