William Powell
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jul 29, 1892
- Died
- Mar 5, 1984 (aged 91)
- Place of birth
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- Credits
- 120
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
How to Marry a Millionaire
1953Movie
J.D. Hanley
The Thin Man
1934Movie
Nick Charles
My Man Godfrey
1936Movie
Godfrey
After the Thin Man
1936Movie
Nick Charles
Mister Roberts
1955Movie
Doc
The Great Ziegfeld
1936Movie
Florenz 'Flo' Ziegfeld Jr.
Filmography
The Love Story of Jean Harlow and William Powell
2023Movie
Self (archive footage)
Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts
2017Movie
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Discovering Jean Harlow
2015Movie
archive footage
William Powell: A True Gentleman
2005Movie
Alias Nick and Nora
2005Movie
Jean Harlow: Platinum Bombshell
1996Movie
Self (archive footage)
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
1995Movie
Self (archive footage)
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
1990Movie
(archive footage)
Two Tragic Blondes - Marilyn Monroe And Jean Harlow
1989Movie
Self (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
1987Movie
Self (archive footage)
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
1986Movie
Self (archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984Movie
(archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983Movie
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976Movie
(archive footage)
It's Showtime
1976Movie
Self (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975Movie
Self (archive footage)
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964Movie
Nick Charles (archive footage)
Mister Roberts
1955Movie
Doc
How to Marry a Millionaire
1953Movie
J.D. Hanley
The Girl Who Had Everything
1953Movie
Steve Latimer
The Treasure of Lost Canyon
1952Movie
Homer 'Doc' Brown
It's a Big Country
1951Movie
Professor
Dancing in the Dark
1949Movie
Emery Slade
Take One False Step
1949Movie
Andrew Gentling
Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid
1948Movie
Arthur Peabody
The Senator Was Indiscreet
1947Movie
Senator Melvin G. Ashton
Life with Father
1947Movie
Clarence Day Sr.
Song of the Thin Man
1947Movie
Nick Charles
The Hoodlum Saint
1946Movie
Terence Ellerton 'Terry' O'Neill
Ziegfeld Follies
1945Movie
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
The Great Morgan
1945Movie
William Powell (voice) (uncredited)
The Thin Man Goes Home
1944Movie
Nick Charles
The Heavenly Body
1944Movie
William S. Whitley
Twenty Years After
1944Movie
(archive footage)
The Youngest Profession
1943Movie
William Powell
Crossroads
1942Movie
David Talbot aka Jean Pelletier
Shadow of the Thin Man
1941Movie
Nick Charles
Love Crazy
1941Movie
Steve Ireland
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940Movie
Self
I Love You Again
1940Movie
Larry Wilson aka George Carey
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940Movie
Self
Another Thin Man
1939Movie
Nick Charles
From the Ends of the Earth
1939Movie
Self
The Baroness and the Butler
1938Movie
Johann Porok
Double Wedding
1937Movie
Charles Lodge
The Romance of Celluloid
1937Movie
Self (archive footage)
The Emperor's Candlesticks
1937Movie
Baron Stephan Wolensky
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
1937Movie
Charles
After the Thin Man
1936Movie
Nick Charles
Libeled Lady
1936Movie
Bill Chandler
My Man Godfrey
1936Movie
Godfrey
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
1936Movie
Dr. Lawrence 'Brad' Bradford
The Great Ziegfeld
1936Movie
Florenz 'Flo' Ziegfeld Jr.
La Fiesta de Santa Barbara
1935Movie
Self
Rendezvous
1935Movie
Lt. William 'Bill' Gordon / Anson Meridan
Escapade
1935Movie
Fritz
Reckless
1935Movie
Ned Riley
Star of Midnight
1935Movie
Clay Dalzell
Evelyn Prentice
1934Movie
John Prentice
The Key
1934Movie
Capt. Bill Tennant
The Thin Man
1934Movie
Nick Charles
Manhattan Melodrama
1934Movie
Jim Wade
Fashions of 1934
1934Movie
Sherwood Nash
The Kennel Murder Case
1933Movie
Philo Vance
Double Harness
1933Movie
John Fletcher
Private Detective 62
1933Movie
Donald Free
Lawyer Man
1932Movie
Anton "Tony" Adam
One Way Passage
1932Movie
Dan Hardesty
Jewel Robbery
1932Movie
The Robber
High Pressure
1932Movie
Gar Evans
The Road to Singapore
1931Movie
Hugh Dawltry
Ladies' Man
1931Movie
Jamie Darricott
Man of the World
1931Movie
Michael Trevor
The Voice of Hollywood
1930Movie
For the Defense
1930Movie
William Foster
Shadow of the Law
1930Movie
Jim Montgomery aka John Nelson
Paramount on Parade
1930Movie
Philo Vance
The Benson Murder Case
1930Movie
Philo Vance
Street of Chance
1930Movie
John D. Marsden / 'Natural' Davis
Behind the Make-Up
1930Movie
Gardoni
Pointed Heels
1929Movie
Robert Courtland
Charming Sinners
1929Movie
Karl Kraley
The Greene Murder Case
1929Movie
Philo Vance
The Four Feathers
1929Movie
Capt. William Trench
The Canary Murder Case
1929Movie
Philo Vance
Interference
1929Movie
Philip Voaze
Forgotten Faces
1928Movie
Froggy
The Vanishing Pioneer
1928Movie
John Murdock
The Drag Net
1928Movie
Dapper Frank Trent
Partners in Crime
1928Movie
Smith
Feel My Pulse
1928Movie
Her Nemesis
Beau Sabreur
1928Movie
Becque
The Last Command
1928Movie
Lev Andreyev
She's a Sheik
1927Movie
Kada
Nevada
1927Movie
Clan Dillon
Paid to Love
1927Movie
Prince Eric
Time to Love
1927Movie
Prince Alado
Special Delivery
1927Movie
Harold Jones
Senorita
1927Movie
Manuel Oliveros
Love's Greatest Mistake
1927Movie
Don Kendall
New York
1927Movie
Trent Regan
The Great Gatsby
1926Movie
George Wilson
Tin Gods
1926Movie
Tony Santelli
Beau Geste
1926Movie
Boldini
Aloma of the South Seas
1926Movie
Van Templeton
The Runaway
1926Movie
Jack Harrison
Desert Gold
1926Movie
Snake Landree
Sea Horses
1926Movie
Lorenzo Salvia
White Mice
1926Movie
Roddy Forrester
The Beautiful City
1925Movie
Nick Di Silva
My Lady's Lips
1925Movie
Scott Seddon
Faint Perfume
1925Movie
Barnaby Powers
Too Many Kisses
1925Movie
Don Julio
Romola
1924Movie
Tito Melema
Dangerous Money
1924Movie
Prince Arnoldo da Pescia
Under the Red Robe
1923Movie
Duke of Orleans
The Bright Shawl
1923Movie
Gaspar De Vaca
Outcast
1922Movie
DeValle
When Knighthood Was in Flower
1922Movie
Francis I
Sherlock Holmes
1922Movie
Forman Wells