William Powell
Acting • Born 1892-07-29 – Died 1984-03-05
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.
Filmography
116 credits
How to Marry a Millionaire
Movie • 1953
J.D. Hanley
The Thin Man
Movie • 1934
Nick Charles
Love Crazy
Movie • 1941
Steve Ireland
Double Wedding
Movie • 1937
Charles Lodge
I Love You Again
Movie • 1940
Larry Wilson aka George Carey
Take One False Step
Movie • 1949
Andrew Gentling
Libeled Lady
Movie • 1936
William 'Bill' Stephens Chandler
The Heavenly Body
Movie • 1944
William S. Whitley
My Man Godfrey
Movie • 1936
Godfrey
One Way Passage
Movie • 1932
Dan Hardesty
Manhattan Melodrama
Movie • 1934
Jim Wade
Life with Father
Movie • 1947
Clarence Day Sr.
After the Thin Man
Movie • 1936
Nick Charles
Shadow of the Thin Man
Movie • 1941
Nick Charles
Another Thin Man
Movie • 1939
Nick Charles
The Thin Man Goes Home
Movie • 1944
Nick Charles
Song of the Thin Man
Movie • 1947
Nick Charles
Crossroads
Movie • 1942
David Talbot aka Jean Pelletier
The Great Ziegfeld
Movie • 1936
Florenz 'Flo' Ziegfeld Jr.
Ziegfeld Follies
Movie • 1945
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
The Senator Was Indiscreet
Movie • 1947
Senator Melvin G. Ashton
Mister Roberts
Movie • 1955
Doc
High Pressure
Movie • 1932
Gar Evans
Private Detective 62
Movie • 1933
Donald Free
The Benson Murder Case
Movie • 1930
Philo Vance
Jewel Robbery
Movie • 1932
The Robber
Reckless
Movie • 1935
Ned Riley
The Canary Murder Case
Movie • 1929
Philo Vance
The Last Command
Movie • 1928
Lev Andreyev
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Movie • 1983
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Feel My Pulse
Movie • 1928
Her Nemesis
Sherlock Holmes
Movie • 1922
Forman Wells
When Knighthood Was in Flower
Movie • 1922
Francis I
Romola
Movie • 1924
Tito Melema
The Treasure of Lost Canyon
Movie • 1952
Homer 'Doc' Brown
The Girl Who Had Everything
Movie • 1953
Steve Latimer
Dancing in the Dark
Movie • 1949
Emery Slade
The Hoodlum Saint
Movie • 1946
Terence Ellerton 'Terry' O'Neill
It's a Big Country
Movie • 1951
Professor
Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid
Movie • 1948
Arthur Peabody
Rendezvous
Movie • 1935
Lt. William 'Bill' Gordon / Anson Meridan
Star of Midnight
Movie • 1935
Clay Dalzell
The Baroness and the Butler
Movie • 1938
Johann Porok
The Emperor's Candlesticks
Movie • 1937
Baron Stephan Wolensky
Evelyn Prentice
Movie • 1934
John Prentice
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford
Movie • 1936
Dr. Lawrence 'Brad' Bradford
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
Movie • 1937
Charles
The Key
Movie • 1934
Capt. Bill Tennant
Fashions of 1934
Movie • 1934
Sherwood Nash
The Kennel Murder Case
Movie • 1933
Philo Vance
The Greene Murder Case
Movie • 1929
Philo Vance
Man of the World
Movie • 1931
Michael Trevor
The Four Feathers
Movie • 1929
Capt. William Trench
Paid to Love
Movie • 1927
Prince Eric
The Youngest Profession
Movie • 1943
William Powell
Nevada
Movie • 1927
Clan Dillon
Lawyer Man
Movie • 1932
Anton "Tony" Adam
Interference
Movie • 1928
Philip Voaze
Street of Chance
Movie • 1930
John D. Marsden / 'Natural' Davis
Escapade
Movie • 1935
Fritz
Double Harness
Movie • 1933
John Fletcher
Beau Geste
Movie • 1926
Boldini
Charming Sinners
Movie • 1929
Karl Kraley
The Road to Singapore
Movie • 1931
Hugh Dawltry
Pointed Heels
Movie • 1929
Robert Courtland
Behind the Make-Up
Movie • 1930
Gardoni
For the Defense
Movie • 1930
William Foster
The Bright Shawl
Movie • 1923
Gaspar De Vaca
The Great Gatsby
Movie • 1926
George Wilson
Ladies' Man
Movie • 1931
Jamie Darricott
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Movie • 1984
(archive footage)
Forgotten Faces
Movie • 1928
Froggy
The Runaway
Movie • 1926
Jack Harrison
Partners in Crime
Movie • 1928
Smith
Shadow of the Law
Movie • 1930
Jim Montgomery aka John Nelson
Special Delivery
Movie • 1927
Harold Jones
Paramount on Parade
Movie • 1930
Philo Vance
Aloma of the South Seas
Movie • 1926
Van Templeton
The Big Parade of Comedy
Movie • 1964
Nick Charles (archive footage)
La Fiesta de Santa Barbara
Movie • 1935
Self
The Voice of Hollywood
Movie • 1930
Too Many Kisses
Movie • 1925
Don Julio
Dangerous Money
Movie • 1924
Prince Arnoldo da Pescia
Under the Red Robe
Movie • 1923
Duke of Orleans
Outcast
Movie • 1922
DeValle
Sea Horses
Movie • 1926
Lorenzo Salvia
The Beautiful City
Movie • 1925
Nick Di Silva
Desert Gold
Movie • 1926
Snake Landree
My Lady's Lips
Movie • 1925
Scott Seldon
White Mice
Movie • 1926
Roddy Forrester
Faint Perfume
Movie • 1925
Barnaby Powers
Tin Gods
Movie • 1926
Tony Santelli
Love's Greatest Mistake
Movie • 1927
Don Kendall
New York
Movie • 1927
Trent Regan
She's a Sheik
Movie • 1927
Kada
Time to Love
Movie • 1927
Prince Alado
The Drag Net
Movie • 1928
Dapper Frank Trent
The Vanishing Pioneer
Movie • 1928
John Murdock
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Movie • 1975
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Movie • 1940
Self
That's Entertainment, Part II
Movie • 1976
(archive footage)
The Romance of Celluloid
Movie • 1937
Self (archive footage)
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Movie • 1940
Self
The Great Morgan
Movie • 1945
William Powell (voice) (uncredited)
From the Ends of the Earth
Movie • 1939
Self
The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn
Movie • 1986
Self (archive footage)
Beau Sabreur
Movie • 1928
Becque
William Powell: A True Gentleman
Movie • 2005
Twenty Years After
Movie • 1944
(archive footage)
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
Movie • 1990
(archive footage)
Senorita
Movie • 1927
Manuel Oliveros
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Movie • 1987
Self (archive footage)
It's Showtime
Movie • 1976
Self (archive footage)
Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts
Movie • 2017
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Jean Harlow: Platinum Bombshell
Movie • 1996
Self (archive footage)
The Love Story of Jean Harlow and William Powell
Movie • 2023
Self (archive footage)