William Powell

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 a

t 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.

Born

Jul 29, 1892

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Died

Mar 05, 1984

Known For

Acting

Movies

120 acting

0 crew

Popularity

1.3

movie

Known For

How to Marry a Millionaire

1953 • as J.D. Hanley

★ 6.8

The Thin Man

1934 • as Nick Charles

★ 7.5

The Great Ziegfeld

1936 • as Florenz 'Flo' Ziegfeld Jr.

★ 6.3

Mister Roberts

1955 • as Doc

★ 7.0

My Man Godfrey

1936 • as Godfrey

★ 7.6

After the Thin Man

1936 • as Nick Charles

★ 7.3

Life with Father

1947 • as Clarence Day Sr.

★ 6.7

The Baroness and the Butler

1938 • as Johann Porok

★ 5.3

Ziegfeld Follies

1945 • as Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.

★ 6.0

Libeled Lady

1936 • as Bill Chandler

★ 7.3

Shadow of the Thin Man

1941 • as Nick Charles

★ 7.0

The Thin Man Goes Home

1944 • as Nick Charles

★ 7.1

Song of the Thin Man

1947 • as Nick Charles

★ 6.7

Dancing in the Dark

1949 • as Emery Slade

★ 6.0

That's Entertainment, Part II

1976 • as (archive footage)

★ 7.0

I Love You Again

1940 • as Larry Wilson aka George Carey

★ 7.2

Manhattan Melodrama

1934 • as Jim Wade

★ 7.0

Love Crazy

1941 • as Steve Ireland

★ 6.8

The Canary Murder Case

1929 • as Philo Vance

★ 5.7

Another Thin Man

1939 • as Nick Charles

★ 7.1

The Kennel Murder Case

1933 • as Philo Vance

★ 6.1

The Heavenly Body

1944 • as William S. Whitley

★ 5.6

The Emperor's Candlesticks

1937 • as Baron Stephan Wolensky

★ 4.9

Take One False Step

1949 • as Andrew Gentling

★ 5.4

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

1975 • as Self (archive footage)

★ 6.3

The Youngest Profession

1943 • as William Powell

★ 5.3

The Girl Who Had Everything

1953 • as Steve Latimer

★ 6.2

Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To

1990 • as (archive footage)

★ 8.5

It's a Big Country

1951 • as Professor

★ 5.9

Desert Gold

1926 • as Snake Landree

★ 8.0

The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies

1995 • as Self (archive footage)

★ 8.0

The Big Parade of Comedy

1964 • as Nick Charles (archive footage)

★ 7.2

Fashions of 1934

1934 • as Sherwood Nash

★ 6.6

Evelyn Prentice

1934 • as John Prentice

★ 6.5

Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid

1948 • as Arthur Peabody

★ 6.5

Jewel Robbery

1932 • as The Robber

★ 6.5

Hollywood: Style Center of the World

1940 • as Self

★ 5.8

The Ex-Mrs. Bradford

1936 • as Dr. Lawrence 'Brad' Bradford

★ 6.2

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney

1937 • as Charles

★ 5.9

Double Wedding

1937 • as Charles Lodge

★ 6.4

James Stewart: A Wonderful Life

1987 • as Self (archive footage)

★ 6.5

New York

1927 • as Trent Regan

★ 9.0

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

1983 • as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

★ 7.0

The Treasure of Lost Canyon

1952 • as Homer 'Doc' Brown

★ 6.0

Romola

1924 • as Tito Melema

★ 6.7

A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound

1940 • as Self

★ 6.8

White Mice

1926 • as Roddy Forrester

★ 7.0

The Benson Murder Case

1930 • as Philo Vance

★ 6.1

Senorita

1927 • as Manuel Oliveros

★ 8.0

La Fiesta de Santa Barbara

1935 • as Self

★ 6.1

The Romance of Celluloid

1937 • as Self (archive footage)

★ 7.0

Man of the World

1931 • as Michael Trevor

★ 6.2

The Last Command

1928 • as Lev Andreyev

★ 7.4

Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts

2017 • as Self - Actor (archive footage)

★ 6.5

Twenty Years After

1944 • as (archive footage)

★ 8.0

Going Hollywood: The '30s

1984 • as (archive footage)

★ 9.0

Charming Sinners

1929 • as Karl Kraley

★ 7.0

The Great Gatsby

1926 • as George Wilson

★ 9.0

When Knighthood Was in Flower

1922 • as Francis I

★ 5.8

The Road to Singapore

1931 • as Hugh Dawltry

★ 5.6

Beau Geste

1926 • as Boldini

★ 6.4

Pointed Heels

1929 • as Robert Courtland

★ 6.2

Double Harness

1933 • as John Fletcher

★ 6.5

Rendezvous

1935 • as Lt. William 'Bill' Gordon / Anson Meridan

★ 4.9

The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn

1986 • as Self (archive footage)

★ 8.3

One Way Passage

1932 • as Dan Hardesty

★ 7.3

movie

Two Tragic Blondes - Marilyn Monroe And Jean Harlow

1989 • as Self (archive footage)

★ 9.0

Star of Midnight

1935 • as Clay Dalzell

★ 5.9

The Hoodlum Saint

1946 • as Terence Ellerton 'Terry' O'Neill

★ 5.5

Shadow of the Law

1930 • as Jim Montgomery aka John Nelson

★ 6.7

Crossroads

1942 • as David Talbot aka Jean Pelletier

★ 5.9

For the Defense

1930 • as William Foster

★ 5.7

Behind the Make-Up

1930 • as Gardoni

★ 6.9

It's Showtime

1976 • as Self (archive footage)

★ 7.5

Private Detective 62

1933 • as Donald Free

★ 6.2

The Great Morgan

1945 • as William Powell (voice) (uncredited)

★ 6.0

The Voice of Hollywood

1930

From the Ends of the Earth

1939 • as Self

★ 5.0

The Senator Was Indiscreet

1947 • as Senator Melvin G. Ashton

★ 6.2

My Lady's Lips

1925 • as Scott Seddon

★ 10.0

Outcast

1922 • as DeValle

★ 3.0

The Greene Murder Case

1929 • as Philo Vance

★ 6.0

Paramount on Parade

1930 • as Philo Vance

★ 5.9

Aloma of the South Seas

1926 • as Van Templeton

★ 8.0

Lawyer Man

1932 • as Anton "Tony" Adam

★ 6.1

Reckless

1935 • as Ned Riley

★ 5.1

Jean Harlow: Platinum Bombshell

1996 • as Self (archive footage)

The Love Story of Jean Harlow and William Powell

2023 • as Self (archive footage)

Alias Nick and Nora

2005

★ 7.0

Under the Red Robe

1923 • as Duke of Orleans

★ 6.0

Discovering Jean Harlow

2015 • as archive footage

★ 10.0

Ladies' Man

1931 • as Jamie Darricott

★ 4.6

The Four Feathers

1929 • as Capt. William Trench

★ 5.0

She's a Sheik

1927 • as Kada

★ 8.0

The Bright Shawl

1923 • as Gaspar De Vaca

★ 7.0

High Pressure

1932 • as Gar Evans

★ 5.8

Feel My Pulse

1928 • as Her Nemesis

★ 6.6

Sea Horses

1926 • as Lorenzo Salvia

★ 9.0

Sherlock Holmes

1922 • as Forman Wells

★ 6.1

The Key

1934 • as Capt. Bill Tennant

★ 4.9

Time to Love

1927 • as Prince Alado

★ 10.0

Love's Greatest Mistake

1927 • as Don Kendall

★ 9.0

Special Delivery

1927 • as Harold Jones

★ 6.0

The Vanishing Pioneer

1928 • as John Murdock

★ 9.0

Paid to Love

1927 • as Prince Eric

★ 6.5

William Powell: A True Gentleman

2005

★ 7.5

The Runaway

1926 • as Jack Harrison

★ 10.0

Tin Gods

1926 • as Tony Santelli

★ 9.0

Street of Chance

1930 • as John D. Marsden / 'Natural' Davis

★ 6.8

The Beautiful City

1925 • as Nick Di Silva

★ 9.0

Escapade

1935 • as Fritz

★ 8.0

Beau Sabreur

1928 • as Becque

★ 9.0

Dangerous Money

1924 • as Prince Arnoldo da Pescia

★ 9.0

Nevada

1927 • as Clan Dillon

★ 6.7

Forgotten Faces

1928 • as Froggy

★ 7.0

Partners in Crime

1928 • as Smith

★ 6.0

Too Many Kisses

1925 • as Don Julio

★ 5.9

The Drag Net

1928 • as Dapper Frank Trent

★ 6.5

Faint Perfume

1925 • as Barnaby Powers

★ 7.0

Interference

1929 • as Philip Voaze

★ 7.6

William Powell

Known For

How to Marry a Millionaire

The Thin Man

The Great Ziegfeld

Mister Roberts

My Man Godfrey

After the Thin Man

Libeled Lady

Shadow of the Thin Man

The Thin Man Goes Home

Song of the Thin Man

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