William Holden was the kind of star that audiences could easily take for granted. An actor whose command of his craft was so seamlessly integrated with his being as to be virtually unnoticeable, who specialized in the kind of small-scale, observational work that is often overlooked when awards are doled out. Not that he didn't get his share of recognition-he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for Stalag 17, and he was named among the top ten stars of the year throughout the mid-‘50s to the early ‘60s. Nonetheless, he remains underrated, because in his best performances, he gave form to feeling with a mastery and a lightness of touch that far outclassed most of his fellow actors.

There was that wonderfully rough voice, often poised on the edge of cynical disillusionment. There was that physique - athletic but on the verge of dissipation. And there was that face-smooth and innocent in youth, a little weathered and circumspect in adulthood, lined with worry, regret and beleaguered wisdom in old age. As we watched him age on the screen, we saw an ongoing portrait of intelligent American masculinity in progress, interrupted by his untimely accidental death in 1981 at the age of 63.

Holden was the perfect actor for so many varied directors: Billy Wilder, George Seaton, Sam Peckinpah, Blake Edwards. And whether he was playing an action hero or a flyer trying to summon up a little grace under pressure, a writer acerbically narrating his own death or a bandit making a last run against fate, he was quite simply one of the very best actors we've ever had.

Featured Works:

Golden Boy (Rouben Mamoulian, 1939); Our Town (Sam Wood, 1940); The Man From Colorado (Henry Levin, 1948); Streets of Laredo (Leslie Fenton, 1949); Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950); Escape from Fort Bravo (John Sturges, 1953); Stalag 17 (Billy Wilder, 1953); The Bridges at Toko-Ri (Mark Robson, 1954); Sabrina (Billy Wilder, 1954); Picnic (Joshua Logan, 1955, pictured); The Bridge on the River Kwai (David Lean, 1957); The Key (Carol Reed, 1958); The Horse Soldiers (John Ford, 1959); The Counterfeit Traitor  (George Seaton, 1962); The Lion (Jack Cardiff, 1962); The Wild Bunch (Sam Peckinpah, 1969); Breezy (Clint Eastwood, 1973); Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976); Fedora (Billy Wilder, 1978); S.O.B. (Blake Edwards, 1981)

Program information:

William Holden: A Different Kind of Hero

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St. Bill of Illinois by Michael Atkinson posted Jul. 02, 2008