William Powell actor
- Total known movies 116
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 Powells pleasant speaking voice, led to his first starring role as amateur detective Philo Vance in the talkie The Canary Murder Case (1929). Powells most famous role was that of Nick Charles in six Thin Man films, beginning with The Thin Man in 1934, based upon Dashiell Hammetts 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 Hollywoods 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 Ziegfelds 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. Powells 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 1955s 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.
J.D. Hanley
Movie 1953
Larry Wilson aka George Carey
Movie 1940
Charles Lodge
Movie 1937
William 'Bill' Stephens Chandler
Movie 1936
William S. Whitley
Movie 1944
Godfrey
Movie 1936
Jim Wade
Movie 1934
Dan Hardesty
Movie 1932
Clarence Day Sr.
Movie 1947
Nick Charles
Movie 1941
David Talbot aka Jean Pelletier
Movie 1942
Florenz 'Flo' Ziegfeld Jr.
Movie 1936
Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
Movie 1945
Senator Melvin G. Ashton
Movie 1947
Gar Evans
Movie 1932
Donald Free
Movie 1933
Philo Vance
Movie 1930
The Robber
Movie 1932
Ned Riley
Movie 1935
Lev Andreyev
Movie 1928
Philo Vance
Movie 1929
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Movie 1983
Her Nemesis
Movie 1928
Francis I
Movie 1922
Forman Wells
Movie 1922
Steve Latimer
Movie 1953
Tito Melema
Movie 1924
Emery Slade
Movie 1949
Terence Ellerton 'Terry' O'Neill
Movie 1946
Charles
Movie 1937
Capt. Bill Tennant
Movie 1934
Dr. Lawrence 'Brad' Bradford
Movie 1936
John Prentice
Movie 1934
Philo Vance
Movie 1933
Sherwood Nash
Movie 1934
Philo Vance
Movie 1929
Michael Trevor
Movie 1931
Capt. William Trench
Movie 1929
Prince Eric
Movie 1927
William Powell
Movie 1943
Clan Dillon
Movie 1927
Anton Adam
Movie 1932
Philip Voaze
Movie 1928
John D. Marsden / 'Natural' Davis
Movie 1930
Fritz
Movie 1935
John Fletcher
Movie 1933
Boldini
Movie 1926
Karl Kraley
Movie 1929
Hugh Dawltry
Movie 1931
Gardoni
Movie 1930
Robert Courtland
Movie 1929
William Foster
Movie 1930
Gaspar De Vaca
Movie 1923
George Wilson
Movie 1926
Jamie Darricott
Movie 1931
(archive footage)
Movie 1984
Jim Wade (archive footage) (uncredited)
Movie 1961
Froggy
Movie 1928
Jack Harrison
Movie 1926
Smith
Movie 1928
Jim Montgomery aka John Nelson
Movie 1930
Harold Jones
Movie 1927
Philo Vance
Movie 1930
Van Templeton
Movie 1926
Nick Charles (archive footage)
Movie 1964
Self
Movie 1935
Movie 1930
Self (archive footage)
Movie 1993
Prince Arnoldo da Pescia
Movie 1924
Don Julio
Movie 1925
DeValle
Movie 1922
Duke of Orleans
Movie 1923
Barnaby Powers
Movie 1925
Scott Seldon
Movie 1925
Roddy Forrester
Movie 1926
Lorenzo Salvia
Movie 1926
Nick Di Silva
Movie 1925
Snake Landree
Movie 1926
Tony Santelli
Movie 1926
Trent Regan
Movie 1927
Prince Alado
Movie 1927
Dapper Frank Trent
Movie 1928
Kada
Movie 1927
Don Kendall
Movie 1927
John Murdock
Movie 1928
Self (archive footage)
Movie 1975
Self
Movie 1940
Self
Movie 1939
Self
Movie 1940
Self (archive footage)
Movie 1937
William Powell (voice) (uncredited)
Movie 1945
Becque
Movie 1928
Self (archive footage)
Movie 1986
(archive footage)
Movie 1990
Movie 2005
(archive footage)
Movie 1944
Manuel Oliveros
Movie 1927
Self (archive footage)
Movie 1988
Self (archive footage)
Movie 1976
Self - Actor (archive footage)
Movie 2017
