William Franklin Holden (né Beedle; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor. He was an Academy Award and Primetime Emmy Award winner, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. He was named one of the "Top 10 Stars of the Year" six times (1954–1958, 1961), and appeared as 25th on the American Film Institute's list of 25 greatest male stars of Classical Hollywood cinema.
Holden began appearing in films the late 1930s, playing his first lead role in the boxing drama Golden Boy (1939). He would establish himself as a reliable and bankable leading man during the following decade, twice winning the National Board of Review Award, and would gain further critical recognition with his performance as Joe Gillis in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard (1950). In 1954, he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of a prisoner-of-war in Wilder's Stalag 17.
Holden would go star in a several popular and critically-acclaimed films, including Sabrina (1954), Executive Suite (1954), Picnic (1955), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The World of Suzie Wong (1960), The Wild Bunch (1969) and Network (1976).
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