Real Name:William Franklin Beedle Jr.
Birthdate:April 17,1918
Birth Place:O'Fallon, Illinois
Deathdate:November 16,1981
Death Place:Santa Monica, California
Cause Of Death: Injuries from a Fall
Nickname:The Golden Boy
Height:5' 11"
Wife:Brenda Marshall (1941 - 1971) (divorced); 2 sons
Was the best man at Ronald Reagan's wedding
Father of actor Scott Holden
Died from a laceration to his forehead which was caused by hitting his head during a bout of heavy drinking. He apparently remained conscious for half an hour or so after the injury but never realized he should phone for help. Had he done so, he would surely have lived.
William Holden was colaterally descended from George Washington on his mother's side
William Holden was very instrumental in animal preservation in Africa. In the 1970s he purchased a large acreage of land with his own money and began an animal sanctuary. His love of the wild animal was shared with his then companion, Stefanie Powers (from Hart to Hart). He would appear on talk shows to promote the saving of animals and to spread the word of anti-poaching and illegal animal trade.
A hygiene fanatic, he reportedly showered up to four times daily.
Ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
Immortalized in [Canadian band], Blue Rodeo's song "Floating" with the lyric: "I need love and it's you, And I feel like William Holden floating in a pool" -- Greg Keelor, the writer of the song, said this: "That sort of quiet desperation at the end of a relationship when nothing's really making sense and I sort of had the image of William Holden at the beginning of Sunset Boulevard in my head, and I'd always sort of related to that character floating in that pool. I was always hoping for the opportunity to play the gigolo for some wealthy woman. This is a song about identifying with that sort of compromised existence."
