The heartthrob had the opportunity to share credits with great divas of the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood, such as Audrey Hepburn and Judy Holliday
Like the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, the Golden Age of Hollywood became a very important period within the film industry in the United States and in the world, from 1920 to 1960, with representatives such as Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando, figures that today continue to give people something to talk about.
One of the actors who triumphed in the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood was William Holden, who had the opportunity to stand out in the North American seventh art and share credits with great divas of those years, such as Audrey Hepburn and Judy Holliday. However, a tragic accident with a table ended his life. This is his story.
William Holden's career
The actor, whose full name was William Franklin Beedle, was born on April 17, 1918, in O'Fallon, Illinois (United States). His mother was a teacher and his father was a chemist, for whom he decided to study said natural science. However, in the end, he opted for acting.
In 1938, at just 20 years of age, he made his debut as an extra in the film Prison Farm. A year later he had his first leading role in Sueno Dorado (1939). According to the SensaCine portal, in the early 1940s, he joined the United States Army Air Force to participate in World War II.
After the military conflict and a series of films in which he did not stand out, in 1950 he reached the grass thanks to the film Sunset Boulevard (titled in Mexico as The Sunset of a Life and The Twilight of the Gods in other countries). His performance earned him his first Oscar nomination, an award he won in 1953 with Stalag 17 (Hell on Earth or Hell 17).
In Born Yesterday (1950), he shared credits with Judy Holliday, and in Sabrina (1954), with the beautiful and talented Audrey Hepburn, whom he was in fact about to marry. However, since the actor had undergone a vasectomy, the actress broke up with him.
The tragic and unusual accident that ended his life
On November 16, 1981, William Holden was found dead in his luxurious mansion in Santa Monica, California (United States). His body, in an advanced state of decomposition, was in the middle of a pool of blood.
The first reports indicated that it was a suicide or murder. However, according to the doctor Thomas Noguchi, known as "The Coroner to the Stars" who performed autopsies on celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Sharon Tate, and Janis Joplin, the actor died after a drunken fall.
William Holden had drunk a large amount of alcohol. Tripping on the rug in his bedroom, he hit his head hard on a nightstand. The famous tried to stop the blood, but in a matter of minutes, he lost consciousness and bled to death. The actor died at the age of 63.
