EARLY DAYS PRODUCTIONS
Powell, an only child, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Nettie Manila Brady and Horatio Warren Powell. He showed an early aptitude for performing. In 1907, he moved with his family to Kansas City, Missouri. 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 in a production of Sherlock Holmes that starred John Barrymore as the great detective.
1892 - 1984
Stats:
Real Name:
William Horatio Powell
Height 6'
Hair: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname: None Found
Quote:"My friends have stood by me marvelously in the ups and downs of my career. I don't believe there is anything more worthwhile in life than friendship. Friendship is a far better thing than love, as it is commonly accepted."
Real Name:
William Horatio Powell
Height 6'
Hair: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Nickname: None Found
Quote:"My friends have stood by me marvelously in the ups and downs of my career. I don't believe there is anything more worthwhile in life than friendship. Friendship is a far better thing than love, as it is commonly accepted."
In 1915, he married Eileen Wilson, with whom he had his only child, William David Powell, before an amicable divorce in 1930.
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), which led to Powell's first starring role as amateur detective Philo Vance in The Canary Murder Case (1929).
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), which led to Powell's first starring role as amateur detective Philo Vance in The Canary Murder Case (1929).
In 1935, he starred with Jean Harlow in Reckless. Soon it developed into a serious romance, but Harlow died at the age of 26 in June 1937, before they could marry. His distress over her death, as well as his own battle with colon cancer around the same time, caused him to accept fewer acting roles.
His career slowed considerably in the 1940s, although in 1947 he received his third Academy Award nomination for his work in Life with Father. His last film was Mister Roberts in 1955, with Henry Fonda, James Cagney, and Jack Lemmon. Despite numerous entreaties to return to the screen, Powell refused all offers, happy in his retirement.
On January 6, 1940, Powell married actress Diana Lewis, whom he called "Mousie," three weeks after they met. They remained married, residing primarily in Palm Springs, California, until Powell died on March 5, 1984, of heart failure in Palm Springs, California, at the age of 91, some 30 years after his retirement.
On January 6, 1940, Powell married actress Diana Lewis, whom he called "Mousie," three weeks after they met. They remained married, residing primarily in Palm Springs, California, until Powell died on March 5, 1984, of heart failure in Palm Springs, California, at the age of 91, some 30 years after his retirement.
For more information about William Powell please visit: Wikipedia
William Powell's Filmography
Sherlock Holmes (1922)
When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922)
Outcast (1922)
The Bright Shawl (1923)
Under the Red Robe (1923)
Dangerous Money (1924)
Romola (1924)
Too Many Kisses (1925)
Faint Perfume (1925)
My Lady's Lips (1925)
The Beautiful City (1925)
White Mice (1926)
Sea Horses (1926)
Desert Gold (1926)
The Runaway (1926)
Aloma of the South Seas (1926)
Beau Geste (1926)
Tin Gods (1926)
The Great Gatsby (1926)
New York (1927)
Love's Greatest Mistake (1927)
Senorita (1927)
Special Delivery (1927)
Time to Love (1927)
Paid to Love (1927)
Nevada (1927)
She's a Sheik (1927)
Beau Sabreur (1928)
The Last Command (1928)
Feel My Pulse (1928)
Partners in Crime (1928)
The Dragnet (1928)
The Vanishing Pioneer (1928)
Forgotten Faces (1928)
Interference (1928)
The Canary Murder Case (1929)
The Four Feathers (1929)
The Greene Murder Case (1929)
Charming Sinners (1929)
Pointed Heels (1929)
Behind the Make-Up (1930)
Street of Chance (1930)
The Benson Murder Case (1930)
Paramount on Parade (1930)
Shadow of the Law (1930)
For the Defense (1930)
Man of the World (1931)
Ladies' Man (1931)
The Road to Singapore (1931)
High Pressure (1932)
Jewel Robbery (1932)
One Way Passage (1932)
Lawyer Man (1933)
Private Detective 62 (1933)
Double Harness (1933)
The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
Fashions of 1934 (1934)
Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
The Thin Man (1934)
The Key (1934)
Evelyn Prentice (1934)
Star of Midnight (1935)
Reckless (1935)
Escapade (1935)
Rendezvous (1935)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)
My Man Godfrey (1936)
Libeled Lady (1936)
After the Thin Man (1936)
The Last of Mrs. Cheney (1937)
The Emperor's Candlesticks (1937)
Double Wedding (1937)
The Baroness and the Butler (1938)
Another Thin Man (1939)
I Love You Again (1940)
Love Crazy (1941)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
Crossroads (1942)
The Youngest Profession (1943) Sherlock Holmes (1922)
When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922)
Outcast (1922)
The Bright Shawl (1923)
Under the Red Robe (1923)
Dangerous Money (1924)
Romola (1924)
Too Many Kisses (1925)
Faint Perfume (1925)
My Lady's Lips (1925)
The Beautiful City (1925)
White Mice (1926)
Sea Horses (1926)
Desert Gold (1926)
The Runaway (1926)
Aloma of the South Seas (1926)
Beau Geste (1926)
Tin Gods (1926)
The Great Gatsby (1926)
New York (1927)
Love's Greatest Mistake (1927)
Senorita (1927)
Special Delivery (1927)
Time to Love (1927)
Paid to Love (1927)
Nevada (1927)
She's a Sheik (1927)
Beau Sabreur (1928)
The Last Command (1928)
Feel My Pulse (1928)
Partners in Crime (1928)
The Dragnet (1928)
The Vanishing Pioneer (1928)
Forgotten Faces (1928)
Interference (1928)
The Canary Murder Case (1929)
The Four Feathers (1929)
The Greene Murder Case (1929)
Charming Sinners (1929)
Pointed Heels (1929)
Behind the Make-Up (1930)
Street of Chance (1930)
The Benson Murder Case (1930)
Paramount on Parade (1930)
Shadow of the Law (1930)
For the Defense (1930)
Man of the World (1931)
Ladies' Man (1931)
The Road to Singapore (1931)
High Pressure (1932)
Jewel Robbery (1932)
One Way Passage (1932)
Lawyer Man (1933)
Private Detective 62 (1933)
Double Harness (1933)
The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
Fashions of 1934 (1934)
Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
The Thin Man (1934)
The Key (1934)
Evelyn Prentice (1934)
Star of Midnight (1935)
Reckless (1935)
Escapade (1935)
Rendezvous (1935)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)
My Man Godfrey (1936)
Libeled Lady (1936)
After the Thin Man (1936)
The Last of Mrs. Cheney (1937)
The Emperor's Candlesticks (1937)
Double Wedding (1937)
The Baroness and the Butler (1938)
Another Thin Man (1939)
I Love You Again (1940)
Love Crazy (1941)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
Crossroads (1942)
The Youngest Profession (1943) (cameo)
The Heavenly Body (1943)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
The Great Morgan (1946) (voice)
Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
The Hoodlum Saint (1946)
Life with Father (1947)
Song of the Thin Man (1947)
The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947)
Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948)
Take One False Step (1949)
Dancing in the Dark (1949)
It's a Big Country (1951)
The Treasure of Lost Canyon (1952)
The Girl Who Had Everything (1953)
How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
Mister Roberts (1955)
When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922)
Outcast (1922)
The Bright Shawl (1923)
Under the Red Robe (1923)
Dangerous Money (1924)
Romola (1924)
Too Many Kisses (1925)
Faint Perfume (1925)
My Lady's Lips (1925)
The Beautiful City (1925)
White Mice (1926)
Sea Horses (1926)
Desert Gold (1926)
The Runaway (1926)
Aloma of the South Seas (1926)
Beau Geste (1926)
Tin Gods (1926)
The Great Gatsby (1926)
New York (1927)
Love's Greatest Mistake (1927)
Senorita (1927)
Special Delivery (1927)
Time to Love (1927)
Paid to Love (1927)
Nevada (1927)
She's a Sheik (1927)
Beau Sabreur (1928)
The Last Command (1928)
Feel My Pulse (1928)
Partners in Crime (1928)
The Dragnet (1928)
The Vanishing Pioneer (1928)
Forgotten Faces (1928)
Interference (1928)
The Canary Murder Case (1929)
The Four Feathers (1929)
The Greene Murder Case (1929)
Charming Sinners (1929)
Pointed Heels (1929)
Behind the Make-Up (1930)
Street of Chance (1930)
The Benson Murder Case (1930)
Paramount on Parade (1930)
Shadow of the Law (1930)
For the Defense (1930)
Man of the World (1931)
Ladies' Man (1931)
The Road to Singapore (1931)
High Pressure (1932)
Jewel Robbery (1932)
One Way Passage (1932)
Lawyer Man (1933)
Private Detective 62 (1933)
Double Harness (1933)
The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
Fashions of 1934 (1934)
Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
The Thin Man (1934)
The Key (1934)
Evelyn Prentice (1934)
Star of Midnight (1935)
Reckless (1935)
Escapade (1935)
Rendezvous (1935)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)
My Man Godfrey (1936)
Libeled Lady (1936)
After the Thin Man (1936)
The Last of Mrs. Cheney (1937)
The Emperor's Candlesticks (1937)
Double Wedding (1937)
The Baroness and the Butler (1938)
Another Thin Man (1939)
I Love You Again (1940)
Love Crazy (1941)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
Crossroads (1942)
The Youngest Profession (1943) Sherlock Holmes (1922)
When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922)
Outcast (1922)
The Bright Shawl (1923)
Under the Red Robe (1923)
Dangerous Money (1924)
Romola (1924)
Too Many Kisses (1925)
Faint Perfume (1925)
My Lady's Lips (1925)
The Beautiful City (1925)
White Mice (1926)
Sea Horses (1926)
Desert Gold (1926)
The Runaway (1926)
Aloma of the South Seas (1926)
Beau Geste (1926)
Tin Gods (1926)
The Great Gatsby (1926)
New York (1927)
Love's Greatest Mistake (1927)
Senorita (1927)
Special Delivery (1927)
Time to Love (1927)
Paid to Love (1927)
Nevada (1927)
She's a Sheik (1927)
Beau Sabreur (1928)
The Last Command (1928)
Feel My Pulse (1928)
Partners in Crime (1928)
The Dragnet (1928)
The Vanishing Pioneer (1928)
Forgotten Faces (1928)
Interference (1928)
The Canary Murder Case (1929)
The Four Feathers (1929)
The Greene Murder Case (1929)
Charming Sinners (1929)
Pointed Heels (1929)
Behind the Make-Up (1930)
Street of Chance (1930)
The Benson Murder Case (1930)
Paramount on Parade (1930)
Shadow of the Law (1930)
For the Defense (1930)
Man of the World (1931)
Ladies' Man (1931)
The Road to Singapore (1931)
High Pressure (1932)
Jewel Robbery (1932)
One Way Passage (1932)
Lawyer Man (1933)
Private Detective 62 (1933)
Double Harness (1933)
The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
Fashions of 1934 (1934)
Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
The Thin Man (1934)
The Key (1934)
Evelyn Prentice (1934)
Star of Midnight (1935)
Reckless (1935)
Escapade (1935)
Rendezvous (1935)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (1936)
My Man Godfrey (1936)
Libeled Lady (1936)
After the Thin Man (1936)
The Last of Mrs. Cheney (1937)
The Emperor's Candlesticks (1937)
Double Wedding (1937)
The Baroness and the Butler (1938)
Another Thin Man (1939)
I Love You Again (1940)
Love Crazy (1941)
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
Crossroads (1942)
The Youngest Profession (1943) (cameo)
The Heavenly Body (1943)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)
The Great Morgan (1946) (voice)
Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
The Hoodlum Saint (1946)
Life with Father (1947)
Song of the Thin Man (1947)
The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947)
Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948)
Take One False Step (1949)
Dancing in the Dark (1949)
It's a Big Country (1951)
The Treasure of Lost Canyon (1952)
The Girl Who Had Everything (1953)
How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)
Mister Roberts (1955)
Early Days Productions: William Powell 12/11/2011
Full Movie: The Kennel Murder Case (1933)
Philo Vance, accompanied by his prize-losing Scottish terrier, investigates the locked-room murder of a prominent and much-hated collector whose broken Chinese vase provides an important clue. - IMDB
Powell's most famous role was that of Nick Charles in six Thin Man films, beginning with The Thin Man in 1934. The role provided a perfect opportunity for Powell to showcase his sophisticated charm and his 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 partnership was one of Hollywood's most prolific on-screen pairings, with the couple appearing in 14 films together.
In 1931, Powell married actress Carole Lombard. The marriage lasted just over two years. They were divorced in 1933, though they too remained on good terms, even starring together in My Man Godfrey three years later, in which both Lombard and Powell were nominated for Academy Awards.
