William Holden's Scandalous Undoing

William Holden's sudden death was far more tragic than people know after the autopsy results were revealed the horrifying details of that fateful night came to light few famous actors are as All-American as William Holden one of the biggest Hollywood stars of his day Holden's handsome features seduced everyone around him underneath his pretty face however was a man with a troubled life who constantly struggled with the Demons of addiction needless to say Hollywood's Golden Boy hid many Dark Secrets beneath his perfect exterior the Tiny Town of Ofallon Illinois welcomed the birth of William Franklin Beetle Jr known to us as William Holden on April 17th 1918 Holden grew up surrounded by his close-knit family and grew to be a lively young boy that was constantly on the move his life in Ofallon was idilic but perhaps a bit boring the boredom suddenly broke when a family emergency changed his life forever although Holden's dad was a strong fellow he suffered from a chronic lung condition on the advice of doctors Holden's dad moved to California where the warmth and Sun would do him good of course he took his entire family with him this was a dream come true for 5-year-old Holden who thrived in the bustling streets of California what Holden didn't know was that his dream was about to turn into a nightmare in 1930 Holden's family faced a crisis Holden's Dad after years of working in a lab that exposed him to a concoction of dangerous chemicals contracted numo conis with his dad bedridden Holden became the head of the family he made sure his younger siblings got up in time for school and had dinner ready to go by the time his mom got home only three things kept him going while under the weight of his new responsibilities during these tough times Holden's few escapes included the boy scats Athletics and to his surprise acting not only did Holden have a voice that instantly captured everyone's attention but he learned the scripts for a school plays faster than anyone else unsurprisingly the teachers always chose him for the lead roles this early and promising start to acting didn't keep Holden out of trouble though in 1931 Holden family moved to affluent South Pasadena although Holden's family wasn't poor they didn't have the wealth of their upper class neighbors something that set Holden apart from other kids Holden began acting out for attention and some of the stunts he pulled were downright outrageous he walked along a telephone line that was 12 ft off the ground and even walked along the railing of suicide bridge on his hands something needed to change before Holden really got himself into trouble in 1938 Holden's life changed when he caught the eye of Milt Lewis a talent scout for Paramount at the time Holden was acting as an elderly man in a play for the Pasadena Community play box thrilled by the old man's acting Lewis went backstage expecting to see an elderly gentleman only for 20-year-old Holden to greet him shocked by Holden's talent Lewis decided to offer him the opportunity of a lifetime Lewis invited Holden to Paramount Studios for an audition as soon as Holden began reading the script he put Lewis under a spell the talent scope described his voice as the voice of a mature man warm and resonant rising from deep within him Paramount Executives offered Holden a position as a contract player for seven years and thus Holden's life as an actor began the rest of his career wouldn't go this smoothly however Paramount grouped Holden with a bunch of other talented young actors and dubbed the group The Golden Circle Paramount frequently sent Holden and the Golden Circle members out to attract press attention but it meant sharing the spotlight making it difficult for Holden to attract attention to himself after taking on two small roles in 1939 Holden was desperate to push his acting career forward soon that opportunity came to him on a silver platter Holden walked into the Columbia Pictures office practically quaking in his boots he impressed miman but when it came time for him to meet the president of Columbia Harry con Holden nearly ended his career right there when con asked Holden if he could act Holden answered I'm not sure luckily his endearing honesty and good looks won cone over now Holden just needed to prove himself on set but that was easier said than done Holden rigorous filming schedule for Golden Boy began since the role required Holden to know how to box and how to play the violin his days consisted of Relentless endless lessons he woke up at 6:00 in the morning every day for his lessons and on most days he didn't get to sleep until well past midnight even a studio worker admitted that Colombia was really taking advantage of him it's safe to say William Holden was a remarkable Talent yet off screen he faced his own battles it's a poignant reminder that behind the glamour we all have our struggles our need for support and understanding that's why today's video is sponsored by better help 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living a healthier happier life if you think you might benefit from therapy consider betterhelp click the link in the description or visit betterhelp.com facton clicking that link helps support this Channel and it also gets you 10% off your first month of Better Health so you can connect with a therapist and see if it helps you and now back to the video the stress definitely didn't help him stay cool in front of the cameras either during the first 3 days of filming Holden failed to impress most of his fellow cast members only two people really believed in him Mulan and his co-star veteran actress Barbara Stanwick in fact when Holden's amateur acting caused con to contemplate firing the poor guy Stanwick straight up told con that if he fired Holden she would leave as well thanks to Stan Wick's patience Holden improved and his efforts were not in vain Golden Boy turned Holden into an overnight sensation his boyish charm and good looks made him the perfect leading man girls in particular flocked to him and happily accompanied him wherever he wanted to go which of course included the bedroom while his growing Fame should have boosted his confidence Holden never really felt comfortable with acting eventually this led him down a very dark path even as Holden secured more starring roles which included invisible stripes in the same year he filmed Golden Boy Holden remained a nervous wreck before he got on movie sets to calm himself Holden turned to drink it wasn't a ton at first just a bit to take the edge off his nerves but it was enough to make sure he glowed with confidence on set but his career was wasn't all nerves and booze eventually his acting career led him straight to the girl of his dreams as Hollywood's upand cominging leading man Holden had his pick of the most beautiful ladies around the one that finally captured his heart however was the beautiful actress Brenda Marshall Holden first met Marshall while working on invisible Stripes but held back on asking route since she was still technically married and had a kid of her own Holden couldn't get her out of his head after first laying eyes on her though and 3 months later he finally cracked Holden finally asked her out much to his Delight Marshall accepted and she was the perfect woman for him he pushed her to officially divorce her husband so they could start a life together which of course she eventually did in July of 1941 Holden suggested that they alope in Las Vegas but this adventure nearly ended in disaster due to his filming schedule and his desire to keep his wedding plans Hush Hush Holden ended up missing his own wedding filming for the remarkable Andrew went 2 hours past schedule by the time he and his fiance arrived in Las Vegas the minister they booked was long gone Holden and Marshall had to beg the minister to carry out the ceremony in their tiny hotel room just as they were about to start their lives together however a huge problem arose around this time World War II rocked the lives of everyone in the United States and that included Holden's as well caught up in the Patriotic fervor of the nation Holden enlisted leaving his new wife behind and putting his acting career on hold after filming three more movies between 1941 and 1942 Holden left for the air base near Fort Worth Texas it ended up being one of the worst experiences of his life being a celebrity Holden wasn't called to combat Duty as he' hoped instead he spent his days starring in Endless rounds of rallies talent shows and training films Holden felt guilty he wanted to put his life on the line like his brother things only got worse from here on out on January 4th 1944 Holden learned that enemy fire had downed his brother's plane in the South Pacific the guilt of it nearly destroyed him and it haunted him even after his service ended in September of 1945 Holden eagerly returned to his acting career he took a lot of pride in being a family man eventually adopting his wife's daughter from her first marriage after that the happy couple went on to have two more Sons but there were still something eating at him all the while Holden couldn't let go of one heartbreaking truth he lived out an incredibly Charmed Life while his brother was never coming back this might have explained Holden's next strange and unexpected decision at his behest Holden's wife retired as an actress making him the sole bread winner in the family there was one major problem with this his wife made five times more than him tragically Holden's dream of supporting his family through acting began to fall apart there were simply no roles for him he became increasingly irritable isolating himself from his friends and unable to face their questions 11 months later however his luck finally changed the acting jobs trickled in but slowly the first film he appeared in after finishing his service was blaze of noon but it was his following film a romantic comedy called dear Ruth that helped reestablish him as a desirable lead all the while Holden continued to struggle with his Reliance on alcohol something that his co-star and Rachel on the stram danger Loretta Young pointed out to him it also didn't help that Holden's roles were getting increasingly challenging Holden soon got the chance to act in the dark past in 1948 but this film required him to really stretch his acting chops instead of being the handsome lead Holden needed to convince movie goers that he could believably play a ruthless killer for Holden who usually acted in westerns and romantic comedies this was a huge challenge one that he almost couldn't overcome during the filming of the movie his co-star leej Cobb inadvertently shattered Holden's confidence every morning Cobb arrived at the studio picking apart each line of the film and complaining that the film was a complete disaster thanks to his daily mourning TI raides Holden gradually lost faith in his own abilities only one person kept Holden from falling apart completely that person's name was nah f a fellow cast member seeing how Holden was barely hanging on she began inviting him to her dressing room every morning to give him a pep talk slowly Holden gained his confidence back and it showed many reviewers noted how Holden gave his character a surprising amount of depth thanks to this Holden felt ready for another big change but it leted him down a ruinous path by this time Holden felt ready to look for a bigger house for his new family he moved his family to a house by TCA Lake and forked over 100,000 for the house well over $1 million in today's money needless to say Holden could barely afford his new home to make matters worse his next two films Streets of Laredo and Miss Grant takes Richmond flopped Holden needed to find a film to save him from the financial hole he dug himself into in 1950 Holden's luck took a turn for the better when director Billy Wilder asked him to take the lead role in Sunset Boulevard the script excited Holden finally he'd get the chance to take on a role that wasn't all about his good looks at the same time the thoughts of failing to deliver a great performance terrified him in the end he shouldn't have worried over whether or not he could live up to the role in fact Holden ended up going above and beyond during one scene in Sunset Boulevard Holden needed to kiss his co-star Gloria Swanson during the second take Holden kissed Swanson and didn't stop even when Wilder yelled cut he only stopped when his wife who dropped by to visit him yelled cut from behind the camera it wasn't a good look for Holden and it foreshadowed the tragic path that his relationship with his wife was about to take when Sunset Boulevard came out in theaters it proved to the world that Holden wasn't just a pretty leading man he was a true actor who could take on complicated characters and bring them to life the film truly catapulted Holden to fame but it came with a cost his wife jealous of Holden's sudden stardom and the loss of her own Holden's wife took every opportunity to knock him down a Peg and the cracks in their marriage began to show Sunset Boulevard and Holden's performance in the film impressed everyone so much that they nominated him for an Academy Award this should have been a joyous occasion for all except for two issues first he didn't win and second his wife spent the evening making passive aggressive comments about how Jose fur who took the award home deserved the win over Holden while Holden's relationship hit some major road bumps his career moved along much more smoothly although the next few films he worked on didn't have the impact of Sunset Boulevard Holden still managed to do reasonably well however Holden wasn't one to settle for good enough and so he decided to put everything on the line for his next film while Holden was on a publicity trip in New York City Wilder the same director that worked with Holden on Sunset Boulevard invited him to work on a film adaptation of a Broadway play called stale 17 Holden's character Sefton was always center stage and in the spotlight not only that but Holden's character would be a scruffy Rough and Tumble anti-hero the opposite of the affable handsome young men he had been playing as of late Holden threw himself into the role but it got him into some major trouble while Holden was usually professional and friendly his personality changed during stag 17 in an attempt to stay in character Holden spent most of his time being withdrawn and d one day Holden got a little too into character and ended up yelling at the entire crew for being too noisy shocking everyone including himself still his method acting proved to be wildly effective and he turned in a great performance however while on set he got a little too confident as Holden's confidence grew he relaxed so much so that he got a bit frisky on set he began wooing a beautiful actress he was working with on Stalag 17 and eventually invited her to his dressing room for an afternoon romance this turned out to be a mistake that same afternoon his wife dropped by to visit him luckily for him his wife had no idea that he cheated on her when Stalag 17 was released in 1953 it was a resounding success so much so that Holden finally won an accademy award for his work the following year with an Oscar under his belt Holden began earning a pretty penny from his acting jobs in 1953 his work in the Moon is blue earned him a whopping $600,000 and he was still getting film offers left and right while this was all well and good his relationship with his wife was still on the Rocks so it wasn't long before he strayed again this time it happened during the filming of Sabrina and the actress that captured his heart was none other than Audrey heurn during Sabrina Holden fell hard for heurn later he recalled before I even met her I had a crush on her and after I met her just a day later I felt as if we were old friends and I was rather fiercely protective of her eventually Holden got down on one knee and asked heurn to marry him but in a surprise twist heern refused there was something that heper wanted that Holden just couldn't give her according to rumors heurn wanted to have children children of her own Holden having had a vasectomy was no longer able to have children shortly after Sabrina completed filming their Affair fizzled out in 1954 Holden appeared in the country girl and worked with a beautiful actress named Grace Kelly and soon fell head over heels in love with her he began having an affair with her but soon Confidential magazine found out about it and ran an article about their illicit trist the article caused some damaged his career but it didn't stop him from taking things a step further with his new lady love in private Holden and Kelly carried on with their Affair soon Holden wanted more and asked Kelly for her hand in marriage unfortunately for Holden this plan fell through you see Kelly was deeply religious and Holden in his own words refused to let any Church dictate what I could do with my life instead Holden concentrated on his career which led to his next big Blockbuster one of Holden's biggest pictures was 1957's The Bridge on the River Quai the film was a huge commercial success and Holden made over $2.5 million from the film at the time this was one of the best deals ever for an actor to score in the early 1960s Holden left for Africa to film The Lion this time his female co-star was a French actress named Kine unsurprisingly Holden fell in love during one of his wife's visits to the set in Africa the two argued fiercely which the crew guest was due to his affair with the beautiful Cene this emotional and physical strain began to take its toll on him Holden's drinking also went off the rails this led to a horrifying moment for Holden his excessive emment caused him to collapse they rushed him to loanne hospital in a semiconscious state where both his wife and C watched over him when Holden awoke he had devastating news for his wife Holden told his wife that their marriage was over he was done with romance including the one he had with capucine he spent the next several years concentrating on his other interests straightening out his health and Reviving his film career he never truly shook off his drinking problem in the end the bottle was his Achilles heel on November 12th 198 81 after years of recognition for his successful films and charity work Holden lost his life in the most heartbreaking way imaginable while intoxicated in his apartment Holden slipped on a rug and hit his head on a bedside table but that wasn't the most disturbing part according to forensic evidence the actor remained conscious up to half an hour after the accident while still aware and breathing William Holden bled to death on the floor of his home in accordance with Holden's will they cremated his remains and Scattered his ashes into the Pacific Ocean with no Fanfare whatsoever that is going to bring us to the end of the 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Length: 22min 51sec (1371 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 07 2024