William Holden

Born: April 17, 1918, O'Fallon, Illinois
Died: November 12, 1981 (age 63), Santa Monica, California

William Holden (William Franklin Beedle, Jr.) was an Academy Award-winning American film actor. He was named one of the "Top 10 stars of the year" six times (1954-1958, 1961) and appeared on the American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars list as #25.

1. Arizona is a 1940 western film starring Jean Arthur, William Holden and Warren William. It was directed by Wesley Ruggles. The story is set in the pioneer days of Tucson, Arizona in 1860. Life there is fit only for tough men and one very tough woman, Phoebe Titus (Jean Arthur). She catches the eye of Peter Muncie (William Holden), a handsome young man with a wagon train through Arizona but he soon leaves for California. What is the location of the filming site known as today?

• Tombstone
• Nogales
• Old Tucson

2. In Texas (1941), two Virginians are heading for a new life in Texas when they witness a stagecoach being held up. They decide to rob the robbers and make off with the loot. To escape a posse, they split up and don't see each other again for a long time. When they do meet up again, they find themselves on different sides of the law. This leads to the increasing estrangement of the two men, who once thought of themselves as brothers. William Holden plays Dan Thomas. Who plays Tod Ramsey?

• Edgar Buchanan
• George Bancroft
• Glenn Ford

3. During World War II, he served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, where he acted in training films. What was his rank?

• 2nd Lieutenant
• Captain
• Major

4. In The Man from Colorado (1948), two friends return home after their discharge from the army after the Civil War. However, one of them has had deep-rooted psychological damage due to his experiences during the war, and as his behavior becomes more erratic--and violent--his friend desperately tries to find a way to help him. The Western reunites William Holden and Glenn Ford.

• True or False?

5. Texas, 1878: cheerful outlaw-buddies Jim, Lorn and Wahoo rescue spunky orphan Rannie Carter from rustling racketeers, then are forced to separate. Lorn goes on to bigger and better robberies, while Jim and Wahoo are (at first reluctantly) maneuvered into joining the Texas Rangers. F or friendship's sake, the three try to keep out of direct conflict, but a showdown begins to look inevitable. And Rannie, now grown into lovely young womanhood, must choose between Lorn and Jim. What was this 1949 William Holden Western?

6. The Horse Soldiers is a 1959 western film, set in the American Civil War, directed by John Ford, starring John Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers. Who does William Holden play?

• Maj. Henry 'Hank' Kendall
• Col. John Marlowe
• Gen. U.S. Grant

7. Cattleman (William Holden) is contracted to deliver a herd to the Union army in Virginia. However, as he nears the end of his long cattle drive, he is kidnapped by Confederate raiders led by Colonel Tom Rossiter (Richard Widmark). The Confederacy desperately needs the beef to feed its soldiers besieged in Richmond. What is the movie?

8. The Wild Bunch (1969) is a Western film about an aging outlaw gang at the Texas-Mexico border trying to exist in the modern world of 1913. Pike Bishop (William Holden), the leader of a gang of aging outlaws, is seeking an elusive retirement with one final score, beginning with the robbery of a bank containing a payload of silver. Who directed the film?

• Sam Peckinpah
• John Ford
• Ted Knight

9. The life of peaceful rancher John Benedict (William Holden) is torn apart when his family is massacred by a gang of marauding outlaws and his farm is destroyed. He assembles a team of mean, lawless convicts to act as his posse as he pursues the gang responsible for the deaths of his loved ones.

10. His younger brother, Robert W. "Bobbie" Beedle, was a Navy fighter pilot who was killed in action in World War II, on January 5, 1945. After The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1955) was released, Beedle was remembered by his squadron-mates as having been very much like Holden's character Lt. Harry Brubaker.

• True or False?

11. Holden died as the result of a fall in his high-rise apartment on the seaside cliffs of Santa Monica, California, in November 1981. He was alone and heavily intoxicated when he apparently slipped on a throw rug, severely lacerated his head on a night table, and bled to death. Evidence suggests he was conscious for at least half-an-hour after the fall but may not have realized the severity of the injury and did not summon aid or was unable to call for help. His body was found on November 16, but forensic and other evidence suggested he had been dead for several days and most likely died on November 12.

• True or False

12. Where is William Holden buried?

• Cremated, ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean
• Cremated, ashes scattered over Santa Catalina's Emerald Bay, California
• Forest Lawn Memorial Park , Youngstown, Ohio

Check Your Answer

1. Old Tucson
2. Glenn Ford
3. 2nd Lieutenant
4. True
5. Streets of Laredo
6. Maj. Henry 'Hank' Kendall
7. Alvarez Kelly
8. Sam Peckinpah
9. The Revengers
10. True
11. True
12. Cremated, ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean

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