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William Horatio Powell was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the Thin Man series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters created by Dashiell Hammett. Powell was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor three times: for The Thin Man (1934), My Man Godfrey (1936), and Life with Father (1947).
Birth Name
William Horatio Powell
Born
Friday, 29 July 1892
Died
Monday, 05 March 1984
Actor Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| The Movies | Self | 2019 |
| Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts | Self - Actor (archive footage) | 2017 |
| Hollywood Couples | Self | 2006 |
| William Powell: A True Gentleman | (archive footage) | 2005 |
| Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream | Self | 1998 |
| The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies | Self | 1995 |
| Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell | Himself | 1993 |
| Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home to | Self / (archive footage) | 1990 |
| Bloopermania | Self | 1987 |
| The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn | Himself (archive footage) / Self | 1986 |
Actor Filmography
| Title | Character | Year |
|---|
| The Movies | Self | 2019 |
| Cinecittà Babilonia: Sex, Drugs and Black Shirts | Self - Actor (archive footage) | 2017 |
| Hollywood Couples | Self | 2006 |
| William Powell: A True Gentleman | (archive footage) | 2005 |
| Hollywoodism: Jews, Movies and the American Dream | Self | 1998 |
| The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies | Self | 1995 |
| Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell | Himself | 1993 |
| Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home to | Self / (archive footage) | 1990 |
| Bloopermania | Self | 1987 |
| The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn | Himself (archive footage) / Self | 1986 |
| Moonlighting | Nick Charles | 1985 |
| Going Hollywood: The '30s | (archive footage) | 1984 |
| Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage | Self | 1983 |
| America at the Movies | Clarence 'Father' Day | 1976 |
| That's Entertainment, Part II | Nick Charles / (archive footage) | 1976 |
| It's Showtime | Self | 1976 |
| Brother Can You Spare a Dime | Self / Self (archive footage) | 1975 |
| Great Performances | Self | 1971 |
| 60 Minutes | Himself - Sheriff's Deputy (segment "The Reserves") | 1968 |
| The Big Parade of Comedy | Nick Charles (archive footage) / Nick Charles | 1964 |
| Hollywood and the Stars | Self / Actor in gangster movies | 1963 |
| Hollywood: The Selznick Years | Jim Wade | 1961 |
| Mister Roberts | Doc | 1955 |
| How to Marry a Millionaire | J.D. Hanley | 1953 |
| The Girl Who Had Everything | Steve Latimer | 1953 |
| The Treasure of Lost Canyon | Homer 'Doc' Brown | 1952 |
| It's a Big Country: An American Anthology | Professor | 1951 |
| The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story | (archive footage) | 1951 |
| Dancing in the Dark | Emery Slade | 1949 |
| Take One False Step | Andrew Gentling | 1949 |
| Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid | Mr. Peabody | 1948 |
| The Senator Was Indiscreet | Senator Melvin G. Ashton | 1947 |
| Life with Father | Father / Clarence Day Sr. | 1947 |
| Song of the Thin Man | Nick Charles | 1947 |
| The Hoodlum Saint | Terence Ellerton 'Terry' O'Neill | 1946 |
| Ziegfeld Follies | Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. / Flo Ziegfeld | 1945 |
| The Great Morgan | William Powell | 1945 |
| The Thin Man Goes Home | Nick Charles | 1944 |
| The Heavenly Body | William S. Whitley | 1944 |
| Twenty Years After | (archive footage) | 1944 |
| The Youngest Profession | William Powell / Himself - Guest Star | 1943 |
| Crossroads | David Talbot / David Talbot aka Jean Pelletier | 1942 |
| Shadow of the Thin Man | Nick Charles | 1941 |
| Love Crazy | Steve Ireland | 1941 |
| The Miracle of Sound | Self | 1940 |
| I Love You Again | Larry Wilson aka George Carey | 1940 |
| Hollywood: Style Center of the World | Self | 1940 |
| Another Thin Man | Nick Charles / Nick | 1939 |
| From the Ends of the Earth | Self | 1939 |
| The Baroness and the Butler | Johann Porok | 1938 |
| Double Wedding | Charles Lodge | 1937 |
| The Romance of Celluloid | Charles Lodge / Self (archive footage) | 1937 |
| The Emperor's Candlesticks | Baron Stephan Wolensky | 1937 |
| The Last of Mrs. Cheyney | Charles | 1937 |
| After the Thin Man | Nick Charles | 1936 |
| Libeled Lady | Bill Chandler / William 'Bill' Stephens Chandler | 1936 |
| My Man Godfrey | Godfrey | 1936 |
| The Ex-Mrs. Bradford | Dr. Lawrence Bradford | 1936 |
| The Great Ziegfeld | Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. / Florenz 'Flo' Ziegfeld Jr. | 1936 |
| La Fiesta de Santa Barbara | Self - under huge sombrero | 1935 |
| Rendezvous | Lieutenant Bill Gordon / Lt. William 'Bill' Gordon / Anson Meridan | 1935 |
| Escapade | Fritz | 1935 |
| Star of Midnight | Clay 'Dal' Dalzell | 1935 |
| Reckless | Ned Riley | 1935 |
| Evelyn Prentice | John Prentice | 1934 |
| The Key | Capt. Bill Tennant / Captain Bill Tennant | 1934 |
| The Thin Man | Nick Charles | 1934 |
| Manhattan Melodrama | Jim Wade | 1934 |
| Fashions of 1934 | Sherwood Nash | 1934 |
| The Kennel Murder Case | Philo Vance | 1933 |
| Double Harness | John Fletcher | 1933 |
| Hollywood on Parade No. A-12 | Self | 1933 |
| Private Detective 62 | Donald Free | 1933 |
| Lawyer Man | Anton (Tony) Adam / Anton Adam | 1932 |
| One Way Passage | Dan Hardesty | 1932 |
| Jewel Robbery | The Robber | 1932 |
| High Pressure | Gar Evans | 1932 |
| The Road to Singapore | Hugh Dawltry | 1931 |
| Ladies' Man | Jamie Darricott | 1931 |
| Man of the World | Michael Trevor | 1931 |
| For the Defense | William Foster / William B. Foster | 1930 |
| Shadow of the Law | Jim Montgomery aka John Nelson | 1930 |
| Paramount on Parade | Philo Vance / Philo Vance (Murder Will Out) | 1930 |
| The Benson Murder Case | Philo Vance | 1930 |
| Street of Chance | 'Natural' Davis / John D. Marsden | 1930 |
| Behind the Make-Up | Gardoni | 1930 |
| Pointed Heels | Robert Courtland | 1929 |
| The Canary Murder Case | Philo Vance | 1929 |
| Charming Sinners | Karl Kraley | 1929 |
| The Greene Murder Case | Philo Vance | 1929 |
| The Four Feathers | Capt. William Trench | 1929 |
| Interference | Philip Voaze | 1928 |
| Forgotten Faces | Froggy | 1928 |
| The Vanishing Pioneer | John Murdock | 1928 |
| The Dragnet | Dapper Frank Trent | 1928 |
| Partners in Crime | Smith | 1928 |
| Feel My Pulse | Her Nemesis | 1928 |
| Beau Sabreur | Becque | 1928 |
| The Last Command | Lev Andreyev / Leo Andreyev - The Director | 1928 |
| She's a Sheik | Kada | 1927 |
| Nevada | Clan Dillon | 1927 |
| Paid to Love | Prince Eric | 1927 |
| Time to Love | Prince Alado | 1927 |
| Special Delivery | Harold Jones | 1927 |
| Señorita | Manuel Oliveros | 1927 |
| Love's Greatest Mistake | Don Kendall | 1927 |
| New York | Trent Regan | 1927 |
| Tin Gods | Tony Santelli | 1926 |
| The Great Gatsby | George Wilson | 1926 |
| Beau Geste | Boldini | 1926 |
| The Runaway | Jack Harrison | 1926 |
| Desert Gold | Snake Landree | 1926 |
| Sea Horses | Lorenzo Salvia | 1926 |
| White Mice | Roddy Forrester | 1926 |
| The Beautiful City | Nick Di Silva | 1925 |
| My Lady's Lips | Scott Seldon | 1925 |
| Faint Perfume | Barnaby Powers | 1925 |
| Romola | Tito Melema | 1924 |
| The Bright Shawl | Gaspar De Vaca | 1923 |
| When Knighthood Was in Flower | Francis I / Francis, Duc d' Angoulême | 1922 |
| Sherlock Holmes | Foreman Wells / Forman Wells | 1922 |
| Year | Type | Category | Won |
|---|
| 1948 | Oscar | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Nominated |
| 1937 | Oscar | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Nominated |
| 1935 | Oscar | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Nominated |
