I met Bill Holden at the spa La Costa back in 1974. We talked about motorcycles and his love of Kenya. He told me that he found acting to be difficult and harder than people realize. He invited me to his house on Driftwood Drive in Palm Springs to do some desert motorcycle rides A great honor to have known such a true gentleman who was so nice and down to earth. The drinking was his demon. We exchanged letters for a while prior to his death. I can’t believe I had the opportunity to get to know him.
You don't find too many interviews with William Holden. Dick Cavett landed a good many classic film stars while they were still with us. I'd love to see the entire show.
What a great interview, although sadly shortened here. William Holden was so unassuming and cool. When he went off script at The Academy Awards as a presenter with Barbara Stanwyck in 1978 and thanked her for supporting him during the making of Golden Boy saying that without her encouragement he wouldn't be standing there, she was both touched and shocked. I think it remains one of the most truly beautiful, humble, sincere moments in Oscar history. He really was golden...❤
Besides being a fine actor this piece proves that Mr. Holden was also a man of great wit and humor and, additionally , he was an excellent conversationalist. Wonderful interview.
Agree. I would say many of the great actors of the past had this quality if for one reason: Theater. They all had that background. The theater is more than a stage. It's a place to refine, build chops and become worldly. Today? Disney is looking for the cutest kid at 8 so they can mold them and spit them out by 20. Next! It's really terrible how so many 'celebrities' today are but hollow mannequins.
Tremendous actor. No one could play Pike Bishop in the Wild Bunch like William Holden. He always brought humanity and credibility to every role he played.
I loved the story he told of how his voice was higher when he first got to Hollywood and they made him scream to the top of his lungs for three weeks to make it deeper.
Imo because he had class and was discrete. He wasn't outspoken or rebellious or rude or making a lot of headlines. The stars that are most known today, were then all over the media and/or known for having a difficult personality.
@@mrb4886 When you really get into the history of filmmaking. But for someone like me, with only a random knowledge of movies and knowing the stars that everyone knows, he was not a familiar name. Only recently I got into the fifties & their films (because of Hail Caesar) and then you find William Holden, (& then you buy Sunset Boulevard).
I wasn't even a full month old when this originally aired, but by the time I was in my teens, Mr. Holden was one of my favorite classic era actors, and he has remained so ever since. Back when I still had access to cable television, no matter what film it may be, if Holden was in it, I had to watch it -even if the number of times I had viewed said film was in double-digit territory.
Bill Holden is one of my heroes. His death, alone, bleeding, in his apartment in LA bothered me. Such a wonderful personality to die alone, bleeding....
Ever see the movie "Picnic" if you have never seen these movies...Sabina with Bogie ,Holden,And Audrey Hepburn...The Horse Soldiers with John Wayne, And several Actors like Ken Curtis ( later Festis on Gunsmoke...many need to see him in original Black and white Rio Grand...he sang couple solo parts along side of the Pioneer singing group...he also was in Mr. ROBERTS ...HOPEFULLY
@@johnahern1077 I'd rather have drunk men in suits who smoke than the pathetic bunch of soy boys we have now. So would anyone who has any sense if unfortunately we got into a position where we have to fight to protect the weak and all we believe in.
Lynn Turman, real men who needed to have society catered to them and make them feel special by making others around them lesser beings. How is that a real man?
More of this Holden interview would be greatly appreciated. Despite his demons (which commenters on here seem so fixated on) he was undoubtedly one of the top film actors of the last century. Thanks for posting.
I know, I get it; he drank too much, he fell down, hit his head, he died, enough. Let's celebrate what he did, awesome performances, that last shot in Bridge on the River Kwai, the trapped writer in Sunset Boulevard, the slow burn in the third act of Stalag 17, That's what matters. Some people look at a beautiful painting by Vincent Van Gogh and just see a guy with one ear.
He was an actor before my time. But he was a very gifted man. He was great in the movies stalag 17, and the bridge over the river kwai. What a sad ending, being drunk, slipping getting a head wound. And succumbing to it only to be discovered about a week later. May Mr William Holden rest in peace.
Great interview with William Holden. As a kid I had a major crush on the man after seeing him in "Picnic"....that dance with Kim Novak was wonderful...lol...from what I read in all the comments here, he was a gentleman and I'm so glad to know that he didn't have a big ego like some others do. Just a very down to earth guy doing his job as a great actor.....Rest In Peace William : (
One of the finest actors from the Golden Era of film. My favorite movie of his is " The Wild Bunch ". He embodied " smooth ", and unlike many of the current crop kept his personal beliefs out of the public arena.
Oh boy, i need more of William Holden 's interview. I love listening to this man speaks, in every talkshow etc, so casually yet he looks and sounds articulate, and also serious when it comes to acting business.. and, the WildLife preservation. He looks good here, compared to his appearance on Johnny Carson show, i think.
William Holden was very involved with African wildlife (along with his girlfriend Stephanie Powers) and had a private reserve there. I remember someone said after he was gone - I thought if he died it might be from a lion or a rhino, but a night table?
@@brucekuehn4031 he was drunk, fell, hit his head on a nightstand and bled to death. He and stef were estranged because of his being an alcoholic, but she said when she heard about his death on the radio on the way to the ‘hart to hart’ studious, she turned around and went home to start mourning.
So cool this popped up. Don't think I've ever seen him on a chat show. Was just watching him in the dance scene from Picnic. Very light on his feet & great theme song.
Holden,Peck,Lancaster,Newman,Stewart,Fonda,Eastwood the list goes on of a special and unique breed of men who happened to be exceptional actors the likes of which we will most likely never see again.
He was great in Kwai, Network, and Stalag 17. He was close friends with Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan and was best man at their wedding. He was Patti Reagan's Godfather. Too bad he died in the way he did.
Holden was quite good, naturalistically gritty credible as a US Navy man in the 1957 film A Bridge on the River Kwai, a timeless parable of a human tendency to get at times so caught up in "the tree" of one task or project that one loses sight of "the forest" of context values: in this story of WW2 British and (one) American POWs in India coerced by their Japanese captor to build a bridge, of the microfocus of the British commander to uphold his inveterate principle of commitment to task excellence, to the extent that he forgets that the bridge is to defeat his own country and its Allies, to whom he owes overarching true allegiance. In later evolved psychoanalytical terms, he had unawares become Stockholm Syndromed.
Yes, I wait eagerly for that last scene w/Alex Guiness, his final line. It all finally sinks in and his soldierly instincts reclaim his will. Then the Jack Hawkins scene, then......"Madness; madness." Which is as profound a description of war as will ever be contrived.
It's a tragedy what drink did to William Holden, as much as tobacco. Billy Wilder described him as "a golden boy" which he was, when young. But the heavy drinking aged him terribly, and the tobacco along with it. Such a wonderful talent and, as others have said, a conservationist as well.
He was called the golden boy because his start in movies was a movie called golden boy which he got the role with the help of Barbara Stanwyck . Also yes he drank and smoked and had his demons but he had a rough life just as many men and women back then did. People lived hard and aged harder.
The fact that he lived during all his life exposed to the sun light(he was raised in Pasadena and.spent long periods of time in Africa)contributed largely to his aging prematurely. Ar
I think this interview is from 1976 or 1977 as Sam Peckinpah and Steve McQeen made The Getaway around this time. William Holden was a great actor who brought a lot of dignity to every part he played. He was in his late fifties here and despite his heavy drinking, he still looks pretty good. W. Holden will always be remembered for playing Pike Bishop the leader of The Wild Bunch, one of the great hero's of western movies!
McQueen's first wife believes the polyp that was removed by a surgeon was the beginning of the cancer that killed him 8 years later . McQueen refused to do a biopsy of the what was surgically removed . The great character actor and WW2 hero Charles Durning believed that McQueen knew he didn't have long to live .
BTW: There was the story that dissention existed between Bogart and Bill Holden on the set of SABRINA, which has always been a point of controversy. Some say they definitely disliked each other, others say they actually got on quite well. However, going back to the film INVISIBLE STRIPES, there was a bit of resentment on Bogie's part. He was billed below newcomer Holden -- at his home studio Warner Bros. after serving a fairly long apprenticeship following his breakout performance as Duke Mantee in THE PETRIFIED FOREST. Instead of achieving the instant stardom Edward G. Robinson had managed following LITTLE CAESAR and Jimmy Cagney in THE PUBLIC ENEMY, Bogie had to wade through the studio either in support of Robinson and Cagney (and Davis, Pat O'Brien and Flynn) - or playing leads in B pictures. So, understandably, by 1939, co-starring with the studio's new top-name acquisition George Raft in INVISIBLE STRIPES, being billed below a loaned-out Columbia/Paramount player, Holden, Bogie felt both undervalued and miffed. The upshot, of course, was that it was though George Raft that Bogie became the legendary superstar he remains today.
Mr. Cavett recorded this interview in 1972: William Holden had the intelligence and wit his peers respected, as did Clark Gable, Ronald Coleman, Fred Astaire, Jimmy Cagney, Errol Flynn, Bogart, Spencer Tracy, Alan Ladd, Tyrone Power, Dick Powell, Sinatra, Dean Martin, John Wayne, Sammy Davis Jnr., Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, Gene Kelly, Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, Robert Mitchum, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ronald Reagan, Rex Harrison, James Mason, Tony Curtis, Dana Andrews, Robert Ryan, Van Heflin, Yul Brynner, Brando, Montgomery Clift, Richard Burton, Anthony Quinn, Stewart Granger, Alec Guinness, John Mills, Trevor Howard, Steve McQueen, Rod Steiger, Laurence Harvey, Albert Finney, George Peppard, Sidney Poitier, Omar Sharif, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, Peter Finch, Richard Widmark, Jack Palance, Peter Lawford, Ray Milland, David Niven, Richard Chamberlain, Dustin Hoffman, Anthony Hopkins, Michael Caine, Jon Voight, Terence Stamp, David Jansson .... Are there any REAL stars today? As the lady said in Sunset Boulevard, it was motion pictures that got small.
Glad to see those Alltime faves remembered! Not all were a zillion % perfect, but still were great, and contributed mightily to our enjoyment over the decades
Love Bill Holden. Great wildlife advocate too. Too bad he died from blood loss from falling on a table while drinking. Mom as an extra remembered a joke he told on the set of Towering Inferno about a late Paul Newman: "He missed the ferry from Sausalito."
I have loved old movies & old movie stars..WILLIAM HOLDEN WAS ONE OF THE BEST!! Loved him .. especially.. in SABRINA. His charming style, beautifully wicked smile, and understated sense of humor are endearing
@@gargantuaism erm, having a bunch of awards means nothing. Robin williams won an Oscar for “good will hunting.” He said two months later, people were coming up to him, not to praise him for the award, but calling him “Mork!” Betty white had several Emmy’s, but preferred working at the Los Angeles Zoo. And many very talented performers never receive recognition for their work.
Such a classy actor. Dressed so sharply and stately in the midst of the hippie movement of late '60's-late '70's of long hair, long side burns, moustaches, beards and suits that that had wide ties.
The Bridges At Toko-Ri is my favorite WH film.His poignant,brilliant performance is a tribute to his brother-Robert Beedle,a Navy Fighter pilot killed in action in the Pacific WW2.
Holden is one of my favorite actors and he didn't do a lot of interviews. Too bad McQueen bowed out of this too, there's even fewer TV interviews with Steve.
And Frank Sinatra nearly killed Buddy Rich. The story is, they were having an argument in a hotel. They separated down a hallway. Seconds later someone shouted to Buddy “duck“! Miraculously, he obeyed the command. As he did, a giant glass ashtray flew by where his head was and crashed into the wall.
He’s not at all. He was perfectly rated. Not one of the great actors, but not a bad one either. He was highly respected and was in some fantastic films. Strangely, I thought one of his weakest performances was in Stalag 13, for which he won an Oscar! He should have won for Network! Was great in Sabrina, Sunset Boulevard and Bridge on the River Kwai
Holden projects a wonderful, relaxed, charisma.......a true star, but with the common touch. Great career, even when he was older......as in Network. Too bad he came to a sad end in his Santa Monica pied a terre.....
To watch Holden in a role unusual but completely charming for him look at "Father is a Bachelor" (1950) A Disneyesque family movie which is strangely little-known
One of Holden's finest movies was one of his last: "The Earthling", with a very young Ricky Schroeder. Sad that HE didn't turn out like Holden - though they did get along very well during the filming.
As far as I know Holden only made one movie with Bogart. It was Sabrina in 1954. They co-starred along with Audrew Hepburn. Holden was quoted as saying this about Bogart: "I hated that bastard".
@Leo Peridot Bogie's career "was coming to an end"?? In 1954 he starred in The Caine Mutiny, and was nominated that year for Best Actor. He had won 3 years earlier for African Queen. I'd hardly say his career was coming to an end.
The unsafe motorcycle in that film was not the fault of William Holden as actor rider, but of the prop master for not having had it mechanically checked and then stabilized, as after a first report of the front wheel "shimmy"; or of the director if he did not direct the safety issue to the producer, and of the producer if he disregarded the safety concern.
Interesting at the beginning when Cavette makes fun of Steve McQueen's throat surgery. Although this is much earlier, McQueen eventually died due to lung cancer - wonder if this was at all related?
@@Rocketpalmgrenade as I remember it was a real oddball cancer, too. my uncle had a thyroid cancer and they never really knew what it was up to. A friend with upper palette cancer, connected strongly to smoking, was only forty, and was gone in seven weeks after diagnosis. Some cancers are very aggressive, others take year and years, but it's unique to each person. lifestyle in those days?? as I remember McQueen they THINK was exposed in the Navy as he was an asshat and they had him cleaning in confined space, around asbestos and who knows what. The military is even today, largely EXEMPT from hazardous material "rules", and they have lots of chemicals around.
In his day, Hope was a pretty sharp and energetic fellow....I grew up after his prime and only remember those godawful specials he did....but by then he was old but still a trooper...
Cavett may be the greatest interviewer ever. In addition to his quick wit and intelligence, he really researches his guests backgrounds before they come on until he knows almost as much about them as they do.
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I met Bill Holden at the spa La Costa back in 1974. We talked about motorcycles and his love of Kenya. He told me that he found acting to be difficult and harder than people realize. He invited me to his house on Driftwood Drive in Palm Springs to do some desert motorcycle rides
A great honor to have known such a true gentleman who was so nice and down to earth. The drinking was his demon. We exchanged letters for a while prior to his death. I can’t believe I had the opportunity to get to know him.
Lucky man. He was one of my all time faves. Loved world of Susie Wong.
@@markberryhill2715 Stalag 17.
what a great story and lucky you
@@CarinSomers Thank you Carin, great memories for me. I appreciate your comment. Bill
@@billsheehy1 no problem, I am just a huge fan of William Holden
You don't find too many interviews with William Holden. Dick Cavett landed a good many classic film stars while they were still with us. I'd love to see the entire show.
Yeah the Dick Cavett Show was great !
Me too!
Dave State-61 Holden died in his bedroom from drinking too much alcohol and got up and hit his head and bled to death. Very sad way to end his career.
@@buckroo8424 And life.
The show is on Decades TV every night .
These are all gems. Holden was one of the greats.
@James Henderson What kind of character ?
I agree 100 per cent !
What a great interview, although sadly shortened here. William Holden was so unassuming and cool. When he went off script at The Academy Awards as a presenter with Barbara Stanwyck in 1978 and thanked her for supporting him during the making of Golden Boy saying that without her encouragement he wouldn't be standing there, she was both touched and shocked. I think it remains one of the most truly beautiful, humble, sincere moments in Oscar history. He really was golden...❤
Besides being a fine actor this piece proves that Mr. Holden was also a man of great wit and humor and, additionally , he was an excellent conversationalist. Wonderful interview.
Agree. I would say many of the great actors of the past had this quality if for one reason: Theater. They all had that background. The theater is more than a stage. It's a place to refine, build chops and become worldly. Today? Disney is looking for the cutest kid at 8 so they can mold them and spit them out by 20. Next! It's really terrible how so many 'celebrities' today are but hollow mannequins.
And he was sleeping with Stephanie Powers……😁
Tremendous actor. No one could play Pike Bishop in the Wild Bunch like William Holden. He always brought humanity and credibility to every role he played.
He was Pike...
As much as I love Lee Marvin I can never see anyone else but Bill
Great movie is it a western? a war movie? or action movie
Ever seen Texas rangers with holden, McDonald Carey and Wolliam Bentex. Which was a remake of an older version that was also good..
Well said and well put.
Great stuff.
Holden, besides his acting ability, had a classic speaking voice.
And a winning personality.
I loved the story he told of how his voice was higher when he first got to Hollywood and they made him scream to the top of his lungs for three weeks to make it deeper.
And a fine intellect.
You speak the truth, Kemo Sabe !
Holden seems somewhat under-rated when you talk about all-time greats. Some people just exude style and class. He seems like one of them.
Under rated is a BS RUclips term. Very well known actor.
Imo because he had class and was discrete. He wasn't outspoken or rebellious or rude or making a lot of headlines. The stars that are most known today, were then all over the media and/or known for having a difficult personality.
@@mrb4886 When you really get into the history of filmmaking. But for someone like me, with only a random knowledge of movies and knowing the stars that everyone knows, he was not a familiar name. Only recently I got into the fifties & their films (because of Hail Caesar) and then you find William Holden, (& then you buy Sunset Boulevard).
So very true.
William Holden won an Oscar for "Stalag 17" and could have won at least a couple more.
He should've won for Sunset Boulevard or Network...
@@nataliacaetano6326 yes I agree with you
Natália Caetano He was so great in both of those films. His best roles in my opinion were on Bridge on the River Kwai and on the Wild Bunch.
@@cactaceous that' s true!!I like The Wild Bunch as well...I've forgotten to mention ...amazing movie !!
@@nataliacaetano6326 And Picnic, The World of Susie Wong, and Love Is a Many Splendored Thing.
What a beautiful man, a man's man and ... a very good actor
I wasn't even a full month old when this originally aired, but by the time I was in my teens, Mr. Holden was one of my favorite classic era actors, and he has remained so ever since. Back when I still had access to cable television, no matter what film it may be, if Holden was in it, I had to watch it -even if the number of times I had viewed said film was in double-digit territory.
Me too! I was exactly 17 days old when he did this interview.
Bill Holden is one of my heroes. His death, alone, bleeding, in his apartment in LA bothered me. Such a wonderful personality to die alone, bleeding....
Bleeding?
He fell and hit his head on a table. But he was so hammered he didn’t realize how badly hurt he was and eventually bled out in his home.
Yes. I remember his tragic death. Just heartbreaking
@@fernmann7Really Heartbreaking 💔😭
I Loved Him.
God Bless 💗🙌
beats dying on the crapper like Elvis...
Thank you Mr. Holden for being a part of our lives!
Ever see the movie "Picnic" if you have never seen these movies...Sabina with Bogie ,Holden,And Audrey Hepburn...The Horse Soldiers with John Wayne, And several Actors like Ken Curtis ( later Festis on Gunsmoke...many need to see him in original Black and white Rio Grand...he sang couple solo parts along side of the Pioneer singing group...he also was in Mr. ROBERTS ...HOPEFULLY
Is it me but male actors of that period actually looked and acted like men not the starstruck celebrities craving attention we have to suffer today.
Real men are an endangered species.
Drunks who smoke and hide in nice suits.
Not really “real men”.
@@johnahern1077 I'd rather have drunk men in suits who smoke than the pathetic bunch of soy boys we have now. So would anyone who has any sense if unfortunately we got into a position where we have to fight to protect the weak and all we believe in.
Lynn Turman, real men who needed to have society catered to them and make them feel special by making others around them lesser beings. How is that a real man?
@@JacksonHoulihan What leads you to make those assumptions?
Handsome, charming, articulate. A wonderful raconteur.
And a movie star who was also a damn good actor.
I heartily concur.
Genius honesty...and amazing voice
More of this Holden interview would be greatly appreciated. Despite his demons (which commenters on here seem so fixated on) he was undoubtedly one of the top film actors of the last century. Thanks for posting.
@Julie Frazier His acting style so natural and nuanced, he seemed to just live his characters.
I know, I get it; he drank too much, he fell down, hit his head, he died, enough. Let's celebrate what he did, awesome performances, that last shot in Bridge on the River Kwai, the trapped writer in Sunset Boulevard, the slow burn in the third act of Stalag 17, That's what matters. Some people look at a beautiful painting by Vincent Van Gogh and just see a guy with one ear.
Demons?
Amen to that. Holden was a brilliant actor.
Indubitably.
Always lovely to get more of William Holden on the show! Thank you so much for this. Looking forward to the other segments with Bill!
What a great guy William Holden seemed to be.
Such a class act!!! He was a movie star of movie stars.
And he had a great sense of humor too.
George Costanza said of having an affair "I never thought of myself as the affair type....it`s so adult, like stockings & martini`s & William Holden".
Thank you for that reference. :)
I doubt anyone on planet earth thinks of Costanza as the affair type
He was an actor before my time. But he was a very gifted man. He was great in the movies stalag 17, and the bridge over the river kwai. What a sad ending, being drunk, slipping getting a head wound. And succumbing to it only to be discovered about a week later. May Mr William Holden rest in peace.
He was the leading star of "Stalag 17".
@@Cerph sure was, I believe he won the Oscar for his performance in that one
I loved William Holden.
He was a great actor. He was also sexy, and well dressed as you can see here.
Great interview with William Holden. As a kid I had a major crush on the man after seeing him in "Picnic"....that dance with Kim Novak was wonderful...lol...from what I read in all the comments here, he was a gentleman and I'm so glad to know that he didn't have a big ego like some others do. Just a very down to earth guy doing his job as a great actor.....Rest In Peace William : (
Favorite movie of all time is picnic! Loved William Holden in that movie!
Please let us see more of Bill holden!
One of the finest actors from the Golden Era of film. My favorite movie of his is " The Wild Bunch ". He embodied " smooth ", and unlike many of the current crop kept his personal beliefs out of the public arena.
Bill was cool
I became a Holden Fan through Wild Bunch. Had teardrops in my eyes when he mowed down everything in pure wrath and desperation.
That movie is minor league junk compared to Executive Suite. Watch that.
Absolutely love William Holden and bogie, they both inspire me
Only 6 minutes? We want more Bill!
Bil, Bill, Bill!
Full interview??? 🌝🌚
Both well dressed. Also good conversationalists. Miss it. You don't find it anymore.
He had the most charming and wonderful smile!!!!
Loved him opposite the Duke in The Horse soldiers....he once said that acting did not come easy for him......but he sure made it look easy.
Bill Holden is one of my all time favorite actors. I've never seem him give a bad performance and I've seem at least 30 of his films.
He was very talented and a real class act.
Oh boy, i need more of William Holden 's interview. I love listening to this man speaks, in every talkshow etc, so casually yet he looks and sounds articulate, and also serious when it comes to acting business.. and, the WildLife preservation. He looks good here, compared to his appearance on Johnny Carson show, i think.
Here age 54, nine years before his passing.
He was brilliant in Network with Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway.
That's for sure ! His performance was every bit as Oscar worthy as Peter's and Faye's !
The quality of shows and guests back then is striking from today. So much better then.
William Holden was one of my favorite actor.
hate how alcoholism robbed him. Great actor,.
Alcohol robbed him of his looks as well, sadly
William Holden was very involved with African wildlife (along with his girlfriend Stephanie Powers) and had a private reserve there. I remember someone said after he was gone - I thought if he died it might be from a lion or a rhino, but a night table?
Yes his life ended rather tragically
@@brucekuehn4031 he was drunk, fell, hit his head on a nightstand and bled to death.
He and stef were estranged because of his being an alcoholic, but she said when she heard about his death on the radio on the way to the ‘hart to hart’ studious, she turned around and went home to start mourning.
@@brucekuehn4031An all along it seems he was the endangered species.
Holden's voice was so much like Reagan's, both from IL Holden was best man at Reagan's wedding.
Great seeing him as himself, one of my favourite actors. Loved animals too !
Ah what a great ,wonderful man William Holden was ,hope to see more of his apperance on this show
So cool this popped up. Don't think I've ever seen him on a chat show. Was just watching him in the dance scene from Picnic. Very light on his feet & great theme song.
@@samanthab1923 And super smoking hot!
@@cm9439 No argument there, what a handsome sexy man
C M 😉
@@cm9439 please...! His family /relatives could read it
Sam Peckinpah AND Steve McQueen were scheduled to be on here together? What a show that would’ve been!!
So LOVED him in "Breezy". He was a macho that came around to being sensitive in the end.
What a cool dude! That voice and that smile! A real star!
Holden,Peck,Lancaster,Newman,Stewart,Fonda,Eastwood the list goes on of a special and unique breed of men who happened to be exceptional actors the likes of which we will most likely never see again.
Pure class. These days will sadly never return.
George Clooney lacks class? John
Hamm lacks class?
Low class & no class nowadays. Actors today are a dime a dozen & haven’t paid their dues so to speak. Very few are memorable.
Loved the Heston story.
He was great in Kwai, Network, and Stalag 17. He was close friends with Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan and was best man at their wedding. He was Patti Reagan's Godfather.
Too bad he died in the way he did.
Stalag 17, Sunset Boulevard, Bridge on the River Kwai, 3 classic movies from the 50's.
still great films
Holden was quite good, naturalistically gritty credible as a US Navy man in the 1957 film A Bridge on the River Kwai, a timeless parable of a human tendency to get at times so caught up in "the tree" of one task or project that one loses sight of "the forest" of context values: in this story of WW2 British and (one) American POWs in India coerced by their Japanese captor to build a bridge, of the microfocus of the British commander to uphold his inveterate principle of commitment to task excellence, to the extent that he forgets that the bridge is to defeat his own country and its Allies, to whom he owes overarching true allegiance. In later evolved psychoanalytical terms, he had unawares become Stockholm Syndromed.
Yes, I wait eagerly for that last scene w/Alex Guiness, his final line. It all finally sinks in and his soldierly instincts reclaim his will. Then the Jack Hawkins scene, then......"Madness; madness." Which is as profound a description of war as will ever be contrived.
It's a tragedy what drink did to William Holden, as much as tobacco. Billy Wilder described him as "a golden boy" which he was, when young. But the heavy drinking aged him terribly, and the tobacco along with it. Such a wonderful talent and, as others have said, a conservationist as well.
He is only 54 in this interview.
He was called the golden boy because his start in movies was a movie called golden boy which he got the role with the help of Barbara Stanwyck . Also yes he drank and smoked and had his demons but he had a rough life just as many men and women back then did. People lived hard and aged harder.
The fact that he lived during all his life exposed to the sun light(he was raised in Pasadena and.spent long periods of time in Africa)contributed largely to his aging prematurely.
Ar
Shame its only a clip. I could listen to Bill Holden all night.
I think this interview is from 1976 or 1977 as Sam Peckinpah and Steve McQeen made The Getaway around this time. William Holden was a great actor who brought a lot of dignity to every part he played. He was in his late fifties here and despite his heavy drinking, he still looks pretty good. W. Holden will always be remembered for playing Pike Bishop the leader of The Wild Bunch, one of the great hero's of western movies!
The Getaway was released in 1972
Your right, I should have known it was earlier!
McQueen's first wife believes the polyp that was removed by a surgeon was the beginning of the cancer that killed him 8 years later . McQueen refused to do a biopsy of the what was surgically removed . The great character actor and WW2 hero
Charles Durning believed that McQueen knew he didn't have long to live .
Still a great moviestar. Just look at his smile!
Wow, what a great voice Holden had...and was so good-looking in his youth.
classy man..great actor, great humanitarian
Totally agree !
BTW: There was the story that dissention existed between Bogart and Bill Holden on the set of SABRINA, which has always been a point of controversy. Some say they definitely disliked each other, others say they actually got on quite well. However, going back to the film INVISIBLE STRIPES, there was a bit of resentment on Bogie's part. He was billed below newcomer Holden -- at his home studio Warner Bros. after serving a fairly long apprenticeship following his breakout performance as Duke Mantee in THE PETRIFIED FOREST. Instead of achieving the instant stardom Edward G. Robinson had managed following LITTLE CAESAR and Jimmy Cagney in THE PUBLIC ENEMY, Bogie had to wade through the studio either in support of Robinson and Cagney (and Davis, Pat O'Brien and Flynn) - or playing leads in B pictures. So, understandably, by 1939, co-starring with the studio's new top-name acquisition George Raft in INVISIBLE STRIPES, being billed below a loaned-out Columbia/Paramount player, Holden, Bogie felt both undervalued and miffed. The upshot, of course, was that it was though George Raft that Bogie became the legendary superstar he remains today.
Thank you for posting this - I adore this man!
I liked the world of Suzie Wong with Nancy Kwan.. he was a good looking man with nice voice.
William Holden was an amazing actor! ☮️🖖🏽
The Bridge on the River Kwai the best classic. Well there's the Wild Bunch too.
Mr. Cavett recorded this interview in 1972: William Holden had the intelligence and wit his peers respected, as did Clark Gable, Ronald Coleman, Fred Astaire, Jimmy Cagney, Errol Flynn, Bogart, Spencer Tracy, Alan Ladd, Tyrone Power, Dick Powell, Sinatra, Dean Martin, John Wayne, Sammy Davis Jnr., Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, Gene Kelly, Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, Robert Mitchum, Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ronald Reagan, Rex Harrison, James Mason, Tony Curtis, Dana Andrews, Robert Ryan, Van Heflin, Yul Brynner, Brando, Montgomery Clift, Richard Burton, Anthony Quinn, Stewart Granger, Alec Guinness, John Mills, Trevor Howard, Steve McQueen, Rod Steiger, Laurence Harvey, Albert Finney, George Peppard, Sidney Poitier, Omar Sharif, Richard Harris, Peter O'Toole, Peter Finch, Richard Widmark, Jack Palance, Peter Lawford, Ray Milland, David Niven, Richard Chamberlain, Dustin Hoffman, Anthony Hopkins, Michael Caine, Jon Voight, Terence Stamp, David Jansson ....
Are there any REAL stars today? As the lady said in Sunset Boulevard, it was motion pictures that got small.
Glad to see those Alltime faves remembered!
Not all were a zillion % perfect, but still were great, and contributed mightily to our enjoyment over the decades
Love Bill Holden. Great wildlife advocate too. Too bad he died from blood loss from falling on a table while drinking. Mom as an extra remembered a joke he told on the set of Towering Inferno about a late Paul Newman: "He missed the ferry from Sausalito."
I believe Holden lived in Hong Kong for a while and in Africa.
I have loved old movies & old movie stars..WILLIAM HOLDEN WAS ONE OF THE BEST!! Loved him .. especially.. in SABRINA. His charming style, beautifully wicked smile, and understated sense of humor are endearing
One of the absolute greats
"...that's when you really have to act." and Cavett muffs it!
A true hollywood legend in my country scotland
Very underrated actor.
How underrated could he be, he was an Oscar winner and an Emmy winner. That is a pretty good indication people thought he was great.
@@gargantuaism erm, having a bunch of awards means nothing.
Robin williams won an Oscar for “good will hunting.”
He said two months later, people were coming up to him, not to praise him for the award, but calling him “Mork!”
Betty white had several Emmy’s, but preferred working at the Los Angeles Zoo.
And many very talented performers never receive recognition for their work.
Such a classy actor. Dressed so sharply and stately in the midst of the hippie movement of late '60's-late '70's of long hair, long side burns, moustaches, beards and suits that that had wide ties.
Top notch actor, had that unique glow that only the greats generate. Think he would have been a great Bond in the early series.
Great actor and a decent human being. One of his great movies in my opinion was the bridges at toko ri
The Bridges At Toko-Ri is my favorite WH film.His poignant,brilliant performance is a tribute to his brother-Robert Beedle,a Navy Fighter pilot killed in action in the Pacific WW2.
Holden is one of my favorite actors and he didn't do a lot of interviews. Too bad McQueen bowed out of this too, there's even fewer TV interviews with Steve.
Just a great interviewer with a true professional actor . No fake, forced , over the top laughter by the host .
He's so handsome and he has gorgeous, strong hands.
William Holden is my Golden Boy😍🥰🤩❤❤❤ Brilliant Actor 👏 👍
What a great actor he was. Just about every movie he was in was very good.
And Frank Sinatra nearly killed Buddy Rich. The story is, they were having an argument in a hotel. They separated down a hallway. Seconds later someone shouted to Buddy “duck“! Miraculously, he obeyed the command. As he did, a giant glass ashtray flew by where his head was and crashed into the wall.
Little Frankie was also known for angrily pushing a piano (it was on wheels) through a glass window, oblivious to passersby down below.
He reminds me a lot of my dad..bless his soul
I think it is definitely my age.......I find I'm watching more and more b & w films now.
He was amazing in Stalag13
Holden is soooooo underrated.
He’s not at all. He was perfectly rated. Not one of the great actors, but not a bad one either. He was highly respected and was in some fantastic films. Strangely, I thought one of his weakest performances was in Stalag 13, for which he won an Oscar! He should have won for Network! Was great in Sabrina, Sunset Boulevard and Bridge on the River Kwai
@@fifthbusiness1678
Holden *was* one of the greats - of his and any generation.
Holden projects a wonderful, relaxed, charisma.......a true star, but with the common touch. Great career, even when he was older......as in Network. Too bad he came to a sad end in his Santa Monica pied a terre.....
My favorite anti-hero: Stalag 17, the Bridge on the River Kwai, and Sunset Boulevard and others
I always liked William Holden. I thought he was handsome and I liked his personality. You
To watch Holden in a role unusual but completely charming for him look at "Father is a Bachelor" (1950) A Disneyesque family movie which is strangely little-known
One of Holden's finest movies was one of his last:
"The Earthling", with a very young Ricky Schroeder.
Sad that HE didn't turn out like Holden - though they did get along very well during the filming.
The handsome William Holden.
Once there were the likes of William Holden, later along came the Tom Cruises...Somehow the world has taken a wrong turn...
Invisible Stripes. Never heard of a movie with Holden, Raft and Bogart. Amazing.
William holden felt he should have more of a role in The towering inferno . he played a good role in network
Holden always looked about 20 years older than he was. He was only about 52 here.
Unfortunately he was an alcoholic which aged him prematurely.
Dick Cavett goes into blabbernouth mode when he is nervous.....
As far as I know Holden only made one movie with Bogart. It was Sabrina in 1954. They co-starred along with Audrew Hepburn. Holden was quoted as saying this about Bogart: "I hated that bastard".
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_Stripes
@Leo Peridot Bogie's career "was coming to an end"?? In 1954 he starred in The Caine Mutiny, and was nominated that year for Best Actor. He had won 3 years earlier for African Queen. I'd hardly say his career was coming to an end.
No, he was never quoted saying that.
They also starred together in Invisible Stripes many years prior, he talked about it during the interview.
The unsafe motorcycle in that film was not the fault of William Holden as actor rider, but of the prop master for not having had it mechanically checked and then stabilized, as after a first report of the front wheel "shimmy"; or of the director if he did not direct the safety issue to the producer, and of the producer if he disregarded the safety concern.
Interesting at the beginning when Cavette makes fun of Steve McQueen's throat surgery. Although this is much earlier, McQueen eventually died due to lung cancer - wonder if this was at all related?
Possible, but I’m guessing this is from 1970 and McQueen wasn’t diagnosed for another 8 years
@@jennifersman7990 after doing a little research, this was 1972 - so 6 years before the diagnosis.
@@Rocketpalmgrenade as I remember it was a real oddball cancer, too. my uncle had a thyroid cancer and they never really knew what it was up to. A friend with upper palette cancer, connected strongly to smoking, was only forty, and was gone in seven weeks after diagnosis. Some cancers are very aggressive, others take year and years, but it's unique to each person. lifestyle in those days?? as I remember McQueen they THINK was exposed in the Navy as he was an asshat and they had him cleaning in confined space, around asbestos and who knows what. The military is even today, largely EXEMPT from hazardous material "rules", and they have lots of chemicals around.
@@dwightstjohn6927
Some big changes are WAY overdue for the military's treatment of their members.
4:00 Bob Hope made a joke that was actually funny?! OMG!
In his day, Hope was a pretty sharp and energetic fellow....I grew up after his prime and only remember those godawful specials he did....but by then he was old but still a trooper...
So funny I just watched Invisible Stripes 3 nights ago on TCM. The sidecar looked totally unsafe.
wow is he handsome always one of my favorites
Cavett may be the greatest interviewer ever. In addition to his quick wit and intelligence, he really researches his guests backgrounds before they come on until he knows almost as much about them as they do.
I agree- he listened well, and respected his guests.
I so miss the mastery of language and of thought that these shows displayed.
Always loved the behind the scenes stories from Hollywood.