William Holden
(Deceased)
William Holden was born as William Franklin Beedle, Jr., on April 17, 1918 in O'Fallon, Illinois. The family soon moved to California. It was on a trip back to New York City in 1937, however, that young Bill was so impressed with the Broadway stage atmosphere that he decided to become an actor.
He returned to California, took some acting lessons and attended the Pasadena Workshop Theater. It was there that a Hollywood scout discovered him in 1938 and he was put under contract at Paramount for $50 per week. A year later, at the age of 21, he played opposite mega-star Barbara Stanwyck in "Golden Boy." And his film career was launched in style.
Then along came World War II. William Holden joined the U.S. Army in 1942 and served until the war ended in 1945. He went through Officer Candidate School and became a 2nd Lt. When he returned to Hollywood, he waited eight months for a role. That was followed by several more decent but not outstanding parts.
His big break-through role came in 1950 in the movie "Sunset Boulevard," opposite aging silent star legend Gloria Swanson. He received an Oscar nomination for "Best Actor" for his efforts, and that was followed by better roles.
In 1953 William Holden struck the mother lode. He won an Oscar for his acting in "Stalag 17."
In the 1950's he began to travel widely with his own personal and business interests. He lived in the Far East for a time, then in Switzereland, and then in Africa. He was half-owner of the 1,260-acre Mount Kenya Safari Club.
William Holden went on television for the first time in 1973 in "The Blue Knight". And he walked away with an Emmy for his portrayal of a Los Angeles policeman.
William Holden's Western movies included Arizona (1940), Texas (1941), Rachel and the Stranger (1948), The Man from Colorado (1948), Streets of Laredo (1949), Escape from Fort Bravo (1953), The Horse Soldiers (1959), Alvarez Kelly (1966), The Wild Bunch (1969), Wild Rovers (1971) and The Revengers (1972).
Along the way he also developed a romantic and longstanding relationship with actress Stephannie Powers.
However, there was a dark side of William Holden which was hidden to most of the world. He was an alcoholic. On the night of November 16, 1981 he was drunk in his Santa Monica home. He stumbled and fell, hitting his head on the sharp edge of a coffee table, and bled to death. He was 62. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
CLICK HERE to go to the William Holden Wildlife Foundation. Although William Holden's illustrious acting career spanned over 40 years, and included nearly 80 films plus a coveted Oscar for STALAG 17, the role in which he took the most pride was as a conservationist and co-founder of the Mount Kenya Game Ranch. In his memory, the William Holden Wildlife Foundation was founded to carry on his important efforts and to meet the ever-increasing demand for alternatives to extinction. The foundation's education program currently serves over 10,000 students per year.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of William Holden.
Earl Holliman
Earl Holliman, actor, was born Henry Earl Holliman on Sept. 11, 1928 in Delhi, LA. EarlHolliman studied drama at the University of Southern California and the Pasadena Playhouse. His first role was delivering one line in the Dean Martin-Jerry Lewis film comedy "Scared Stiff."
His performance in "The Rainmaker" opposite Katharine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster earned him a Hollywood Foreign Press Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor.
He had a starring role as Sgt. Bill Crowley opposite Angie Dickinson in the hit drama "Police Woman." And he was in the pilot episodes of "The Six Million Dollar Man," "Cannon" and "Alias Smith & Jones."
Earl Holliman is also a singer. He had a recording contract with Capitol and produced a total of five records. Since 1976 he has been "President of Actors and Others for Animals," a group dedicated to pet welfare.
Earl Holliman appeared in such Westerns as Alias Smith and Jones (1970), The Burning Hills (1956), Last Train from Gun Hill (1959), The Rainmaker (1956), and The Sons of Katie Elder (1965).
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Earl Holliman.
Kyle Hollingshead
Ronald Kyle Hollingshead was born in Baird, Tex. on July 29, 1941. He studied at Texas Tech from 1959 to 1961, then became a partner in H&H Food Market from 1961 to 1968. He became the owner of the 4th St. laundry in 1968. He married Maxine Valentino in 1981.
Kyle Hollingshead has written many short stories and novels, including Echo of a Texas Rifle (1967), The Franklin Raid (1968), Ransom's Debt (1970; Ace Books, 1981), Ransome's Move (1971), Ransome's Army (1974), The Man on the Blood Bay (1977), and Across the Border (1978).
L.P. Holmes
(Deceased)
Llewellyn "Lew" Perry Holmes, Sr. was born in 1895 in a snowed-in cabin in Breckenridge, Colo., where his father worked as a mining engineer. His family moved to Napa just after the turn of the century, and he died in Napa, Calif. on Dec. 30, 1988. Mrs. Holmes died in 1977.
L.P. Holmes worked first as a draftsman for a naval shipyard, as an oil company truck driver, and as a cattle rancher before finally becoming a full-time freelance writer in 1923. He wrote adventure and Western novels under his name and also as Matt Stuart, Perry Westwood and Dave Hardin.
L.P. Holmes' books include Roaring Range (1935), Destiny Range (1936), The Law of Kyger Gorge (1936), Bloody Saddles (1937), Outlaws of Boardman's Flat (1941), Flame of Sunset (1947; Warner Books, 1985), Water, Grass, and Gunsmoke (1949), Black Sage (1950), Desert Rails (1950), Dead Man's Saddle (1951), Summer Range (1951), Apache Desert (1952), High Starlight (1952), Delta Deputy (1953), Sixgun Code (1953), Brandon's Empire (1954), Somewhere They Die (1955), Modoc: The Last Sundown (1957), The Plunderers (1957), Catch and Saddle (1959), Hill Smoke (1959), Smoke Pass (1962), Side Me in Sundown (1963), The Buzzards of Rocky Pass (1963), The Sled Gun (1963), The Hardest Man in the Sierras (1965), The Savage Hours, 1966), Edge of the Desert (1966), Edge of Sundown (1968), The Maverick Star (1969), Showdown at the Jubilee (1970), Rustler's Moon, High Starlight (Warner Books), Night Marshal (Warner Books), Payoff at Pawnee (Warner Books, 1985).
L.P. Holmes' work was published in 17 different languages, with more than 15 million printed. And his book, Somewhere They Die, won the Spur Award from Western Writers of America for the best novel of 1955.Sports Illustrated for Oct. 15, 1984 carried Lew Holmes' photo and this note (p.129): "Holmes, an 89-year-old author of 42 Western novels, hit 99 of a possible 100 clay pigeons at the Napa Rifle and Pistol Club. In the process he became the first person in the club's 50-year history to break as many as 75 straight pigeons." Holmes was one of the 24 charter members of WWA.
David Holt
David Holt, actor, was born on Aug. 14, 1927 in Jacksonville, FL. He was not related to actors Jack Holt or Tim Holt or Jennifer Holt, according to B-Western movie historian Bobby Copeland [ email to me on Dec. 9, 2009].
David Holt made more than twenty films, but apparently the only Western he ever made was one appearance in one episode of "The Lone Ranger".
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of David Holt.
Jack Holt
(Deceased)
Jack Holt, actor, was born as Charles John Holt on May 31, 1888 in Winchester, VA. He started acting on stage and then in silent and talking movies. He was the father of actress Jennifer Holt and actor Tim Holt.Jack Holt played in 171 movies during his 37-year film career.
His Western films included Across the Wide Missouri (1951), The Daltons' Women (1950), Return of the Frontiersman (1950), The Last Bandit (1949), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), The Arizona Ranger (1948), Loaded Pistols (1948), The Strawberry Roan (1948), The Wild Frontier(1947), My Pal Trigger (1946), Outside the Law (1938), Roaring Timber (1937), End of the Trail (1936), Sunset Pass (1929), The Water Hole (1928), The Vanishing Pioneer (1928), Forlorn River (1926), Born to the West (1926), Wild Horse Mesa (1925), The Thundering Herd (1925), North of the Rio Grande (1922), and The Call of the North (1921).
This 1949 Western, "The Last Bandit," featured (l to r)
Bill Elliott, Adrian Booth, Jack Holt, Hank Bell
and Andy Devine.Jack Holt died of a heart attack on Jan. 18, 1951. His remains are at the Los Angeles National Cemetery ( Section 107, Row A, Grave 19 ) in Los Angeles, CA.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Jack Holt.
Jennifer Holt
(Deceased)
Jennifer Holt, actress, was born as Elizabeth Marshall Holt on Nov. 10, 1920 in Hollywood, CA. She was the daughter of actor Jack Holt and sister of actor Tim Holt.Early on it had been her dream to sing on the opera stage. The closes she came was occasionally singing a song in one of her Western movies. And, although she made several Westerns, she was deathly afraid of horses.
Jennifer's parents divorced when she was quite young, and apparently her brother Tim chose to live with his father. She was never close to her father, as Tim was never very close to his mother. Jennifer and Tim, however, were extremely fond of each other. She spent many hours at Tim's bedside when he was dying of a brain tumor.
Jennifer Holt appeared in 47 movies during her career. Jennifer made a batch of westerns in the 1940s, primarily at Universal and PRC as the heroine to Johnny Mack Brown, Rod Cameron, Eddie Dean and Lash LaRue.
Rod Cameron and Jennifer HoltJennifer Holt was married serveral times. She lived in the United States and in Mexico, from time to time. She was living in England at the time or her death. She died of cancer on Sept. 21, 1997 in Dorset, England.
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Jennifer Holt.
Tim Holt
(Deceased)
Tim Holt, movie actor, was born as Charles John Holt III on Feb. 5, 1918 in Beverly Hills, CA. His father, Jack Holt, was an actor. And so was his sister, Jennifer Holt.
Today's audiences probably best remember him for playing Humphrey Bogart's partner in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948). His father, Jack, had a minor role in the film as well.
Tim Holt appeared in 71 movies during his 43-year film career that ran from 1928 to 1971. He was known as the "fastest draw" among the Hollywood cowboys, as he was able to draw his gun from his holster in 1/6 th of a second.
The Western films of Tim Holt included Desert Passage (1952), Road Agent (1952), Trail Guide (1952), Hot Lead (1951), Pistol Harvest (1951), Gunplay (1951), The Overland Telegraph (1951), Saddle Legion (1951), Riders of the Range (1950), Border Treasure (1950), Dynamite Pass (1950), Law of the Badlands (1950), Rider from Tucson (1950), Rio Grande Patrol (1950), Storm Over Wyoming (1950), The Mysterious Desperado (1949) , The Masked Raiders (1949) , Brothers in the Saddle (1949), Rustlers (1949), Stagecoach Kid (1949), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre(1948), The Arizona Ranger (1948), Gun Smugglers (1948) Guns of Hate (1948), Indian Agent (1948), Western Heritage (1948), Thunder Mountain (1947), Under the Tonto Rim (1947), and Wild Horse Mesa (1947).
In addition, he also appeared in My Darling Clementine (1946), The Avenging Rider (1943), Fighting Frontier (1943), Red River Robin Hood (1943), Sagebrush Law (1943), Bandit Ranger (1942), Pirates of the Prairie (1942, Cyclone on Horseback (1941), Robbers of the Range (1941), Aong the Rio Grande (1941), The Bandit Trail (1941), Dude Cowboy (1941), The Fargo Kid (1941), Know for Sure (1941), Land of the Open Range (1941), Riding the Wind (1941), Six-Gun Gold (1941), Thundering Hoofs (1941), Wagon Train (1940), Stagecoach (1939), The Girl and the Gambler (1939), Law West of Tombstone (1938), Gold Is Where You Find It (1938), The Renegade Ranger (1938), The Vanishing Pioneer(1928) .
Now, besides his acting skills, Tim Holt also made a little pocket change by singing. And one of his close friends was a great Western musician and singer named Ray Whitley. He even starred in a few Western movies of his own, but his legacy is his music. He wrote "Back in the Saddle, Again," the song that became Gene Autry's theme song.
Well, in 1937 the Gibson guitar company manufactured a Ray Whitley guitar, the SJ-200, custom-designed for him. Whitley wanted a guitar with a deeper or thicker body, to give a lounder resonation and projection. Plus he wanted a guitar with a shorter neck, one with only 12-frets-to-the-body, because nobody he knew in Western music ever played higher up than that. And he wanted a fancy guitar that would catch the eyes of the live audiences and movie audiences. That was a tall order, but the Gibson company agreed to build it if Whitley would help promote it. The very first SJ-200, built especially for Ray, had a blond body with his name emblazoned across the neck in beautiful mother-of-pearl lettering. And Whitley did, indeed, promote the SJ-200 Gibson guitar everywhere he went. And in time the SJ-200 became the guitar of choice for many country and Western performers and other entertainers.
Ever wonder just what ever happened to Ray Whitley's beautiful first-edition SJ-200 guitar? It is both a funny and a sad tale. Don Cusic, a professor of music business, said that Ray Whitley loaned that guitar to his good friend, Tim Holt. It seems that Holt actually had a singing gig off somewhere and needed both a guitar and transportation. So Whitley loaned ol' Tim his brand new Cadillac automobile and his precious baby, his signature SJ-200 Gibson guitar. Holt thanked him and took off for his appointment. And as Holt was driving along, he was smoking a cigarette. It was a hot day and even that Cadillac did not have air conditioning, so he had the widows all rolled down. When he finished smoking that cigarette, he flipped it out the driver's window (And, yes Virginia, people once threw their lighted cigarette butts out of moving cars). Anyway, unbeknowns to Tim Holt, his cigarette was blown back into the car and landed on the back seat. By the time he noticed any smoke, the Cadillac and Whitley's high-dollar guitar were burning up. Needless to say, it put a bit of a strain on their friendship for a time. [See the excellent article by Don Cusic titled "Guitars, Cowboys and Western Music" in The Western Way Magazine (Vol. 20, Issue 1, Winter of 2010, pp. 16 ff).
Tim Holt spent his last years working as a "DJ" for a radio station in Oklahoma City. Tim Holt died from brain cancer on Feb. 15, 1973 at Shawnee, OK. There is a street in Harrah, Oklahoma named after him in his honor.
CLICK HERE to see numerous photos of Tim Holt on the pages of "Chuck Anderson's 'The Old Corral'."
CLICK HERE to see the complete filmography of Tim Holt.
This listing is far from complete and may contain errors.
Therefore, all Western entertainers and/or their agents
are requested to submit recommended changes by
contacting Stan Paregien through his e-mail address.
Check out Stan Paregien's other web site, Paregien.Net
When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.
When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world
as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
--- Jesus the Christ (Bible: Gospel of John 12:44-46)
© 2000-2010 by Stan Paregien, Sr. All rights reserved.
[ This page last revised on Feb. 11, 2010 ]
