William Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984)

For me he will always be the Thin Man. His career began on Broadway as far back as 1912… In 1922 he appeared in his first motion picture Sherlock Holmes. His other film credits include Outcast, The Bright Shawl, Time to Love, Paid to Love, She’s a Sheik, The Great Ziegfeld, Ziegfeld Follies and Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid… Between 1929 and 1933 he played the detective Philo Vance in five different films. Between 1934 and 1947 he appeared as Nick Charles in six different films The Thin Man (1934), After the Thin Man (1936), Another Thin Man (1939), Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), The Thin Man Goes Home (1944) and Song of the Thin Man (1947). In these films, actress Myrna Loy played his wife Nora and after all was said and done Powell and Loy appeared in fourteen motion pictures together... On radio he appeared on shows like “Suspense” and reprised his role as Nick Charles for the “Lux Radio Theatre” version of The Thin Man… He shared a wonderful romance with actress Jean Harlow from 1935 until her sudden death in 1937. In 1955, at the age of 63, he retired after his appearance in the film Mister Roberts. He received several offers but remained in retirement until his death from a cardiac arrest at the age of 91... He is one of the very few actors that didn’t appear on television in his later years… He was honored by comedian Don Adams who claimed that the voice he used for his “Get Smart” character Maxwell Smart was an impression of Nick Charles… 25 years after his passing… In Memoriam Remembers: William Powell

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