History Creator / WilliamPowell

Powell was born in Pittsburgh, with the family moving to Kansas City in 1907. He went to New York to major in drama, played in vaudeville after leaving college, and then got parts on the stage. He made his film debut in 1922 with a screen adaptation of William Gillette's play ''Sherlock Holmes'' (a film that also happened to be the debut of Roland Young, who would himself have a very successful career as a character actor). He worked steadily during the silent era, playing [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness a lot of villains]]. By 1929 he was starring as detective Literature/PhiloVance in ''The Canary Murder Case''. He would play Vance three more times over the next few years.

->''Powell is to dialog what Creator/FredAstaire is to dance. His delivery is so droll and insinuating, so knowing and innocent at the same time, that it hardly matters what he's saying.''

* BadassInANiceSuit

* BadassBaritone: A common feature that is recognised is Powell's deep, wry, sophisticated voice, which has been said to add to his comedic dialogue. Any William Powell fangirl, however, would say it's his most [[{{fanservice}} attractive]] [[invoked]][[SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound feature]].

Powell was born in Pittsburgh, with the family moving to Kansas City in 1907. He went to New York to major in drama, played in vaudeville after leaving college, and then got parts on the stage. He made his film debut in 1922 with a screen adaptation of William Gillette's play ''Sherlock Holmes'' (a film that also happened to be the debut of Roland Young, who would himself have a very successful career as a character actor). He worked steadily during the silent era, playing a rare villainous role in UsefulNotes/RedOctober drama ''The Last Command'', and by 1929 he was starring as detective Literature/PhiloVance in ''The Canary Murder Case''. He would play Vance three more times over the next few years.

* BadassMoustache: Not really "badass", but Powell's moustache was his well-known trademark.

Powell was married to Creator/CaroleLombard from 1931, but they AmicablyDivorced in '33; he actually recommended her to star alongside him in the screwball comedy classic ''My Man Godfrey'' three years later. He then fell in love with Creator/JeanHarlow, and was so disturbed by her death in 1937 that he had to be helped to his seat at her funeral. That same year he was diagnosed with cancer and nearly died, only to be saved by a then-experimental chemotherapy application. His film career slowed down after that but he still made three more Thin Man films and got his third Oscar nomination for ''Life with Father'' (he went 0 for 3). His third marriage, to actress Diana Lewis, lasted for the rest of his life. His last film was the 1955 film adaptation of ''Mister Roberts''; although he would go on to live for another thirty years, trouble remembering his lines during production led to his retirement from the industry.

-->-- Creator/RogerEbert, reviewing ''Film/TheThinMan'' (1934)

William Horatio Powell (July 29th 1892 -- March 5th 1984) was an American actor and one of the biggest stars of UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood, especially during TheThirties. He typically played charming, debonair, witty urban sophisticates.

* {{Adorkable}}: He had his moments. He had some {{slapstick}} scenes.