William Holden (April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor. He was nominated for three Academy Awards in his career (winning Best Actor in 1953 for "Stalag 17"), and also won the Emmy Award for Best Actor for "The Blue Knight" in 1974. He is also known for his roles in "Sunset Boulevard" (1950), "Sabrina" (1954), and "Network" (1976).

One of the biggest box office draws of the 1950s, he was named one of the "Top 10 Stars of the Year" six times (1954–1958, 1961) and appeared on the American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years…100 Stars list as #25.