William Holden

Born to a wealthy family in O'Fallon, Ill., on April 17, 1918, as William Franklin Beedle Jr., William Holden changed his name and became a dependable and handsome Hollywood lead, making his film debut alongside Barbara Stanwyck in Golden Boy (1939).

He hit his stride with a string of memorable roles in Born Yesterday (1950); Sunset Boulevard (1950); Stalag 17 (1953), which earned him an Oscar; Executive Suite (1954); Sabrina (1954); Picnic (1956); The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957); The Counterfeit Traitor (1962) and The Wild Bunch (1969).

Despite a general slump in the 1970s, Holden earned an Emmy for his television debut in "The Blue Knights" (1973) and marked another career high with an Oscar-nominated performance in Network (1976). He died on Nov. 16, 1981, from an accidental fall at the age of 63.

The Bridge on the River Kwai

1957 PG

Director David Lean's sweeping epic -- best known for a whistling work theme that became legendary -- is set in a World War II Japanese prison camp, where British prisoners are forced to build a railway bridge as a morale-building exercise.