Specialty ov
THE
By PEER J. OPPENHEIMER
MANY WORLDS
OF
BILL HOLDEN
the Holdens have a do-it-yourself mint.
Not that it's easy for Ardis to keep mov
ing from place to place like a vagabond,,
although both she and Bill have traveling
down to a science. Bill told me, "I travel
with little more than six shirts, which I
carry in one suitcase." He can get away
with this because he keeps duplicate ward
robes in Switzerland, in his new apartment
in Hong Kong, and in his hotel near Nai
robi, Kenya.
"Actually, the cost of this is low," says
thrifty Bill. "I had my original wardrobe
triplicated in Hong Kong at $35 a suit I
don't think I have more than $1,000 invested
in all my clothes, which isn't extravagant
for an actor."
Incidentally, according to Bill's Hong
Kong tailor, he's one of the easiest men to
fit and one of the most pleasant to do business
with. "He knows what he wants, makes se
lections of material one-two-three," says
the tailor.
A hectic life hasn't prevented Ardis
from doing a wonderful job of rais
ing their children, even with Bill away so
much. Virginia, her daughter by her first
marriage, is 22 now and lives in Los An
geles, where she is studying to be an inte
rior decorator. Their boys, Peter Westfield,
16, and Scott Porter, 13, are in school near
Lausanne, a five-minute walk from the new
Holden home.
"The World of Suzie Wong" took Holden and
costor Nancy Kwan to London and Hong Kong.
s
VA 'at
0
Bill himself has been described alter
nately as a father who doesn't care, who
spoils his children, and who is too strict.
The first accusation probably the result
of their long business separations is
wholly untrue. Nor does he spoil them. He
is somewhat strict, though, based on his
own upbringing.
"My father always told me I had to earn
what I got, whether it was my weekly al
lowance or the motorcycle I wanted when
I was 15. He had the right idea. I appre
ciated everything that much more. And I
treat my children accordingly."
He has become more lenient now that the
boys are in a Swiss boarding school, which
is far stricter than anything they experi
enced back home. "Although they live just
a few minutes from our house, they can
come home only every other weekend,"
Bill told me. "And then only if their grades
are up to par. This may sound cruel, but
actually it's much better for the boys."
There are a lot of misconceptions about
Bill, not the least of which is his supposed
wealth. He is one of the highest-paid actors
in the world, and his widely publicized
' business ventures include radio stations in
Texas and Hong Kong, an electronics fac
tory in Tokyo, and an interest in the Mount
Kenya Safari Club near Nairobi, which he
owns jointly with two close pals, Swiss
industrialist Carl Hirschmann and U. S. oil
millionaire Ray Ryan.
But while Bill likes to think of himself
as a businessman, none of his commer
cial ventures has paid off. His only b(g "kill
ing" was his much-publicized percentage
deal in "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and
that, too, has turned into a booby trap.
Bill's share, to date, amounts to $2,800,000.
Through a contract not entirely of his own
choosing, he is being paid off at $50,000 a
year. Columbia, which produced "Kwai,"
makes a good profit by investing the $2
million-plus it owes Holden; even at a con
servative 4 percent interest, this could
bring Columbia $70,000 annually after
paying Bill his $50,000!
Bill has had more than his share of fi
nancial problems since he was signed by
Paramount in 1938 at $50 a week. Although
his salary kept increasing with every op
tion, the most he made until his first out
side picture was $80,000. He got himself
deep in debt after marrying, and by the
time he got out of the Army he owed the
(Continued)
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