Golden Boy

The play originally opened in New York on 4 November 1937 and had 250 performances. Luther Adler played Joe Bonaparte, Frances Farmer played Lorna Moon and Roman Bohnan played Tom Moody. Lee J. Cobb was also in the play as Mr. Carp.

William Holden was considered not to be up to the role in the film, however Barbara Stanwyck urged producers to keep him in the picture, and succeeded. In 1978, at the The 50th Annual Academy Awards (1978) (TV), before starting the presentation of the sound award, William Holden publicly thanked Stanwyck for what she did

When Clifford Odets wrote his play, he had John Garfield in mind for the Joe Bonaparte part, but the Group Theatre company chose Luther Adler instead. Shortly afterward, Garfield left the Group Theater and was Hollywood bound.

Columbia could not use Richard Carlson, its first choice for the title role, because Carlson was appearing in a Broadway play, "Stars in Your Eyes". The studio then cast William Holden in the part.

Lee J. Cobb, playing 20-year-old William Holden's middle-aged father, was actually only 27.

Film debut of Robert Sterling.

Almost 5000 actors had been considered for the part of Joe Bonaparte and more than 80 had been given screen tests. The odds of getting the plumb part were against the unknown Holden but Barbara Stanwyck and director Rouben Mamoulian lobbied on his behalf

To convincingly portray a boxer who was also a violinist, Holden took boxing and violin lessons all day every day for a week before production began. He continued to prepare during the eleven weeks of filming by boxing two hours daily and practicing the violin for an hour-and-a-half each night so his fingering of the instrument was convincing.

Holden was knocked unconscious one day while boxing on the set with Cannonball Green. He thought the footage of the knockout would be spectacular but the director said they couldn't use it because it didn't look real. Holden recalled that, real or not, his head ached for a week.

William Holden was so grateful to Barbara Stanwyck for her insistence on casting him in Golden Boy (1939), his first big role, that he reportedly sent her flowers every year on the anniversary of the first day of the filming.

Cast of Golden Boy

Barbara Stanwyck
Adolphe Menjou
William Holden
Lee J Cobb
Joseph Calleia
Sam Levene
Edward Brophy
Beatrice Blinn
William Strauss
Don Beddoe