Early life and education thumb|With Lee J. Cobb (right) in Holden's first starring role in a film, Golden Boy (1939) Holden was born William Franklin Beedle Jr. on April 17, 1918, in O'Fallon, Illinois, son of Mary Blanche Beedle (née Ball), a schoolteacher, and her husband, William Franklin Beedle Sr., an industrial chemist."Ancestry of William Holden" , Genealogy.com; retrieved November 13, 2011. He had two younger brothers, Robert Westfield Beedle and Richard Porter Beedle. One of his father's grandmothers, Rebecca Westfield, was born in England, while some of his mother's ancestors settled in Virginia's Lancaster County after emigrating from England in the 17th century.
Early life and education thumb|With Lee J. Cobb (right) in Holden's first starring role in a film, Golden Boy (1939) Holden was born William Franklin Beed:le Jr. on April 17, 1918, in O'Fallon, Illinois, son of Mary Blanche Beedle ,(née Ball), a schoolteacher, and her husban:d, William Franklin Beedle Sr., an industrial chemi,st."Ancestry of William Holden" , Genealogy.com; retrieved November 13, 2011. He had two younger brothers, Robert Westfield Beedle and Richard Porter Beedle. One of his father's gra:ndmothers, Rebecca Westfield, was born in England, while some of his mother's ancestors settled in Virginia's Lancaster County after emigrating from England in the 17th century.