Background
He was born near Villisca, Iowa, the fifth of 10 children in a farming family, and showed early interest in an acting career.
He was born near Villisca, Iowa, the fifth of 10 children in a farming family, and showed early interest in an acting career.
He dropped out of high school to travel to Omaha, Nebraska, where he studied at the Omaha Playhouse.
During World World War II he served in the United States Coast Guard on the United States Ship General H. B. Freeman (Associated Press-143), then moved to Hollywood. His first regular employment there was as a male model. Most of his early film parts were uncredited bits, including All the King"s Men (1949) and Francis the Talking Mule (1950).
Holdren portrayed Aramis in the Three Musketeers adventure film Lady in the Iron Mask (1952) starring Louis Hayward as Doctorate"Artagnan and Patricia Medina in the titular role.
After The Lost Planet (1953), Holdren tried to maintain a foothold in feature films and television, with limited success. He appeared in a number of ongoing television series, such as Dragnet and The Lone Ranger, but usually in bit parts, often uncredited.
His last significant film appearances were in very minor roles in features such as Jeanne Eagels (1957), Ice Palace (1960), and The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1960). The rapidity of his descent is indicated by the fact that in Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (1953) he plays the lead role and Richard Crane plays his (semi-comical) sidekick, whereas in the television series Rocky Jones Space Ranger (1953-1954) Richard Crane plays the lead role and Holdren has only a walk-on part in two episodes as "Ranger Higgins."
After 1960, Holdren became a full-time insurance salesman.
During his Hollywood years, he was seen in public as the escort of many different Hollywood beauties, but never married.
Holdren committed suicide on March 11, 1974, by shooting himself in the head He is buried at Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood.