John Cecil Holm (also known as Cecil Holm) was born in Philadelphia on November 4, 1904, to Charles Hedley Holm and Lucinda Bair Holm. He was educated in Philadelphia public schools, graduated from the Perkiomen School, Pennsburg, Pennsylvania (1924), and studied as the University of Pennsylvania (1925). On July 16, 1932, he married Fae Pittenger Brown. She died in 1959. Holm's second wife was Delores Leida Boland, whom he married in 1960.
Holm's acting career began in 1925, with his appearance in The Devil Within in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He later appeared in Whirlpool (New York, Biltmore, 1929), The Front Page (New York, 1930), Penal Law 2010 (Biltmore, 1930), The Up and Up (Biltmore, 1930), Wonder Boy (New York, Alvin, 1931), Dangerous Corner (New York, Empire, 1932), Bloodstream (New York, Times Square, 1932), Mary of Scotland (Alvin, 1934), Bee in Her Bonnet (Charleston, S.C., 1944), Gramercy Ghost (written by Holm; New York, Morosco, 1951), The Southwest Corner (also written by Holm; New York, Holiday, 1955), A Mighty Man Is He (New York, Cort, 1960), Midgie Purvis (New York, Martin Beck, 1961), Mr. President (New York, St. James, 1962), The Advocate (New York, ANTA, 1963), Philadelphia, Here I Come! (New York, Helen Hayes, 1966), and Forty Carats (Morosco, 1968-1970). He was best known as a character actor. Holm also appeared in many roles in films, television, off-Broadway plays, and summer stock.
Between 1934 and 1950 Holm concentrated on writing and directing plays rather than acting. His earliest success was Three Men on a Horse, written with George Abbot, and produced at the Playhouse Theater on January 30, 1935. Holm also directed the Chicago and London companies and the New York revival of Three Men on a Horse. After the success of his first play, directors and producers suggested that he continue writing, and Holm found it difficult to return to acting. He then began writing a series of plays and works to be dramatized for Broadway, including Four Cents a Word (1937), Best Foot Forward (produced and directed by George Abbott, Ethel Barrymore Theater, New York, October 1, 1941; revived off-Broadway in 1963), Banjo Eyes (1941), Quiet Facing the Park (published in Best One Act Plays of 1943), and Brighten the Corner (Lyceum, December 12, 1945). He was a motion picture writer in Hollywood in 1944, and revised the musical comedy Sweethearts in 1947.
Among the books written by Holm were Sunday Best (Farrar and Rinehart, 1942) and McGarrity and the Pigeons (Rinehart and Co., 1947). Original songs which he composed include “Fanfare for Americans” (1965), and “Are You Running With Me, Lord?” (1966).
