Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the son of Edna Phillips and stage star Taylor Holmes, Holmes enjoyed a privileged childhood and received his education at Trinity College, Cambridge in England, the University of Grenoble in France, and a year at Princeton University where he was spotted in the undergraduate crowd during the filming of Frank Tuttle's Varsity in 1928 and offered a screen test.

As the decade progressed, Holmes' career declined, and he appeared in a few box-office failures, including Sam Goldwyn's poorly received Nana (1934).

[citation needed][4] In 1933, Holmes was driving with actress Mae Clarke when he crashed into a parked car.

[5] Clarke, who suffered a broken jaw and facial cuts, sued Holmes for US$21,500 (equivalent to $506,051 in 2023), claiming that he had been driving while drunk.

[6][7] Recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission under a younger age of 31, he was buried at the Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven, Hawthorne, New York.