At an early age, he knew he wanted a career in Hollywood. Ford held a series of menial jobs, including working as a stable hand for actor Will Rogers and also cleaning a bar before debuting in a stage production as a grocery boy.
He found more stage work in New York. Ford won a screen test with 20th Century Fox Studios, but he failed to impress. Ford signed a multi-year contract with Columbia. Studio head Harry Cohn tried to change his name to John Gower, but Ford opted for Glenn Ford, after the name of his father's birthplace of Glenford and the name of the family paper mill. He landed roles in a number of movies; most were low-budget films.
Upon his release, Ford earned roles in a number of films that made him a marquee name. He co-starred with Rita Hayworth in Gilda in The next performance which garnered him acclaim was 's The Big Heat. Ford's strong portrayal of an idealistic high school teacher in 's Blackboard Jungle made the film a huge success; it earned four Oscar nominations.
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How much of Glenn Ford's work have you seen? See more awards ». Known For. Gilda Johnny Farrell. Superman Pa Kent. Pocketful of Miracles Dave the Dude. The Big Heat Dave Bannion. Show all Hide all Show by Hide Show Actor credits. Lucas Wheeler.
David Faraday. Tom Sunday. Jake Durham. Jesse Craig. It gives the audience someone real to identify with. People laugh when I say I'm not an actor, but I'm not, I play myself. If they tried to rush me, I'd always say I've only got one other speed, and it's slower. National defense must be the top priority for our country. If you are strong, you are safe. Now is the time for every American to be proud. This is the land of the free and the home of the brave.
If we are not brave, we will not be free. Take what life throws at you and throw it right back. If life keeps throwing then you have a tennis match going.
Learn to like tennis. Ronald Reagan was a true friend and an American Patriot. We are proud of him and his service to the country. We need men like him today. I've always said the talking pictures talk too much anyway. I'm out of place doing sophistication. I'm so uncomfortable in a tuxedo.
When I see films that go on and on with dialogue, I feel like telling the actors, "Be quiet! Let the audience do some of the work! Some actors count their lines as soon as they receive a script.
I'm the opposite. I try to see how many lines I can whittle down You can say just as much in 4 as you can in Hell, no actor is going to tell Frank Capra how to make a picture. He has forgotten more about movie-making than most directors ever know. Asked how he wished to be remembered: He did his best and he believed in God. I wish I were up and around, but I'm doing the best that I can. Ford went on to be a leading man opposite Hayworth in a total of five films. Beautifully shot in black-and-white by cinematographer Rudolph Mate, Gilda has endured as a classic of film noir.
With a return like this, Glenn Ford, not to mention his friend Bill Holden, need not have worried about their future careers after the war. Both men flourished throughout the s and s as male icons for those decades, but Ford was frustrated that he was not given the opportunities to work with directors of the caliber that led Holden to his Oscar-winning career, such as Billy Wilder and David Lean.
He also made the mistake, which he bitterly regretted later, of turning down the lead in the brilliant comedy Born Yesterday also planned with Rita Hayworth which Holden then snatched up. He instead continued to bring in solid performances in thrillers , dramas, and action films such as A Stolen Life with Bette Davis , memorable film noir: The Big Heat directed by Hitler refugee Fritz Lang , co-starring Gloria Grahame , and reteamed with the same in the following year in Human Desire , loosely based on La Bete Humaine , the Emile Zola novel.
Framed, Experiment in Terror with Lee Remick , and Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were other dramas, often expensive and high-profile projects, if not always profitable, from the studio. Blackboard Jungle was a landmark film of teen angst.
Unlike the comparatively white-bread Rebel Without A Cause and The Wild One, Blackboard Jungle tackled racial conflicts head-on as Ford played an idealistic but harassed teacher of an urban high school that included a very young Sidney Poitier and other black and Hispanic cast members.
Messed-up white kids were there, too, particularly one played by Vic Morrow , depicting that new phenomenon, the juvenile delinquent. Bill Haley's " Rock Around The Clock " under the opening credits was the first use of a rock and roll song in a Hollywood film. Richard Brooks, the film's writer and director, had discovered the music when he heard Ford's son, Peter, playing the record at Glenn's home.
Ford's versatility also allowed him to star in a number of popular comedies, almost always as the beleaguered, well-meaning, but nonplussed straight man, set upon by circumstances, as in The Teahouse of the August Moon , in which he played an American soldier sent to Okinawa to convert the occupied island natives to the American way of life, and is instead converted by them.
In , Ford had a supporting role in Superman , as Clark Kent 's adoptive father, Jonathan Kent , a role that introduced Ford to a new generation of film audiences. Unusual for a World War II veteran, most of whom were only too happy to be finished with the war, Ford joined up for yet a third time in He entered the U. Naval Reserve , was commissioned as a lieutenant commander and made a public affairs officer — ironically, the very position he had portrayed the previous year in the successful comedy Don't Go Near the Water.
During his annual training tours, he promoted the Navy through radio and television broadcasts, personal appearances, and documentary films. Ford continued to combine his film career with his military service, and was promoted to commander in and captain in , after he went to Vietnam in for a month's tour of duty as a location scout for combat scenes in a training film entitled Global Marine. In support of Democrat President Lyndon Johnson 's escalation of the Vietnam War, he traveled with a combat camera crew from the demilitarized zone south to the Mekong Delta.
He finally retired from the Naval Reserve in the s at the rank of captain. He suggested doing a Western series, instead, which resulted in the "modern-day Western" series, Cade's County. Ford played southwestern Sheriff Cade for one season — in a mix of police mystery and western drama.
In Ford was host, presenter and narrator of the disaster documentary series ' When Havoc Struck '. In , Ford agreed to star in a cable network series, African Skies. However, prior to the start of the series, he developed blood clots in his legs which required a lengthy stay in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Eventually, he recovered, but at one time his situation was so severe that he was listed in critical condition.
Ford was forced to drop out of the series and was replaced by Robert Mitchum. The movie Superman Returns includes a scene where Ma Kent played by Eva Marie Saint stands next to the living room mantel after Superman returns from his quest to find remnants of Krypton. On that mantel is a picture of Glenn Ford as Pa Kent. Ford's first wife was actress and dancer Eleanor Powell — , with whom he had his only child, actor Peter Ford born The couple appeared together on screen just once, in a short film produced in the s entitled Have Faith in Our Children.
When they married, Powell was more famous than Ford. All four marriages ended in divorce. Ford was not on good terms with his ex-wives, except for Cynthia Hayward, with whom he remained close until his death. He also had a long-term relationship with actress Hope Lange in the early s, although they never married. At the height of his stardom, Glenn Ford supported the Democratic Party.
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