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Glenn Ford

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Glenn Ford

Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford (May 1 1916 – August 30 2006), better known by his stage name Glenn Ford, was an actor. He was born in Ste-Christine, Portneuf, Quebec, Canada and moved to Santa Monica, California with his family as a child. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1939.

Ford is best known for his film roles as cowboys and as an ordinary man in unusual circumstances. His acting career began on stage, and his first large movie part was in the 1939 film Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence.

Ford died at his home in Beverly Hills, California where he lived with his son, actor Peter Ford and his family. The cause of death was not immediately released, but Ford had suffered a series of strokes in recent years which had left him in frail health.

World War II service

In 1942, Ford's film career was interrupted when he volunteered for duty in World War II with the U.S. Marine Corps. His interest in the military continued as, during both the Korean War and the Vietnam War, Ford took the time to make goodwill visits to the American troops.

Acting career

Following military service, Ford's breakthrough role was in 1946, starring alongside Rita Hayworth in Gilda. He went on to be a leading man opposite her in five films, and starred with other acting greats such as Bette Davis and Gloria Grahame.

Ford's movie-acting career flourished in the 1950s and 60s, and continued into the early 1990s, with increasing television roles. His major roles in thrillers and dramas and action films include A Stolen Life, The Big Heat, Framed, Blackboard Jungle, Interrupted Melody, Experiment in Terror, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Ransom!, Superman and Westerns such as The Fastest Gun Alive, 3:10 to Yuma and Cimarron.

Ford was married four times: to Eleanor Powell, Jeanne Baus, Kathryn Hays and Cynthia Hayward. All four marriages ended in divorce. With Eleanor Powell, he was the father of actor Peter Ford.

After being nominated in 1957 and 1958, in 1962 Glenn Ford won a Golden Globe Award as Best Actor for his performance in Frank Capra's Pocketful of Miracles. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Glenn Ford has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6933 Hollywood Blvd. In 1978, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1992 he was awarded the Legion d'Honneur medal for his action in the Second World War.

Ford retired from acting in 1991 following heart and circulatory problems. During his retirement he concentrated on his interest in collecting salt and pepper shakers. He died in 2006 while living in quiet retirement in Beverly Hills with his son's family. Ford had suffered a series of minor strokes in the years before his death.

Ford had been scheduled to make his first public appearance in 15 years at a 90th birthday tribute gala in his honor hosted by the American Cinematheque at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood on May 1, 2006, but at the last minute he was unable to attend. Anticipating that his health might prevent his attendance, Ford had worked the previous week with event organizer Martin Lewis to record a special filmed message for the audience - which was screened after a series of in-person tributes from friends including Martin Landau. Shirley Jones, Jamie Farr and Debbie Reynolds.

Films

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