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The following biography
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Wikipedia.org
“The
Free Encyclopedia.”
Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American
actor who, between 1977 and 1983, appeared in what
were then four of the top ten highest-grossing
movies ever.
In most
of his roles, Ford plays a tough, wise-cracking
action hero, and is well known for his repeated
performances as the character Han Solo of the Star
Wars films, and Indiana Jones of Raiders of the Lost
Ark and its sequels.
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* * *
Biography
Ford
was born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Dorothy
Ford was a Russian Jew; his father, Christopher
Ford, was Irish and Roman Catholic (and a former
actor). He graduated from Maine Township High School
in Park Ridge, Illinois, in 1960 where he reportedly
was picked on by bullies and ignored by girls. He
attended Ripon College in Wisconsin, where he took a
drama class in his junior year chiefly as a way to
meet women, he said. Ford, a self-described "late
bloomer," became fascinated with acting. While in
college, toward the end of his freshman year, he was
a member of a folk band called The Brothers Gross.
He played the gutbucket (an upside-down washbucket
rigged with a broomstick and a single bass string).
He
married his college sweetheart, Mary Marquardt, in
1964. Ford and his new wife moved to Los Angeles,
California, and he contracted with Columbia Pictures
for $150 a week in the studio's New Talent program,
where he had bit parts in three films. He then went
to Universal Studios and did minor television roles.
Not happy with the acting jobs being offered to him,
Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter to
better support his wife and two small sons before
his break-through role in American Graffiti.
Coincidentally, it was his work as a carpenter that
would land Ford his biggest role. George Lucas hired
Ford in 1975 to build some cabinets in his home and
used him to read lines for actors being cast for
parts in Star Wars. It was Steven Spielberg who
first noticed that Ford was perfect for the part of
Han Solo.
Ford went on to star as Han Solo in the first
three Star Wars films. He starred as Indiana Jones
in Raiders of the Lost Ark and two sequels, and as
Jack Ryan in Tom Clancy's Patriot Games and Clear
and Present Danger. He also has starred in Blade
Runner, Witness, The Fugitive (1993), and the remake
of Sabrina, among others.
Many of
Ford's major film roles came to him by default - Han
Solo, due to him reading lines for other actors;
Indiana Jones, because Tom Selleck was not
available; and Jack Ryan, apparently due to Alec
Baldwin's fee demands. While some of his most
revered work is in the science-fiction category with
Star Wars and cult classic Blade Runner, he said the
latter was one of his least favorite roles, and he
has yet to return to the genre.
The
Guinness Book of Records (2001) listed Ford as the
richest actor alive. His reported salary for the
2002 movie K-19: The Widowmaker was more than $25
million. The 27 movies he made grossed a combined
box office of more than $3.3 billion. Despite being
one of the most successful actors of his generation,
Ford has received only one Oscar nomination, for
Best Actor for Witness. However, in 2000, he
received the Life Achievement Award from the
American Film Institute.
Ford
assisted musician Jimmy Buffett by recording whip
cracks (a skill learned for Raiders of the Lost Ark)
used in the song "Desperation Samba (Halloween in
Tijuana)."
Ford
was credited as "Harrison J. Ford" for a small role
in a 1967 Western A Time for Killing, but the "J"
didn't stand for anything; Ford does not have a
middle name. He was credited as such to avoid
confusion with another actor named Harrison Ford, a
silent-film actor who died in 1957. The first Ford
has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of
famed eatery Musso & Frank. The modern-day Harrison
Ford received a star on Hollywood Boulevard on June
2, 2003.
Ford
has been married twice. He married Mary Marquadt in
1964, and divorced in 1979, and he had two children
with her, Benjamin and Willard. He married again, to
Melissa Mathison writer of Black Beauty and E.T. The
Extra-Terrestrial, in 1983, divorcing in 2003, and
had with her another two children: a son, Malcom,
and a daughter, Georgia. He is engaged to actress
Calista Flockhart.
Ford is
a private pilot of both planes and helicopters, and
owns an 800 acre (3.2 km²) ranch in Jackson Hole,
Wyoming. On several occasions he personally has
provided emergency helicopter services at the behest
of local authorities. In one instance, he rescued a
hiker overcome by dehydration. He is the current
Chairman of the Experimental Aircraft Association's
Young Eagle program, taking over after Chuck Yeager
retired. Ford also gives of his time and money for
environmental causes. He sits on the Board of
Directors of Conservation International.
Though
he dislikes public speaking and can be mean,
cantankerous, and gruff in interviews, he once
appeared before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on behalf
of the people of Tibet. His goal was to prevent
China from gaining Most Favored Nation status,
because of the Chinese occupation of Tibet.
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Salary history
K-19:
The Widowmaker (2002) - $25,000,000 + 20% of the
Gross
What
Lies Beneath (2000) - $20,000,000
Random
Hearts (1999) - $20,000,000
Six
Days Seven Nights (1998) - $20,000,000
Air
Force One (1997) - $22,000,000
The
Devil's Own (1997) - $20,000,000
Presumed Innocent (1990) - $12,500,000
American Graffiti (1973) - $500/week
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URL of Original Article:
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Date Article Copied:
July 11, 2005
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