Glenn Ford Biography,Career and Personal Life

Glenn Ford Biography

Glenn Ford born Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford  was a Canadian actor born in May 1, 1916, he held dual Canadian and American citizenship in Sainte-Christine-d’Auvergne, Quebec. He was born to Hannah Wood and Newton Ford, an engineer with the Canadian Pacific Railway. He was a great-nephew of Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, and also related to U.S. President Martin Van Buren. In 1922, the family moved first to Venice and then to Santa Monica California when he was 6.

Glenn Ford Career

He began working in small theatre groups after  graduating from Santa Monica High School . While in high school, he took odd jobs,  he later commented that his railroad executive father had no objection to his growing interest in acting, but told him that it was all right for him to try acting but learn something else first.  He heeded the advice and during the 1950s, when he was one of Hollywood’s most popular actors, he regularly worked on plumbing, wiring, and air conditioning at home. At times, he worked as a roofer and installer of plate-glass windows.

In 1939, he acted in West Coast stage companies before joining Columbia Pictures . His stage name came from his father’s hometown of Glenford, Alberta. His first major movie part was in the 1939 film, Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence. Top Hollywood director John Cromwell was impressed enough with his work to borrow him from Columbia for the independently produced drama, So Ends Our Night (1941), where he delivered a poignant portrayal of a 19-year-old German exile on the run in Nazi-occupied Europe.

Glenn Ford photo

After a highly publicized premiere in Los Angeles and a gala fundraiser in Miami, the White House hosted a private screening of So Ends Our Night for President Franklin Roosevelt, who admired the film greatly. The starstruck youngster was invited to Roosevelt’s annual Birthday Ball. He returned to Los Angeles and promptly registered as a Democrat, a fervent FDR supporter.

His next picture, Texas, was his first Western, a genre with which he would be associated for the rest of his life. Set after the Civil War, it paired him with another young male star under contract, Bill Holden, who became a lifelong friend. More routine films followed. In the summer of 1941, he enlisted in the Coast Guard Auxiliary, though he had a class 3 deferment . He began his training in September, 1941, driving three nights a week to his unit in San Pedro and spending most weekends there.

In 1981, Ford co-starred with Melissa Sue Anderson in the slasher film Happy Birthday to Me. In 1991, Ford agreed to star in a cable network series, African Skies. However, he developed blood clots in his legs which,  his situation was so severe that he was listed in critical condition and forced to drop out of the series and was replaced by Robert Mitchum. The 2006 movie Superman Returns includes a scene where Ma Kent  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.

Glenn Ford Marriages

He married  Eleanor Powell, an actress and dancer in 1943 and had a son in  1945 ,actor Peter Ford. They couple parted ways in 1959 .  He dated Christiane Schmidtmer during the mid-1960s, but subsequently married actress Kathryn Hays in 1966 to 1969,then married Cynthia Hayward  from 1977 to 1984, he finally married Jeanne Baus from 1993 to 1994.

Glenn Ford Death

He suffered a series of minor strokes that left him in frail health in the years that led  up to his death. He died on August 30, 2006, at the age of 90 in his Beverly Hills home.

Glenn Ford Awards

Winner

• 1962:Golden Globe Best Actor – Comedy or Musical
• Pocketful of Miracles
• 1957:Golden Apple-Most Cooperative Actor
• 1948:Golden Apple-Most Cooperative Actor
• 1987:Golden Boot
• 1959:Golden Laurel-Top Male Comedy Performance
• Don’t Go Near the Water
• 1987:Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award
• 1960:Star on the Walk of Fame-Motion Picture
  Nominee
• 1958:Golden Globe-Best Actor – Comedy or Musical
• Don’t Go Near the Water
• 1957:Golden Globe-Best Actor – Comedy or Musical
• The Teahouse
• 1959:BAFTA Film Award-Best Foreign Actor
• The Sheepman
• 1963:Golden Laurel-Top Male Comedy Performance
• The Courtship of Eddie’s Father
• 1961:Golden Laurel-Top Male Star
• Golden Laurel:Top Action Performance
• Cimarron
• 1960:Golden Laurel-Top Male Comedy Performance
• It Started with a Kiss
• 1959:Golden Laurel:Top Male Star

Glenn Ford Son

His son, Peter Newton Ford is a retired American actor, singer and former President and Co-Founder of Blackoak Development Company.

Glenn Ford Net Worth

He had a net worth of $12 million.

Glenn Ford Military Service

For his service in Vietnam, the Navy awarded him a Navy Commendation Medal. He finally retired from the Naval Reserve in the 1970s at the rank of captain. He was awarded the Marine Corps Reserve Ribbon, which recognizes those who spend 10 years of honorable reserve service.

Glenn Ford House

This was his final long-time home. He died in this residence on August 30, 2006 at the age of 90.

Glenn Ford house

Glenn Ford Movies

• Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence (1939)
• My Son Is Guilty
• Convicted Woman
• Men Without Souls
• Babies for Sale
• The Lady in Question
• Blondie Plays Cupid
• So Ends Our Night
• Texas
• Go West, Young Lady
• The Adventures of Martin Eden
• Flight Lieutenant
• The Desperadoes
• Destroyer
• Gilda
• A Stolen Life
• Gallant Journey
• Framed
• The Mating of Millie
• The Man from Colorado
• The Loves of Carmen
• The Return of October
• The Undercover Man
• Lust for Gold
• Mr. Soft Touch
• The Doctor and the Girl
• The White Tower
• Convicted
• The Flying Missile
• The Redhead and the Cowboy
• Follow the Sun
• The Secret of Convict Lake
• The Green Glove
• Young Man with Ideas
• Affair in Trinidad
• Terror on a Train
• The Man from the Alamo
• Plunder of the Sun
• The Big Heat
• Appointment in Honduras
• Human Desire
• The Americano
• The Violent Men
• Blackboard Jungle
• Interrupted Melody
• Trial
• Ransom!
• Jubal
• The Fastest Gun Alive
• The Teahouse of the August Moon
• Don’t Go Near the Water
• Cowboy
• The Sheepman
• Imitation General
• Torpedo Run
• It Started with a Kiss
• The Gazebo
• Cimarron
• Cry for Happy
• Pocketful of Miracles
• The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
• Experiment in Terror
• The Courtship of Eddie’s Father
• Love Is a Ball
• Advance to the Rear
• Fate Is the Hunter
• Dear Heart
• The Rounders
• 69. The Rounders (1965)
• The Money Trap
• Is Paris Burning?
• Rage
• A Time for Killing
• The Last Challenge
• Day of the Evil Gun
• Smith!
• Heaven with a Gun
• Howdy
• The Brotherhood of the Bell
• Jarrett
• Santee
• Target: Eva Jones
• The Disappearance of Flight 412
• The Greatest Gift
• Punch and Jody
• Midway
• The 3,000 Mile Chase
• No Margin for Error
• Evening in Byzantium
• Superman
• The Visitor
• The Sacketts
• Beggarman, Thief
• Day of the Assassin
• The Gift
• Day of Resurrection
• Happy Birthday to Me
• My Town
• Casablanca Express
• Border Shootout

Glenn Ford Video