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When he died in 2006, at the age of 90, those materials were passed to his son, Peter Ford — who knew that he would be the one to write the first substantial biography of his father.
- He Was Born Into Privilege
- He Decided to Make A Change
- He Pushed Him to Do More
- He Got His Big Break…
- …But It Wouldn’T Be So Easy
- He Humiliated Him
- He Got Back at Him
- He Met His Match
- He Was Double Dipping
- He Got His Breakout Role
Glenn Ford was born Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford on May Day in a working class town in Quebec, Canada—but that doesn’t mean he had a hardscrabble upbringing. Ford’s father was a railroad executive who could count a Canadian prime minister and an American president as relatives. Plus, Ford didn't exactly tough out the Canadian winters. When Ford’s fat...
From an early age, Ford took an interest in the stage, appearing in high school plays and joining local theater groups after graduation. At first, he worked as a stage manager, until Ford realized that he’d make ten times as much as an actor than he ever would as a stage manager. After that epiphany, he was determined to turn the tide—and he did. S...
Ambition is important, but so is prudence. Ford’s father was supportive, but he also insisted that his son learn trades so that he would have a backup if he didn’t make it as an actor. Ford made the ultimatum work for him, and took jobs as a roofer, window installer, and bartender before he was a star. All that knowledge would come in handy later… ...
You can chalk up Ford's Hollywood discovery to simply being in the right place at the right time. Columbia Pictures studio head Harry Cohn was finally looking to hire his own stable of stars after years of accepting cast-offs from other, more profitable studios. But, Cohn was a penny pincher. He wanted actors who were young, attractive, and talente...
Cohn offered Ford a contract to become one of Columbia Picture’s first stars—but that doesn’t mean he shot to success right away. Instead, Cohn made him work for it. The studio head pitted Ford against another young star named William Holden. Knowing what kind of mischief actors got up to in their spare time, Cohn figured that either Ford or Holden...
Glenn Ford made his feature film debut in the 1939 drama Heaven With a Barbed Wire Fence. The experience should’ve felt like a triumph—instead, it was sheer agony. The film’s director, Ricardo Cortez, bullied Ford the whole time. The harassment culminated in a mortifying incidentwhere Cortez dressed Ford down in front of the whole crew, telling him...
Ford's disastrous experience on his first film was deeply discouraging. It was so bad that he briefly left Hollywood after the incident. However, years later, when Ford was a major star, he ran into Ricardo Cortez at a Los Angeles restaurant. Remembering his humiliation at the hands of the director, Ford very nearly attacked Cortez. These type of m...
Heaven With a Barbed Wire Fence was the first in a string of forgettable B movies that Columbia Pictures put Ford in—but one was much more remarkable than the rest. 1940’s The Lady in Question may not have been a hit, but it was an important turning point for Ford. It was the first time that he met up-and-coming young starlet Rita Hayworth. They ha...
Columbia Pictures studio head Harry Cohn hired Glenn Ford because too many other stars were mired in scandal. However, with Ford, he got more than he bargained for. Ford may not have made his name in the movies yet, but he was certainly working hard on his reputation as a ladies’ man. In The Lady in Question, he appeared opposite Hayworth and starl...
Cohn may not have given Ford any shining opportunities to make a star of himself, but someone else saw the young actor’s potential. Director John Cromwell cast Ford in the WWII drama So Ends Our Night, and the film was a huge hit—but not without its fair share of controversy. Even though the conflict had already begun, the US had yet to pick a side...
In 1922, when Ford was age six, the family emigrated southwest across the border into the United States, first to Venice, California, and then to Santa Monica, west of Los Angeles; his father, Newton became a motorman on a tram / streetcar for the Venice Electric Tram Company, a job he held until he died at age 50 in 1940, when his son Glenn ...
May 3, 2022 · He took birth as Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford to his father, Newton, and mother, Hannah Wood. Although born in Canada, Ford relocated to Venice with his parents at only six years of age. Later, when he was eight years old, the family again moved to Santa Monica, California, and settled there.
- Anil Pradhan
Glenn Ford. Actor: Gilda. Legendary actor Glenn Ford was born Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford in Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne, Quebec, Canada, to Hannah Wood (Mitchell) and Newton Ford, a railroad executive. His family moved to Santa Monica, California when he was eight years old.
- May 1, 1916
- August 30, 2006
Apr 28, 2016 · But towards the end of his career, Ford “did some less than stellar films” says Peter, who once asked his dad why he took roles in forgettable movies like 1989’s “Casablanca Express.”
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Sep 26, 2016 · Glenn Ford was born Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford in Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne, Quebec, Canada. He became a naturalized U. S. citizen in 1939. His father was a railroad executive; Ford played a railroad engineer in Fritz Lang's classic film noir Human Desire (1954).
