Harrison Ford

Hansolo.jpg in The Empire Strikes Back]]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 especially well known for his repeated performances of the characters of Han Solo of the Star Wars films, and Indiana Jones of Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels.

Biography

Ford was born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Dorothy Ford was a Russian Jew, while 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. Ford, a self-described "late bloomer," became fascinated with acting.

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.

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 further movies, and as Jack Ryan in Tom Clancy's Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. He has also starred in Blade Runner, Witness, The Fugitive (1993), and the remake of Sabrina, among others.

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 over $25,000,000. Despite being arguably the most successful actor of his generation, he 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 had two children with her, Benjamin and Willard. He married again, to Melissa Mathison, 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. He often offers his flying skills and helicopter for search and rescue missions. 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.

He dislikes public speaking but 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 because of the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

Filmography

- Indiana Jones 4 (2006) (in pre-production)
- Hollywood Homicide (2003)
- K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)
- What Lies Beneath (2000)
- Random Hearts (1999)
- Six Days Seven Nights (1998)
- Air Force One (1997)
- ''The Devil's Own (1997)
- Sabrina (1995)
- Les Cent et une nuits (1995)
- Jimmy Hollywood (1994)
- Clear and Present Danger (1994)
- A Century of Cinema (1994)
- Mustang: The Hidden Kingdom (1994) (TV)
- The Fugitive (1993)
- Commercial Entertainment Product (1992)
- Earth and the American Dream (1992)
- Patriot Games (1992)
- L'Envers du décor: Portrait de Pierre Guffroy (1992)
- Regarding Henry (1991)
- Presumed Innocent (1990)
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
- Frantic (1988)
- Working Girl (1988)
- The Mosquito Coast (1986)
- Witness (1985)
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
- Return of the Jedi (1983)
- Blade Runner (1982)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
- The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Hanover Street (1979)
- Apocalypse Now (1979)
- The Frisco Kid (1979)
- More American Graffiti (1979)
- The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) (TV)
- Force 10 from Navarone (1978)
- Star Wars (1977)
- The Possessed (1977) (TV)
- Heroes (1977)
- Dynasty (1976) (TV)
- Judgement: The Court Martial of Lt William Calley (1975) (TV)
- The Conversation (1974)
- American Graffiti (1973)
- The Intruders (1970) (TV)
- Getting Straight (1970)
- Zabriskie Point (1970)
- The Intruders (1970) (TV)
- Journey to Shiloh (1968)
- Luv (1967) (uncredited)
- A Time for Killing (1967)
- Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round'' (1966)

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
- Devil's Own, The (1997) - $20,000,000
- Presumed Innocent (1990) - $12,500,000
- American Graffiti (1973) - $500/week

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