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25 March 2022

Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford (1884-1957) was an American stage and film actor. He was a leading Broadway theatre performer and a star of the silent film era.

Harrison Ford
French postcard by Cinémagazine Edition, Paris, no. 328. On the card is his name written as 'Harrisson Ford' (sic).

Harrison Ford
German postcard by Verlag Ross, Berlin, no. 803/1, 1925-1926. Photo: British American Films A.G. (Bafag).

Harrison Ford
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 848/1, 1925-1926. Photo: British American Films A.G. Bafag.

Harrison Ford and Marie Prevost in Up in Mabel's Room
Romanian postcard. Photo: Cawa-Film / Christie Film. Harrison Ford and Marie Prevost in the comedy Up in Mabel's Room (E. Mason Hopper, 1926). The Romanian title 'Buduarul doamnei' translates as 'A Lady's Boudoir'.

Strongheart


Harrison Edward Ford was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1884. Ford has no known relation to the later film actor of the same name.

He began his acting career on the stage. He made his Broadway debut in 1904 in Richard Harding Davis's 'Ranson's Folly'.

He went on to appear in productions of William C. DeMille's 'Strongheart' and 'Glorious Betsy' by Rida Johnson Young. This production lasted only 24 performances but the play was later adapted for an Oscar-nominated film of the same name.

He also appeared in Bayard Veiller's 'The Fight', which quickly closed; Edgar Wallace's 'The Switchboard'; Edward Locke's 'The Bubble'; and Edgar Selwyn's 'Rolling Stones'. In 1909, Ford married New York stage actress Beatrice Prentice.

Norma Talmadge and Harrison Ford in The Wonderful Thing
Spanish collectors card by Escenas selectas de cinematografia, series A, no. 16. Photo: Norma Talmadge Film. Norma Talmadge, Harrison Ford, and Howard Truesdale in The Wonderful Thing (Herbert Brenon, 1921), presented in Spain as 'La princesita del jamón' (The Ham Princess).

Constance Talmadge and Harrison Ford in Wedding Bells
Spanish collectors card by Escenas selectas de cinematografia, series B, no. 7. Photo: Constance Talmadge Film. Harrison Ford and Constance Talmadge in Wedding Bells (Chester Withey, 1921), released in Spain as 'La senorita del pelo corto'.

Harrison Ford and Constance Talmadge in Wedding Bells
Spanish collectors card by Escenas selectas de cinematografia, series B, no. 21. Photo: Constance Talmadge Film. Harrison Ford and Constance Talmadge in Wedding Bells (Chester Withey, 1921), released in Spain as 'La senorita del pelo corto'.

Food for Scandal


Harrison Ford turned to film in 1915 and moved to Hollywood. He became a leading man opposite stars such as Constance Talmadge, Norma Talmadge, Marie Prevost, Marion Davies, Marguerite De La Motte, and Clara Bow.

For director James Cruze, he appeared in such films as Hawthorne of the U.S.A. (James Cruze, 1919) with Wallace Reid, and Food for Scandal (James Cruze, 1920) with Wanda Hawley.

Ford's film career ended with the advent of sound film. His final film, and only talkie, Love in High Gear (Frank R. Strayer, 1932). He returned to acting in the theatre, and also directed productions at the Little Theater of the Verdugos in Glendale, California.

During World War II, he toured with the United Service Organizations (USO). According to IMDb, Ford was a recluse: "he shunned personal publicity and Hollywood itself."

In 1951, he was struck by a car driven by a teen girl while out walking. He never recovered from the severe injuries received and spent the rest of his life at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, and died there in 1957, at the age of 73. He was buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Harrison Ford has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the Musso & Frank Grill at 6665 Hollywood Blvd.

Harrison Ford
Spanish collectors card by Novela Popular Cinematográfica, gift supplement to no. 172.

Harrison Ford
Spanish postcard, no. 530. The same photo was also on a Ross Verlag postcard, no. 803/1.

Wallace Reid and Harrison Ford in Hawthorne of the U.S.A. (1919)
Spanish collectors card by Chocolate Amatller, series CC, artist 35, no. 77. Wallace Reid and Harrison Ford in Hawthorne of the U.S.A. (James Cruze, 1919). It is one of the few surviving films with Reid.

Harrison Ford
Spanish postcard in the series Estrella del cine, no. 70. Photo: Paramount Film, no. P 708.

Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.

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