|
Trivia
Date of birth: 13 July 1942
Place of birth: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Nickname: Harry
Height: 6' 1" (1.85 m)
Spouse: Melissa Mathison: (14 March 1983 - 6 January 2004) (divorced) 2 children, Mary
Marquardt: (18 June 1964 - 1979) (divorced) 2 children.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100
Sexiest Stars in film history (#15). [1995]
Was a master carpenter before becoming a
movie star, a craft he still does as a hobby.
Revealed on the "Late Show with David
Letterman" (1993) that he has some false teeth; 2 were pulled by a
dentist after some others were damaged when he fell on a gun during a
stunt for a TV appearance early in his career.
He provided the whip-cracks on the song
"Desperation Samba (Halloween in Tijuana)" for Jimmy Buffett's
album "Last Mango in Paris"
Private pilot, single engine fixed wing and
helicopter. Owns a Bonanza, Gulfstream IV, DeHavland Beaver, and Bell
407 helicopter. Destroyed first 407 during simulated
"engine-out" practice. Regularly flies himself between New
York City and Wyoming homes. Has a loft in Tribeca, NYC.
Chosen as People Magazine's Sexiest Man
Alive. [1998]
Ranked #1 in Empire (UK) magazine's
"The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
Chosen by "People" magazine as one
of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. [1997]
Listed as one of 50 people barred from
entering Tibet. Disney clashed with Chinese officials over the film
Kundun (1997), which Ford's second wife, Melissa Mathison, wrote. [19
December 1996]
Studied at Ripon College in Ripon,
Wisconsin, but left without obtaining a degree.
His wife, Melissa Mathison, wrote the
screenplay for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
His "first broadcast" was during
his senior year in high school (1960). He was literally the first voice
heard over the new radio station, WMTH-FM, located at Maine Township
High School in Park Ridge, Illinois, as they came on the air for the
first time.
Considers The Mosquito Coast (1986) to be
the favorite of all his movies.
Lives in a white-painted ranch house that he
built himself in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Has a scar on his chin which he got when he
tried to "buckle up" while already driving, and lost control
of the car. The scar has been explained in two of his films: in the
River Phoenix introductory sequence in Indiana Jones and the Last
Crusade (1989), an inexperienced young Indy hits himself in the chin the
first time he tries to use the whip; and in Working Girl (1988), he
first says that he got the scar in a knife fight, then admits that the
true story is that he knocked his chin on a toilet after fainting during
an ear-piercing.
He was billed as Harrison J. Ford until 1970
for less confusion between he and silent-screen actor Harrison Ford. He
actually has no middle name.
While in college Ford appeared as Mac the
Knife in the musical play, "The Threepenny Opera".
Brother of Terence Ford.
Piloted his helicopter to rescue dehydrated
20-year-old hiker Sarah George from Table Mountain near his ranch in
Jackson Hole, Wyoming. [31 July 2000]
Turned down the romance-action film Proof of
Life (2000) (the Russell
Crowe role), the summer-blockbuster The Perfect Storm (2000) (the George
Clooney role), and finally, another summer-blockbuster, the war-epic
The Patriot (2000) (the Mel
Gibson role). Ford has said "The Patriot" was "too
violent" for his tastes, especially considering that many children
were killed and endangered throughout the film. He told People Magazine
that he also turned down the film because he felt the story was too
simple: "The Revolutionary War boiled down to one man seeking
revenge."
Replaced Kevin
Costner in Air Force One (1997).
Listed in the 2001 Guinness Book of Records
as the richest male actor.
Turned down the role of Judge Wakefield in
the movie Traffic (2000).
Credited with "creating" what many
believe to be the best scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) because
he was suffering from a bout of dysentery at the time of filming: during
the scene in Cairo with the swordsman in black, the script called for a
much longer fight, but because of his condition, he quietly asked
director Steven Spielberg if they could shorten the scene. Spielberg's
reply was that the only way it could be done would be if Indy pulled out
his gun and "just shot the guy." The rest of the crew, not
aware of the change, laughed at this, and it remained in the final cut.
Honored for his work with the environment,
Ford was asked to name a new breed of butterfly. He named it after his
daughter, Georgia.
Dragonfly (2002) was written with Ford in
mind for the lead role. He turned it down to take a year off from making
movies, and the part was given to Kevin
Costner.
Costner's and Ford's casting choices have
crossed paths many times before. Ford turned down the Jack Ryan role in
The Hunt for Red October (1990) as did Costner. Ford instead made
Presumed Innocent (1990) and Costner made his Oscar-winning Dances with
Wolves (1990). The Jack Ryan role went to then character-actor Alec
Baldwin.
The U.S. box office grosses of all of Ford's
films total about $3.18 billion, with worldwide grosses totaling
approximately $5.65 billion. No other actor in history has box-office
grosses as large as Ford's.
Has a species of Central American ant (Peidole
harrisonfordi) and spider (Calponia Harrisonfordi) name3d after him in
honor of his conservation work.
He suffered a back injury while filming
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) which required surgery.
While he was away Steven Spielberg filmed around him as best he could in
the fights and stunt scenes, using Vic Armstrong, a British-born stunt
man who looked so much like Ford that members of the crew were always
mistaking confusing the two. Ford resumed doing his own stunts upon his
return, and his close-ups were added later into the finished film.
Recommended River Phoenix for the role of
the young Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).
Ford and Phoenix had previously played father and son in The Mosquito
Coast (1986).
Ranked #8 in Star TV's Top 10 Box Office
Stars of the 1990s (2003)
He was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity in
college.
30 May 2003: Received star on Hollywood Walk
of Fame.
Both his Indiana Jones jacket and fedora hat
are on display at the Smithsonian Institution.
He nearly turned down the role of Henry in
Regarding Henry (1991) because the main character was a trial lawyer. He
had just played one in Presumed Innocent (1990), and was afraid of being
typecast. He took the role when he realized that Henry would only be
functioning as a lawyer for the first ten minutes of the film.
October 2003 - had surgery on a torn-rotator
cuff.
Was the second actor to play Tom Clancy's
CIA man Jack Ryan (in Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger
(1994)) after the first actor, Alec Baldwin backed out after The Hunt
for Red October (1990). Ben
Affleck is the third to take the part.
Worked as a carpenter in Los Angeles before
achieving fame in movies, mainly doing home remodeling work. Had a
reputation as one of the best cabinetmakers in the city, and his
services were much in demand on Los Angeles' trendy Westside long before
he became a movie star.
His divorce from Melissa Mathison turned out
to be the most expensive in the history of Hollywood.
Scared director Steven Spielberg and the
crew during Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) when, without
warning, he ran out across the rope bridge used in the film's climax to
test its safety.
During the scene where he is frozen in
carbonite in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980),
Carrie Fisher says, "I love you." and Ford was supposed to
reply "I love you too." but he suggested changing it to
"I know."
Children: with Mary Marquardt, sons Benjamin
(b. 22.09.1967) and Willard (b. 14-05-1969); with Melissa Mathison, son
Malcolm Ford (b. 10-03- 1987) and daughter Georgia (b. 30-06-1991).
Was offered the part of Mike Stivic on
"All in the Family" (1971), but turned it down, citing the
bigotry of Archie Bunker was too offensive.
Has been in three films written by Lawrence
Kasdan, but never one directed by him. Kasdan wrote Star Wars: Episode V
- The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the
Jedi (1983) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).
His character, Han Solo, was ranked number
33 in Comedy Central's newest show: 'Mouthing Off: 51 Greatest
Smartasses'.
He had a role as the school principal in E.T.
the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) who lectures Elliot about the dangers of
alcohol. The scene was cut because director Steven Spielberg felt that
Ford's presence would break the flow of the film. The only footage known
to exist appeared in The E.T. Storybook released at the same time as the
film.
His favorite record is "On the
Edge", by his favorite artist, Patrick Rondat.
He was voted the 46th Greatest Movie Star of
all time by Entertainment Weekly.
Said that Blade Runner (1982) was one of the
most frustrating films he'd ever done, because the actual shoot was very
grueling and because of the post-production changes which were meant to
(but didn't) help the film do better at the box office.
Was originally brought in by George Lucas to
feed lines to other actors auditioning for Star Wars (1977) because he
wasn't allowed to audition (Lucas wanted new faces for the film). He
eventually won Lucas over and the role of Han Solo went to him.
Once described Han Solo as "The great
rapscallion of the universe."
Out of the three leads of the original Star
Wars trilogy, he was the only one to appear in all three films without
ever signing a contract.
Was friends with Billy Dee Williams before
they appeared together in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
(1980). Williams had tested for the role of Han Solo in the original
film.
He has acted alongside four actors from
"The Lord of the Rings" series before they appeared in the
trilogy. John Rhys-Davies in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981); Viggo
Mortensen in Witness (1985); Sean
Bean in Patriot Games (1992) and Miranda Otto in What Lies Beneath
(2000).
When he arrived in England to start filming
Star Wars (1977), Alec Guinness helped him find an apartment.
Said in an interview that he felt compelled
to do his own stunts for the Indiana Jones trilogy because the film was
very "action oriented" and that he felt if he weren't in the
middle of it, then were really wasn't much else for him to do.
Said one of the things he enjoyed most about
making both Witness (1985) and The Mosquito Coast (1986) was getting to
apply his real life skills as a carpenter (example: the barn raising
scene from "Witness").
His characters, Han Solo and Indiana Jones
respectively, are both brutally tortured in Star Wars: Episode V - The
Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(1984), the second installments of both trilogies.
Witness (1985) was his first role that broke
him away from the science fiction and fantasy genres that made him
famous. It does, however, still have a connection to his breakthrough
role of Han Solo. One of the cast members was Robert Earl Jones, whose
son, James Earl Jones, was the voice of Darth Vader. He also worked with
Ford in Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994).
Daughter Georgia attends Wildwood School in
Los Angeles, where the children of Demi Moore, Bill Pullman, Bruce
Willis, Eddie
Murphy, Steven Spielberg and several over music and entertainment
personalities attend, and is great friends with Elliot Murphy, son of
Eddie.
He was voted the 35th Greatest Movie Star of
all time by Premiere Magazine.
While filming Firewall (2006) in Vancouver,
British Columbia, he was so impressed with the beauty of Bowen Island
that he purchased a $13-million waterfront property upon the request of
girlfriend Calista Flockhart.
Indiana Jones was voted the second greatest
screen hero of all time by the American Film Institute, just behind
Gregory Peck's Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962).
Has been pursued by two generations of the
Fett family of bounty hunters. In Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire
Strikes Back (1980), he is captured by Boba Fett at the end of the film.
In Six Days Seven Nights (1998) he is pursued by Temuera Morrison, who
played Jango Fett, and his progeny, the stormtroopers, in Star Wars:
Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Star Wars: Episode III -
Revenge of the Sith (2005).
Han Solo was ranked at #14 on the American
Film Institute's top 200 list of cinema's greatest heroes.
In 2003, he accepted the Oscar for
"Best Director" on behalf of Roman Polanski, who wasn't
present at the awards ceremony, being a fugitive from U.S. justice since
fleeing the country in 1978
Danish group Souvenirs had a major national
hit in the late 1990s with a song named after the actor.
Family lived in Chicago when the first
controlled atomic reaction was produced, along with Tom Berenger Michael
Mann and Chase Hoyt.
|
