Harrison Ford was born on July 13th, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. He is the son of Dorothy Nidelman (1917-2004), a housewife and former radio actress, and Christopher Ford (1906-1999), a publicity executive and also former actor. His younger brother, Terence was born in 1945.
His paternal grandparents John Fitzgerald Ford and Florence Veronica Niehaus were Irish catholic and German background respectively; while his maternal grandparents Harry Nidelman, and Anna Lifschutz were immigrant Jews from Minsk, Belarus. He grew up in Des Plaines, a Chicago suburb.
From a very young age, he was shown as a very restless person, and an outdoor lover, that is why he thought to become a farmer or a marine biologist. He was not exactly a very good student, neither for his athletic conditions. He was expelled from the Ripon College last course at Wisconsin University where he studied English Literature and Philosophy because he refused to cut his hair. When he was a university student, he registered in a theater group.
Beginnings on the stage.
Along with his schoolmate and wife, Mary Marquardt, he moved to Los Angeles with the idea of becoming an actor. He signed a contract with Columbia Pictures, although he debuted with only one line in Thief and Lover (1966) and he was quickly dismissed because they did not believe seeing any potential in him. Meanwhile, he started working in a pizzeria and studied cabinetmaking on his own, becoming a celebrity carpenter. He also worked as a stagehand for the rock band The Doors.
His first dramatic film was “Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round”, in 1966. He performed some work as a secondary on television “Gunsmoke”, “The Virginian” (1962), “Ironside” (1967). Before “Star Wars” (George Lucas) and the other two in the TV series, we were able to see him in “American Graffiti” from the same director (1973). The following year he had an important role in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Conversation.”
Indiana Jones
Steven Spielberg made him play the mythical Indiana Jones in a new adventure trilogy: “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981), “Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom” (1984) and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” (1989) Which would give him worldwide fame. The role was first offered to Tom Selleck who did not accept it because of previous commitments with other projects. Ford was finally chosen for the role. With Australian director Peter Weir worked on “Witness” (1985), which earned him an Oscar nomination for best actor, and in “The Mosquito Coast” (1986).
Recognitions.
In 1998 he was chosen “the sexiest man of the world” according to “People” magazine. In 2001 he entered the ‘Guinness Book of Records’ as the richest actor on the planet. Today, he has total net worth of $210 million. At the 2002 Golden Globes gala he was awarded the Cecil B. De Mille Award in recognition of his film career and honorary Caesar to his whole career in 2010. On June 2, 2003, he received a star in The Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the Kodak Theater.
