Actor harrison ford biography filmography

Harrison Ford

(1942-)

Who Is Harrison Ford?

Harrison Ford struggled for years as mar actor before George Lucas cast him in 1973's American Graffiti. Ford then hit superstardom as Han Solo in the premier three Star Wars films and as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels, all huge successes. He has enjoyed leading roles in numerous Hollywood films specified as Blade Runner, Witness, Working Girl, Patriot Games,The Fugitive and 42, among many others. Ford later revisited some of his most famous characters in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom be defeated the Crystal Skull, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Blade Runner 2049.

Early Life and Career

Born on July 13, 1942, subordinate Chicago, Illinois, Ford grew up in the suburb Des Plaines, as the son of an advertising executive and a stay-at-home mother.

After graduating high school in 1960, Ford studied Arts and philosophy at Ripon College in Wisconsin. There, he observed an interest in performing nearly by accident. Ford signed take apart for a drama course, hoping for an easy good mention. "I was terrified to get up in front of group, but I really enjoyed the storytelling part," he explained appoint People. However, Ford wasn't the best student in college, contemporary he ended up leaving before completing his degree.

With his wife, Mary Marquardt, he made his way to Hollywood surround the mid-1960s. Ford first landed a deal with Columbia Pictures as a contract player, earning $150 a week. He fuel ended up at Universal. In 1966, Ford made his release debut in a bit part in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round. Studio executives were less than impressed. One studio justifiable said, "You'll never make it in this business," Ford sit in judgment The Hollywood Reporter.

Breakthrough Films

'American Graffiti'

Frustrated with his lack of come next as an actor, Ford became a carpenter to supplement his income. George Lucas gave him his first important film lap in his 1973 drama American Graffiti, but his career aborted to progress much afterward. He worked for Francis Ford Filmmaker as both a carpenter and an actor with small roles in The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979).

'Star Wars'

In 1977, Ford collaborated with Lucas again for his breakthrough role introduction Han Solo in Star Wars. His portrayal of the rash but likable rogue in this science-fiction classic raised his outline in Hollywood. The film's two sequels, The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), helped make him a star.

'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' 'Blade Runner'

Around this throw a spanner in the works, Ford brought another of his legendary film characters to say publicly big screen. He played resourceful, swashbuckling archaeologist Indiana Jones delete 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark, directed by Steven Filmmaker. The action-adventure tale, written in part by Lucas, proved strip be a huge hit. It spawned several sequels, including Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Indiana Linksman and the Last Crusade (1989). Around the time of interpretation first Indiana Jones installment, Ford also starred as the give a call character in Blade Runner (1982), a shadowy science-fiction outing directed by Ridley Scott that would become a cult classic.

More Movies

'Witness'

Ford enhanced his reputation as a dramatic actor with several petrifying roles in the mid-1980s. He received an Academy Award connection for his work in 1985's Witness, a crime drama co-starring Kelly McGillis and directed by Peter Weir. The following twelvemonth, Ford re-teamed with Weir to play an offbeat inventor run to ground The Mosquito Coast, with River Phoenix and Helen Mirren. At the same time as the project was a commercial disappointment, the film allowed Industrialist to tackle an unusual and sometimes unlikable character. In 1988, he showed his lighter side in the popular romantic humour Working Girl, with Melanie Griffith and Sigourney Weaver.

'Patriot Games'

Returning relate to the role of action hero, Ford starred in 1992's Patriot Games as CIA agent Jack Ryan, the protagonist from depiction bestselling novels by Tom Clancy. Audiences loved him in representation role, which he reprised in 1994's Clear and Present Danger. By this time, Ford had become one of Hollywood's ascendant bankable stars. He earned $20 million per film with 15 percent of the film's gross take at the box class at his peak.

'Air Force One'

After years of blockbuster success, President stumbled through a few missteps in the mid-to-late 1990s. Proscribed starred in the disappointing remake of the 1954 dramatic drollery Sabrina with Julia Ormand and Greg Kinnear. Co-starring with Brad Pitt, Ford saw his 1997 crime thriller The Devil's Own fall flat. But he proved that his box office adroitness had not faded with his turn as president of description United States in the hit action thriller Air Force One that same year. Other dramas he starred in around that time include Presumed Innocent (1990), Regarding Henry (1991) and rendering horror film What Lies Beneath (2000) with Michelle Pfeiffer.

'Indiana Golfer and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'

In the early 2000s, Ford took on fewer movie roles. The parts he upfront play had mixed results. He partnered with Josh Hartnett book 2003's Hollywood Homicide, a lighthearted crime drama that received a tepid reception from moviegoers. In 2006, his thriller Firewall came and went with little notice. Ford then returned to knob with one of the franchises that made him famous manifestation 2008. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull reached the top spot at the box office its opening weekend, going on to earn more than $786 million worldwide.

'Morning Glory,' '42'

Ford took on an unusual form of action film be grateful for 2010 with Cowboys & Aliens, facing off against Daniel Craig. That same year, his comedy Morning Glory with Rachel McAdams and Diane Keaton fared well at the box office. Row 2013, he showed his dramatic talents in 42, a release about the life of African-American baseball legend Jackie Robinson. Filmmaker plays Branch Rickey, the baseball executive who signed Robinson appoint play for the Brooklyn Dodgers. That year he also comed in the science-fiction adventure Ender's Game and the thriller Paranoia.

Reprising Han Solo for 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'

In late Apr 2014, Ford delighted film fans everywhere with the news put off he would appear in the latest installment in the long-running Star Wars franchise. The cast also included his earlier co-stars Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by J.J. Abrams, opened in the U.S. on Dec 18, 2015, and broke an array of box office records, earning more than $247 million domestically in its opening weekend.

'Blade Runner 2049'

Two years later, Ford reprised his Blade Runner character in its sequel, Blade Runner 2049, with Ryan Gosling. Rendering longtime actor then signed up for his first animated post, voicing a farm dog named Rooster for The Secret Believable of Pets 2 (2019), before starring alongside a CGI cuspid for a big screen adaptation of Jack London's The Phone call of the Wild (2020).

Marriages and Personal Life

Ford was married launch an attack his college girlfriend Mary Marquardt from 1964 to 1979. Depiction couple has two sons together. He married screenwriter Melissa Mathison in 1983. They met during the making of 1979's Apocalypse Now. They had two children together before separating in 2001 and finalizing their divorce in 2004. Ford has been romantically involved with actress Calista Flockhart since 2002. The couple wedded in 2010.

A longtime pilot, Ford made headlines in March 2015 when he was involved in a plane crash. He was forced to make a crash landing on a golf scope in Venice, California, after experiencing engine trouble. He had dash into problems with his vintage aircraft shortly after taking initiate from California's Santa Monica Airport on March 5. According without delay the New York Daily News, Ford broke his ankle captain pelvis in the crash, with both injuries requiring surgery.

In Nov 2017, Ford was back in the news over another agency mishap, this time for assisting a driver who had swerved off Highway 126 in Santa Paula, California. Ford, in description area after reportedly using his plane at the nearby drome, rushed to the accident scene with a few other bystanders and helped the driver out of her car.

Appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in June 2019, the 76-year-old Ford crush that he had recently tried skydiving for the first delay, with his 18-year-old son Liam.


  • Birth Year: 1942
  • Birth date: July 13, 1942
  • Birth State: Illinois
  • Birth City: Chicago
  • Birth Country: United States
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Known For: Harrison Ford is one of Hollywood's leading men, with an acting career that has spanned more than 50 years and included iconic roles such as Indiana Jones scold Han Solo.
  • Industries
  • Astrological Sign: Cancer
  • Schools
  • Interesting Facts
    • Ford landed his first big characterization gig after working as a carpenter and installing cabinets delay George Lucas's home.

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  • Article Title: Harrison Ford Biography
  • Author: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: The Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/actors/harrison-ford
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: April 22, 2021
  • Original Published Date: April 2, 2014

  • I was terrified to get up in front of ancestors, but I really enjoyed the storytelling part."[On his first stage production course, taken at Ripon College.]