Serena
<font color=navy>Not afraid of canned biscuits<br>
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
- Messages
- 27,575
Here's the bio I found. Enjoy
biography
The story of one of People Magazine's Sexiest Men Alive didn't start quite so glamorously. Ironically, considering Ford's many heroic roles, as a teen he was scrawny, nerdy with out the good grades (he earned Cs and Ds) and an easy target for bullies. After graduating from Maine East High School in 1960 Ford went on to major in English at the conservative Ripon College in Wisconsin before dropping out soon before his graduation. Ford readily admits he spent most of his time sleeping at the college he thinks of as "the birth place of the Republican Party and the Speed Queen washing machine, both of which are equal in my mind". After his post-secondary education washed out, the young Ford headed for Los Angeles with his wife, Mary Marquardt, and a dream of becoming an actor.
Ford was kicked out of talent agencies at both Columbia and Universal due to refusal to cooperate with directors and producers, who he believed were not doing a good job. After being told by a studio exec that he lacked any "star quality" he took a carpenter's job; the future Hans Solo was going to build a new recording studio for the Brazilian compose Sergio Mendes. Ford had little to no knowledge and training, but at the age of 24, he soon discovered that he had a natural gift for building things. Before long his main profession was building just about everything, occasionally taking small parts in television and film.
Things began to look up when he was offered a role in the George Lucas' film, American Graffiti (1973). Ford walked out of the studio when he found out that he would only be paid $485 a week, a fraction of what he earned as a carpenter. Fortunately he reconsidered, and took the job that changed his life. The film surprised everyone, and was a hit. More importantly, Ford had created a life long friendship with producer George Lucas. When Lucas couldn't find anyone to play the dashing rebel Hans Solo, he asked Ford to read. His part in the Star Wars trilogy made him a minor star. He skyrocketed to celebrity status in 1981, as Indiana Jones, another Lucas production. Raiders of the Lost Ark made Harrison Ford both a household name and a sex symbol. His career opened up, and his efforts in the 1985 movie Witness earned him a Best Actor Oscar nomination.
Ford's marriage with Mary Marquardt fell apart and the couple officially divorced in 1979. Four years later, in 1983, he remarried with screenwriter Melissa Mathison. Ford is now a father of four, with two children from each marriage.
The late nineties brought Ford back with a vengeance (some will argue he never left) in action movies such as The Devil's Own (1997) and Air Force One (1997). The aging actor has since turned out two hit romance movies with Six Days, Seven Nights (1998) and Random Hearts (1999). Ford has also recently been ranked #15 in Empire Magazine's 100 Sexiest Stars and #1 in the magazine's "Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time", been named by People Magazine one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World, and the '98 Sexiest Man Alive. With 2000's What Lies Beneath just released, Ford will soon begin to work on yet another Indiana Jones movie.
Biography © 2000 Creative Reality Media, Inc.
