Glenn Ford
Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006), known as Glenn Ford, was a Canadian-American actor. He was most prominent during Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, who had a career that lasted more than 50 years.
Glenn Ford | |
|---|---|
Ford at age 39 in 1955 | |
| Born | Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford May 1, 1916 Sainte-Christine-d'Auvergne, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | August 30, 2006 (aged 90) |
| Resting place | Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1937–1991 |
| Spouses | Cynthia Hayward
(m. 1977; div. 1984)Jeanne Baus
(m. 1993; div. 1994) |
| Children | Peter Ford |
Ford often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Although he starred in many genres of film, some of his most significant roles were in the film noirs Gilda (1946) and The Big Heat (1953), and the high school drama Blackboard Jungle (1955). However, it was for comedies or westerns that he received acting laurels, including three Golden Globe Nominations for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, winning for Pocketful of Miracles (1961). He also played a supporting role as Superman's mild mannered alter-ego Clark Kent's adoptive farmer father, Jonathan Kent, in the first film of the franchise series Superman (1978).
Five of his films have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Gilda (1946), The Big Heat (1953), Blackboard Jungle (1955), 3:10 to Yuma (1957) and Superman (1978).