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Posted: |
Aug 31, 2006 - 1:08 AM
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By: |
Bond1965
(Member)
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I just read this on AOL Entertainment news. I always loved Glenn Ford. I guess it was seeing him as Pa Kent in Superman when I was young that always made him so likable to me. He'll be missed.
James
Film star Glenn Ford dead at 90
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Glenn Ford, a handsome and quiet character actor who made his mark in big films like "Gilda" and "The Big Heat," died on Wednesday in his Beverly Hills home, police said. He was 90.
Beverly Hills Police Department said in a statement that paramedics were called to Ford's home in the afternoon and found the actor dead.
The cause of his death was not immediately known.
Ford was an actor who never quite attained the superstar status he sought, but nevertheless won the hearts of millions of cinemagoers in a wide variety of roles.
Many critics thought he was underrated and one, David Shipmann, wrote, "He is a good -- if not the best -- example of that second-string group, the dependable and efficient actor."
Ford made his mark on Hollywood with low-key appearances in more than 200 movies, and became one of the most enduring stars of the silver screen.
Away from the cameras, Ford led an intensely private life, shunning nightspots in favor of a quiet home life.
Although most frequently appearing in Westerns, Ford played a variety of quietly intense heroes and villains and is best remembered for his non-Western roles.
His career began in 1939 and was highlighted by starring roles in "The Big Heat" in 1953, in which he played a cop out to avenge his wife's murder; "The Blackboard Jungle" in 1955, in which he played a teacher; and "The Teahouse of the August Moon" in 1956, in which he played a U.S. soldier in Japan.
After his first movie, "Heaven With a Barbed Wire Fence," Ford made a number of low-budget dramas before joining the U.S. Marine Corps in 1942.
After returning from World War Two, he starred in his first big budget film, the romance "Gilda," with Rita Hayworth in 1946. The movie was a hit and Bette Davis confirmed his leading-man status by picking him to star with her in "A Stolen Life," released the same year.
Ford teamed with Hayworth again for "The Loves of Carmen" (1948) and "Affair in Trinidad" (1958) and played one of his best villains, a sadistic lawman, in "The Man From Colorado"
(1948).
POPULAR DESPITE CAREER DECLINE
Ford remained a top box-office draw through the 1950s but even when his career declined in the 1960s, his popularity with audiences remained as fixed as his reserved screen personality and wry smile.
The unsuccessful remake of "Cimarron" in 1960 started his career slide into B-movies and low-budget productions such as
"A Pocketful of Miracles" (1961), "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (1962), "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" (1963) and "The Money Trap" (1964).
Ford himself compared his enduring popularity to that of other strong-but-quiet stars of his generation, such as Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda.
"It's the way we say our lines," Ford said. "We don't memorize them, but take the sense and alter the lines to fit our own personalities."
Ford was born Gwyllyn Ford in Quebec, Canada, on May 1, 1916. At age 7, he moved with his family to Santa Monica, California, where he worked as a stable boy for cowboy humorist and actor Will Rogers. After high school, he drove buses and worked as a salesman while planning an acting career.
Ford was married four times -- most notably to actress Eleanor Powell, from 1943 to 1960.
He is survived by his son Peter, 61, also an actor.
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Beat again!
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Hey Dan!
I was in Williamsburg this past Friday and Saturday... I looked your name up the phone to see if you wanted to get together for dinner, but you weren't listed.
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just read this on AOL Entertainment news. I always loved Glenn Ford. I guess it was seeing him as Pa Kent in Superman when I was young that always made him so likable to me. He'll be missed.
Oddly enough, Pa Kent was the only role in which I ever really liked Ford (despite the fact that, apart from the Smallville section, which I think strikes exactly the right tone, I can't stand the Donner SUPERMAN film).
He always struck me as one of the most calculatedly insincere actors I've ever seen, possibly because most of his characters were supposed to be decent and sincere. Maybe it was because he always seemed to be trying so hard to be sincere, it came across as phony (whereas with Stewart, Fonda, Gregory Peck, it was part of their very fabric).
That doesn't mean he wasn't dedicated to what he was doing, or wasn't a great guy, just that there was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way, personally.
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He always struck me as one of the most calculatedly insincere actors I've ever seen, possibly because most of his characters were supposed to be decent and sincere. Maybe it was because he always seemed to be trying so hard to be sincere, it came across as phony (whereas with Stewart, Fonda, Gregory Peck, it was part of their very fabric).
That doesn't mean he wasn't dedicated to what he was doing, or wasn't a great guy, just that there was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way, personally.
I was going to say something really nasty about you here, Score-O, but I realized it would be more appropriate to save it for the future thread announcing your demise.
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was going to say something really nasty about you here, Score-O, but I realized it would be more appropriate to save it for the future thread announcing your demise.
You and some of the other self-righteous prigs around here can't stand it when somebody departs from the conventional wisdom you happen to subscribe to. And when that contrary view is applied to someone who happens to be dead, you use it as an excuse to carp and cavil that it's the verbal equivalent of pissing on somebody's grave.
If you disgree with another person's point of view, either offer a compelling argument in rebuttal, or just shut up.
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Pull a pig's tail and hear it squeal!
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His presence in a film, automatically elevated it for me. I recall that he was very much involved with Hope Lange, after he divorced Eleanor Powell. So much so, that he insisted she replace Shirley Jones in the film, A POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES. Shirley was given full salary, not to make the film.
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He was great in a number offilms, but his work in "The Big Heat" was one of my favorites.
...and for such a brief appearance, he made an indelible impression in "Superman." That alone shows how much power this underrated actor could invest in a part...without letting the gears show.
Fine, fine actor.
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Anybody remember the episode of THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW in which Glenn Ford's name was a punchline? I saw it just a few weeks ago, and it still makes me laugh all these decades later. Deputy Barney Fife is on one of his crusades about the town's lax security, but this time he's spouting a lot of jargon. Wondering what's gotten Barney going, Andy correctly guesses that he'd gone to the picture show the night before and seen Glenn Ford in G-MEN! Later, Barney spouts the same jargon about security precautions to the local bank manager, who quickly calls his teller over to hear Barney's concerns. "Well?" says the bank manager to his teller. She shakes her head, puzzled. "Glenn Ford!" cries the manager, and they both congratulate the disgruntled Barney on his excellent impersonation.
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I recently watched a 1970 TV movie with Ford entitled "The Brotherhood of the Bell" which was a good thriller.
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If there is one thing I have learned from these forums, is that in certain posts if you can't say anything kind about a person, it is best to say nothing at all. Let it pass. There are those who "troll" forums looking to stir up the pot just for the hell of it. They lack a certain restraint that keeps them from reigning in their opinions that defame one's character. IMO, forums would be a better place without them.
Why?
I can see the wisdom and propriety of not insulting someone to his or her face, but public figures are not saints and are fair game, whichever side of the grave they happen to be on.
As Joe Gillis says in SUNSET BOULEVARD: "Funny how gentle people get with you when you're dead."
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