Harrison Ford

From ArticleWorld

Harrison Ford was born on July 13, 1942. He is a Chicago, Illinois native, best known for his role as Han Solo in the movie Star Wars IV; A New Hope.

Family Life

Ford is the only child of half-Jewish, half-Catholic parents. He was raised with no formal religious training. During his days in high school, he was not at all popular, frequently bullied and invisible to his female peers. In college during his junior year, he began studying drama, but was expelled and not allowed to graduate after failing a philosophy class.

He met his future wife, Mary Marquardt in college and married her in 1964. They had two children together. However they divorced in 1979. Ford then married screenwriter, Melissa Mathison in 1983. They too had two children but later divorced in 2004. Ford is currently engaged to actress, Calista Flockhart, whom he has been dating since 2002.

Career

Ford acquired some small acting parts in 1964, but nothing that allowed him to adequately support his young family at the time. He took up training and worked full time as a professional carpenter to make ends meet. It was his work in carpentry that landed him a role in one of the biggest box office hits of the 1970’s. While doing cabinetry work for director, George Lucas, Ford was also utilized in helping auditioning actors read for parts in Lucas’ movie project: Star Wars IV; A New Hope. Producer, Steven Spielberg saw potential in Ford and cast him as sarcastic, quick-witted Millennium Falcon pilot, Han Solo. After his success in Star Wars, the flood gates opened for many other starring roles throughout his budding and ultimately successful career. He landed a role as a swashbuckling, archaeologist in Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark. Ford went on to star in two other sequels to Raiders. He also reprised his role as Han Solo in two sequels to Star Wars. Other successful roles included the lead in The Fugitive, author Tom Clancy’s hero, Jack Ryan in both Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, and he co-starred with Michelle Pfeiffer in the thriller What Lies Beneath. Ford received a single Oscar nomination for the 1985 film, Witness and acquired the American Film Institutes’ Life Achievement award in 1999.

Other endeavors

Harrison Ford is an accomplished pilot having flown both planes and helicopters. He has assisted local authorities, within his current resident state of Wyoming, in helicopter rescue operations. He is very active in environmental efforts and is on the board of directors for Conservation International.