FORD, GLENN

(1916–2006)

   Born Gwyllyn Ford, Canadian actor Glenn Ford had an acting career spanning seven decades. Known for his manly bearing, boyish grin, and unassuming, natural acting style, Ford played a wide range of roles, including those in Westerns. He always appeared utterly at home outdoors, on a horse, and with a gun. Nearly all his Westerns include significant love interests: Rhonda Fleming in The Redhead and the Cowboy(1951), Felicia Farr in 3:10 to Yuma (1957), and Maria Schell in Cimarron (1960). 3:10 to Yuma will probably be remembered as Ford’s best performance in a Western, where he plays the outlaw Ben Wade being held for the train to prison. Cimarron, an epic of the Oklahoma land run and its aftermath, is one of his more underrated Westerns. He played Yancey, the patriarch of a family who makes their fortune with their newspaper. Atumultuous relationship with his Lady Macbeth–like wife (Schell) provides the film with necessary dramatic tension. Off-screen, Ford evidently had as much romantic charisma as on-screen, maintaining rumored intimate relationships with such film stars as Bette Davis, Rita Hayworth, Brigitte Bardot, Connie Stevens, and Maria Schell.

   See also MANN, Anthony.