Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. He has been a leading man in films of several genres and is regarded as an American cultural icon. His films have grossed more than $5.4 billion in North America and more than $9.3 billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient of various accolades, including the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2000, the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2002, an Honorary César in 2010, and an Honorary Palme d'Or in 2023, in addition to an Academy Award nomination.
After playing supporting roles in such films as American Graffiti (1973) and The Conversation (1974), Ford gained worldwide fame for his starring role as Han Solo in the epic space opera film Star Wars (1977), a role he reprised in four sequels over the next four decades. The multimedia franchise became a global cultural phenomenon. He is also known for his portrayal of the titular character in the popular media franchise Indiana Jones, beginning with the action-adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981); he reprised that role in four sequels over the next four decades as well. He starred as Rick Deckard in the science fiction films Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) and as Jack Ryan in the spy thriller films Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994), part of the Blade Runner and Jack Ryan franchises respectively.
Ford received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing a detective in the thriller Witness (1985). He played other heroic characters in The Fugitive (1993), The Devil's Own (1997), Air Force One (1997), and Cowboys & Aliens (2011), as well as morally complex roles in The Mosquito Coast (1986), Presumed Innocent (1990), Regarding Henry (1991), What Lies Beneath (2000), and 42 (2013). He also starred in the romantic films Working Girl (1988), Sabrina (1995), Six Days, Seven Nights (1998), Morning Glory (2010), and The Age of Adaline (2015). He has since starred in the Paramount+ western series 1923 (2022–present) and the Apple TV+ comedy series Shrinking (2023–present).
Outside of acting, Ford is a licensed pilot; he has often assisted the emergency services in rescue missions near his home in Wyoming, and he chaired an aviation education program for youth from 2004 to 2009. Ford is an environmental activist, having served as the inaugural Vice Chair of Conservation International since 1991.
Early life and education
Harrison Ford was born at the Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on July 13, 1942, to former radio actress Dorothy (née Nidelman) and advertising executive and former actor John William "Christopher" Ford. His younger brother, Terence, was born in 1945. Their father was a Catholic of Irish descent, while their mother was an Ashkenazi Jew whose parents were emigrants from Minsk, Belarus, then in the Russian Empire. When asked in which religion he and his brother were raised, Ford jokingly responded "Democrat" and more seriously stated that they were raised to be "liberals of every stripe". When asked about what influence his Jewish and Irish Catholic ancestry may have had on him, he quipped, "As a man I've always felt Irish, as an actor I've always felt Jewish."
Ford was a Boy Scout, achieving the second-highest rank of Life Scout. He worked at Napowan Adventure Base Scout Camp as a counselor for the Reptile Study merit badge. Because of this, he and director Steven Spielberg later decided to depict the young Indiana Jones as a Life Scout in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). Ford graduated in 1960 from Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Illinois. His voice was the first student voice broadcast on his high school's new radio station, WMTH, and he was its first sportscaster during his senior year. He attended Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin, where he was a philosophy major and a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. A self-described "late bloomer", Ford took a drama class in the final quarter of his senior year to get over his shyness and became fascinated with acting.
In 1964, after a season of summer stock with the Belfry Players in Wisconsin, Ford traveled to Los Angeles to apply for a job in radio voice-overs. He did not get it, but stayed in California and eventually signed a $150-per-week contract with Columbia Pictures' new talent program, equivalent to $1,415 in 2022, playing bit roles in films. His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking (or "extra") roles in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer Jerry Tokofsky after he played a bellboy in the feature. He was told by Tokofsky that when actor Tony Curtis delivered a bag of groceries, he did it like a movie star; Ford felt his job was to act like a bellboy.
Personal life
Ford has been married three times and has four biological children and one adopted child. He was first married to Mary Marquardt from 1964 until their divorce in 1979. They had two sons, chef and restaurateur Benjamin (born 1966) and clothier Willard (born 1969). Benjamin co-owns Ford's Filling Station, a gastropub located at Terminal 5 in Los Angeles International Airport. Willard is the owner of Strong Sports Gym, and was co-owner of the Kim Sing Theater and owner of the Ludwig Clothing company.
Ford's second marriage was to screenwriter Melissa Mathison from March 1983 until their separation in 2000 and divorce in 2004.[ They had a son, actor and musician Malcolm (born 1987), and a daughter, actress Georgia (born 1990). Mathison died in 2015.
Ford began dating actress Calista Flockhart after they met at the 2002 Golden Globe Awards. He proposed to Flockhart over Valentine's Day weekend in 2009. They married on June 15, 2010, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Ford was filming Cowboys & Aliens. They are the parents of Liam (born 2001), the son she adopted before meeting Ford.
Ford and Flockhart live on an 800-acre ranch in Jackson, Wyoming, on which he has lived since the 1980s and approximately half of which he has donated as a nature reserve. They retain a base in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. He is one of Hollywood's most private actors, guarding much of his personal life. In her 2016 autobiography The Princess Diarist, his co-star Carrie Fisher claimed that she and Ford had a three-month affair in 1976 during the filming of Star Wars.
If you want to read more, go here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Ford
- 3/4 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1/2 cup sliced celery (about 2 stalks)
- 1/2 cup diced onion (about 1/2 of a small onion)
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, broken up (undrained)
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- In a medium pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta just until tender; drain.
- Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown beef over medium-high heat; drain off excess liquid.
- Combine all ingredients in a 2-quart casserole dish and bake, covered, for 30 minutes.
- Uncover and bake 30 additional minutes, or until top is light golden and crunchy.
And births this date include...
On August 2nd, National Ice Cream Sandwich Day encourages us to cool off with one of our favorite frozen treats. Whether it’s vanilla, strawberry or Neapolitan between two chocolate wafers, the dessert sure will hit the spot on a hot summer day.
The original ice cream sandwich sold for a penny in 1900 from a pushcart in the Bowery neighborhood of New York. Newspapers never identified the name of the vendor in articles that appeared across the country. However, the ice cream sandwiched between milk biscuits became a hit. Soon, pushcarts popped up around the city and country during the summer months selling the portable treats. Early pictures show beach goers at Atlantic City getting their ice cream sandwiches for 1¢ each.
Once ice cream sandwiches became popular, recipes for home cooks filled the papers. The sandwich layers included everything from angel food and sponge cake to shortbread cookies. Restaurants offered the ice cream sandwich as a decadent dessert for travelers. By 1940, grocers sold sandwiches made with crispy wafers.
One account claims the modern ice cream sandwich with the chocolate wafer was invented in 1945 by Jerry Newberg. The ice cream maker sold his creation at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, PA. At the time, the storied location was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers.
If the chocolate brownie wafer doesn’t appeal to you, don’t hesitate to mix it up. All variety of cookies make excellent sandwich parts. Change up the ice cream, too. Around the world, ice cream sandwiches go by a variety of names including the Monaco Bar, Giant Sandwich, Maxibon, Cream Between, Vanilla Slice, and many more.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Enjoy an ice cream sandwich today!
