Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Harrison Ford and His Multi-Faceted Life

By Sredna Nesegleh


Harrison Ford is one of the most recognized actors in the entire role. While most people recognize him from his roles of Han Solo and Indiana Jones, he has been in dozens and dozens of other movies that have had success and failure. While he is a great actor, this is not what his whole life is about, however, as he has many varied interests and has a family as well.

The Early Years

On July 13, 1942, Harrison Ford was born to a Dorothy, a former actress, and Christopher Ford, a former actor in Chicago, Illinois. He was brought up in an Irish-Jewish household and had a very normal upbringing. He achieved the second highest rank in the Boy Scouts and was the first student voice broadcasted on the local high school's radio station. He went on to attend college at Ripon College, where he took his first drama class during his senior year to help him to get over his shyness and caught the acting bug. He then moved to Los Angeles to apply for a job during voice-overs.

Harrison and His Career Start

Harrison moved to Los Angeles after his graduation from college to apply for voice-over jobs. He did not get a job doing voice-overs, but he did join Columbia Pictures' New Talent program, which gave him access to bit jobs on movies. He played many uncredited roles in movies during the early 1960's, but his first credited role was in 1967 in A Time for Killing, which was a western. Roles in television shows quickly followed and he can be found playing parts in Gunsmoke, American Style, Kung Fu, and Love, American Style. He was not happy with the roles that he was getting, so he became a self-taught carpenter to support his family. He worked for many important people, among those, George Lucas, who would go on to be an important person in his journey to stardom.

Movie Making On a Big Scale

The relationship that he created with George Lucas was one that had a huge effect on his life. Lucas hired him to read lines for auditioning actors in Star Wars, but soon began to see Ford's potential and cast him in the role of Han Solo. This lead to many other roles that he is widely known for including his title role as Indiana Jones. He then went on to star in a number of other movie roles in other movies, including Air Force One, Patriot Games, Extraordinary Measures, and Cowboys & Aliens.

The Personal Life of Harrison Ford

The thing about Harrison Ford is that he keeps his personal life very personal. While he has put his life out there in films, he keeps his personal life close to the vest. He has been married three times and has five children and three grandchildren. His latest marriage is to Calista Flockhart and they have one child, Liam. Harrison is not just about acting and producing. He has many interests including aviation, environmental causes, politics, archaeology, and community work.

Harrison Ford is much more than the characters of Han Solo and Indiana Jones. He has been in dozens of movies and co-starred with many different stars. This is not all he is about, however, as evidenced in his close to the vest personal life. He has many other skills and interests other than acting and producing, which shows that he is a multi-faceted man that is to be admired. Whether you enjoy his early movies or his more current ones, you are sure to appreciate his wide range of acting abilities and style. Keep an eye out for Harrison Ford and his new movies-you will be glad you did.




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