Happy Birthday, Glenn Ford!

Saturday, May 1, 2004 12:08 p.m. EDT
NewsMax.com
Happy Birthday, Glenn Ford!

Today marks the 88th birthday of one of the silver screen's legendary actors – and a great American.

Glenn Ford was a rising star, one of a small group of actors who would become film immortals, but he cast it aside to answer his country’s call.

In 1942, at the age of 26, Glenn Ford, already headed for superstardom, left the glamour and big money of Hollywood behind and joined the U.S. Marine Corps as a private.

Thirty-five years – and three wars – later, he would retire as a highly decorated Navy captain.

And Ford would go on to superstardom, making over 100 films, some of them blockbusters, and costarring with filmdom’s greatest immortals.

On this day in 1916, Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford was born in the province of Quebec, Canada.

He got an early start as an actor, first appearing on stage at age 4 in a community production of "Tom Thumb's Wedding."

In 1924, when he was 8, his family moved to Santa Monica, Calif., where he was active in high school theatricals and community theater.

He landed his first professional theater job as a stage manager in 1934, and within a year he was acting in the West Coast company production of Lillian Hellman's "The Children's Hour."

He made his film debut in the quickie movie "Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence" (1939) and was later signed by Columbia Pictures.

After appearing in such "B" pictures as "Blondie Plays Cupid" (1940), Ford was promoted to Columbia's "A" list.

At Columbia’s urging he changed his name to Glenn Ford, taking the name from the Canadian town Glenford.

Among his films were the blockbusters "Gilda," "The Big Heat" and "The Blackboard Jungle" and the lesser-known but equally fine movies "Ransom," "Convicted," "So Ends Our Night," "The Green Glove," "Lust for Gold," "3:10 to Yuma," "The Rounders," "Don't Go Near the Water," "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" "and Love Is a Ball."

As a Marine in World War II, Ford helped build safe houses in France for those hiding from the Nazis and was among the first Americans to enter the infamous Dachau concentration camp at war’s end.

He also served two tours of duty in Vietnam, often under enemy fire, and is the only actor to have served with both the Green Berets and the French Foreign Legion.

Among his numerous medals and commendations are the Medal of Honor, presented by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the French Legion of Honor Medal for his service in World War II, two commendation medals from the U.S. Navy and the Vietnamese Legion of Merit.

In 1943, while in the Marines, he married the beautiful and famed dancer/actress Eleanor Powell. They had a son, Peter Newton Ford, in 1945 and were divorced in 1959.

Peter and his wife Lynda have three children: Aubrey, Ryan and Eleanor.

Glenn also was married to Kathryn Hays and Cynthia Hayward.

Peter Ford also revealed to NewsMax that his Dad had a years-long romance with his costar in six films, Rita Hayworth, his next-door neighbor.

Today Glenn is retired and, according to Peter Ford, who with his wife and family live with him in his home in Beverly Hills, keeps up with current events and is helping Peter and co-author Christopher Nickens put the final touches on their forthcoming book, "Glenn Ford: A Life in Film," due out later this year.

Son Peter is a former Los Angeles radio host who keeps active in politics and civic affairs in Southern California. And Glenn Ford's political interests will be carried on by Peter's son Ryan, who plans to eventually run for office in California.

"Dad is fine," Peter Ford told NewsMax.com, "Considering that he’s going to be 88, he’s doing well. His doctor said he’s got the constitution of a 50-year-old. He’s in remarkably good health. The writing of the book has been a collaboration between Chris Nickens, myself and Dad. Chris will come over and we show Dad’s movies and Dad will make comments. He’s certainly inputting his opinions and we’re running everything through him, so it’s almost his autobiography."

Peter told NewsMax.com that his dad keeps a close eye on the news, and that his favorite source is Sean Hannity, who he greatly admires.

According to his son, "There are only three male stars from the 1930s who are still alive – Dad, Ronald Reagan and Mickey Rooney, who started in the '20s. All the other great stars – Van Johnson, Kirk Douglas and the others – date back to the '40s."

In 1976, Glenn costarred with such film greats as Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, James Coburn, Eddie Albert and Hal Holbrook in the film classic "Midway," which told the story of one of history’s greatest naval victories.

Ford played Adm. Raymond Spruance, who led the U.S. naval forces in a battle that spelled the beginning of the end for Japan’s naval air power.

It was a fitting role for Glenn Ford, a fierce patriot who his son describes as "one of those Ronald Reagan, true-blue American types."

As America faces the tough fight against terrorism, Glenn the patriot had this advice for his fellow Americans: "Let's never forget that to remain free we must always be strong. That's an important lesson I learned in my Navy career in World War II. National defense must be the top priority for our country. If you are strong, you are safe. Now is the time for every American to be proud. This is the land of the free and the home of the brave. If we are not brave, we will not be free."

Happy Birthday, Glenn Ford – patriot, superstar and American giant.

SEMPER FI!