Star Wars

Ford's work as a carpenter would land the actor his biggest role to date. In 1975, director George Lucas used him to read lines for actors being cast for parts in his upcoming space opera, Star Wars. At the reading, Steven Spielberg noticed that Ford was suited for the part of Han Solo and convinced Lucas to give Harrison the role that would eventually shoot him to fame.

Ford went on to star as Solo in the next two Star Wars sequels, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, as well as in The Star Wars Holiday Special. He wanted Lucas to write in the death of the iconic Han Solo character at the end of Return of the Jedi, saying "that would have given the whole film a bottom", but Lucas refused.[6]

[edit] Other films

Ford made many movies in the wake of Star Wars. There was Heroes (1977), Force 10 from Navarone (1978), and Hanover Street (1979). Ford also co-starred alongside Gene Wilder in the buddy-western The Frisco Kid (1979), playing a bank robber with a heart of gold. Ford then starred as Indiana Jones in Steven Spielberg's blockbuster historical action-yarn, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and its hugely successful prequel and sequel to date, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), which turned Ford himself into a blockbuster phenomenon. Unlike many other actors of the same or similar genre, Ford's authenticity as a daring action hero was supported by his willingness to perform many of his own stunts for the Indiana Jones trilogy. During this time, Ford also starred in a number of dramatic-action films: Peter Weir's Witness (1985) and The Mosquito Coast (1986), and Roman Polanski's Frantic (1988). He also starred in Mike Nichols's romantic drama Working Girl (1988) and as Rick Deckard in Ridley Scott's cult sci-fi classic Blade Runner (1982).

The 1990s brought Ford the role of Jack Ryan in Tom Clancy's Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, as well as leading roles in Alan Pakula's Presumed Innocent (1990) and The Devil's Own (1997), Mike Nichols's Regarding Henry (1991), Andrew Davis's The Fugitive (1993), Sydney Pollack's remake of Sabrina (1995), and Wolfgang Petersen's Air Force One (1997). During production of The Fugitive, he reprised his role as Indiana Jones in an episode of the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Ford has also played straight dramatic roles, including an adulterous husband with a terrible secret in both Presumed Innocent (1990) and What Lies Beneath (2000), and a recovering amnesiac in Regarding Henry (1991).

Many of Ford's major film roles came to him by default or unusual circumstances: he won the role of Han Solo while reading lines for other actors, was cast as Indiana Jones because Tom Selleck was not available, and took the role of Jack Ryan due to Alec Baldwin's fee demands (Baldwin had previously played the role in The Hunt for Red October).

[edit] Salary

The 2001 edition of the Guinness Book of Records listed Ford as the richest actor alive: his reported salary for the 2002 flop K-19: The Widowmaker was $25 million. The 27 movies that he has starred in have grossed a combined box office of more than $3.3 billion. However, since then he has been overtaken by Eddie Murphy and Tom Hanks as the biggest movie star, and Mel Gibson is now the world's richest living actor.

[edit] Awards

Despite being one of the most financially successful actors of his generation, Ford has received just one Oscar nomination, that of Best Actor for Witness. It has been speculated that this has been because action movies (such as the Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies) typically do not receive the same critical acclaim as other genres.[citation needed]

In 2000, he received the Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute.[citation needed] On June 2, 2003, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of the Kodak Theatre at 6801 Hollywood Blvd.[citation needed]

In April 2006, Ford was awarded the K.T. Hurley Award for Conservation for his work helping young people with their nature conservation projects.[citation needed]

On October 6, 2006, Ford was awarded the Jules Verne Spirit of Nature Award for his work in nature and wildlife preservation. The ceremony took place at the historic Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.[7]

[edit] Recent work

Ford's star power has waned in recent years, the result of appearing in numerous critically derided and commercially disappointing movies, including Six Days Seven Nights (1998), Random Hearts (1999), K-19: The Widowmaker (2002), Hollywood Homicide (2003), and Firewall (2006). Even 2000's What Lies Beneath, which featured an unusually dark performance from Ford, was widely criticized as predictable and formulaic.[citation needed] Budgeted at more than $90 million, What Lies Beneath was released on July 21, 2000, and was met with mixed reviews; it received an average of 45% on RottenTomatoes.[citation needed] However, it opened at the top of the box office, grossing $29,702,959. It continued strongly through the summer, and ended up grossing $155,464,351 in the United States and $291,420,351 worldwide.[citation needed]

In 2004, Ford declined a chance to star in the thriller Syriana, later commenting that "I didn't feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake."[8] The role eventually went to George Clooney, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his work. Ford also turned down leading roles in the critically acclaimed films Traffic and A History of Violence as well as The Patriot.

Also in 2004, Ford appeared in the straight-to-video Water to Wine, credited as "Jethro the Bus Driver", as a favor to his son Malcolm.

[edit] Current and upcoming projects

He has just finished shooting a fourth Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, with a story by George Lucas, screenplay by David Koepp, and direction by Steven Spielberg. Shooting began on the movie in June 2007 for a May 22, 2008 release.[9]

He has also completed filming on a film called Crossing Over, directed by Wayne Kramer. He will play Immigrations officer Max Brogan alongside Sean Penn and Ray Liotta.[10][11]

Ford has also finished recording narration for the upcoming feature documentary film about the Dalai Lama entitled Dalai Lama Renaissance.

[edit] Personal life

Ford is one of Hollywood's most notoriously private actors, zealously guarding his personal life. Outside of film promotion, he rarely appears in the press, preferring to keep to himself at his home in Jackson, Wyoming.[citation needed]

[edit] Marriages and children

Ford has been married twice: He married Mary Marquardt in 1964, and they divorced in 1979. He had two sons with her, Benjamin (born in 1967) and Willard (born in 1969). He married again, to Melissa Mathison, screenwriter of The Black Stallion, Kundun, and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, on March 14, 1983. They had two children: a son, Malcolm (born on March 10, 1987), and a daughter, Georgia (born on June 30, 1990). Mathison filed for legal separation on August 23, 2001, and their subsequent divorce in January 2004 has become one of the most expensive in Hollywood history, as she was awarded a share of Ford's residual paychecks. Ford has since been dating actress Calista Flockhart