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Paul Ford

 
Actor: Paul Ford
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Nov 02, 1901 in Baltimore, Maryland
  • Died: Apr 14, 1976 in Mineola, LI, New York
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '40s-'60s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Western
  • Career Highlights: The Teahouse of the August Moon, The Comedians, The Music Man
  • First Major Screen Credit: The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956)

Biography

After having drifted from job to job--with a wife and five children in tow--Baltimore native Paul Ford decided in his late 30s to give acting a try. He worked with the Depression-era W.P.A. agency in a puppet show project and also wrote shows for the Federal Theatre; his biggest break came when he and his co-workers staged a puppet production for the 1939 New York World's Fair. Radio, stage and film work followed, but Ford wouldn't truly hit the big time until 1955, when he was engaged to play the apoplectic Colonel Hall on Phil Silvers' situation comedy You'll Never Get Rich. For four seasons, TV fans were regaled by the efforts of conniving Sgt. Bilko (Silvers) and long-suffering Col. Hall to outsmart one another. During this period, Ford worked steadily in the theatre, recreating his popular stage role as Colonel Purdy in Teahouse for the August Moon when the play was committed to film in 1955. After Phil Silvers' series was cancelled, Ford continued his stage and screen career, scoring a major success in 1965 in the play Never Too Late, in which he played a fiftyish husband who discovered that his middle-aged wife was pregnant. Never Too Late was filmed in 1967, with Ford once again in the starring role; five years and many lucrative acting assignments later, Paul Ford retired. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Paul Ford
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Paul Ford
Born Paul Ford Weaver
November 2, 1901(1901-11-02)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Died April 12, 1976 (aged 74)
Mineola, New York, U.S.
Occupation Actor
Years active 1945–1974
For other persons named Paul Ford, see Paul Ford (disambiguation).

Paul Ford (November 2, 1901 – April 12, 1976) was an American actor.

Ford was a well-known character actor who came to specialize in authority figures whose ineptitude and pompous demeanor were played for comic effect. Ford became an "overnight" success at age 54 when he had the role of Colonel Hall opposite Phil Silvers on Silvers' Sergeant Bilko TV show. His signature role may well be the part of Mayor George Shinn, a befuddled politico in the film adaptation of the Broadway show The Music Man. Ford played the role straight, and received glowing reviews. Ford had an active career in both films and television until his retirement in the early 1970s. For instance, he appeared in the 1962-1963 season in the CBS anthology The Lloyd Bridges Show.

Early life and acting career

Ford was born Paul Ford Weaver in Baltimore, Maryland. At a young age, he showed an adept talent for performance, but was discouraged when directors thought he was tone-deaf. However, in later years, he made his hollow, reverberating voice one of the most recognized of his era. His success was long in the making, and he did little acting, but instead raised his family during the Great Depression.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Public Works programs provided Ford with work, and to the day he died he was a passionate Democrat. Ford auditioned for a play under his birth name, and didn't get the part, so he dropped his surname Weaver and became Paul Ford.

His feature film credits include The Matchmaker, Perfect Strangers, The Music Man, Advise and Consent, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (which also starred Phil Silvers, although they shared no scenes).

Later years

Most actors who worked with Ford claimed he was a kindly and very funny man. He was known for his quotes about the Depression in later years, including his most famous: "My kids used to think everyone lived on peanut butter sandwiches".

Paul Ford died, aged 74, after suffering a massive heart attack at his home in Mineola, New York in 1976.

Ford was cremated, and his ashes were given to his family.

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Paul Ford".  Read more