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Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an United
States|American actor who, between 1977 and 1983,
appeared in what were then four of the top ten
highest-grossing movies ever. 

In most of his roles, Ford plays a tough,
wise-cracking action hero, and is well known for
his repeated performances as the character Han
Solo of the Star Wars films, and Indiana Jones of
Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels.

==Biography==
Ford was born in Chicago, Illinois. His mother,
Dorothy Ford was Jewish; his father, Christopher
Ford, was Irish Catholic, as well as a former
actor. However, when Harrison Ford asked in what
religion he was raised, he jokingly said,
“Democrat.” Actually, Ford’s parents
weren’t practicing members of the religions they
were born into, and there is no evidence he was
ever baptized, confirmed or Bar Mitzvahed.
However, they did expose the young Harrison to
services, now and again, at synagogues and
churches. 

He graduated from Maine Township High School in
Park Ridge, Illinois, in 1960 where he reportedly
was picked on by bullies and ignored by girls. He
attended Ripon College in Wisconsin, where he took
a drama class in his junior year chiefly as a way
to meet women, he said. Ford, a self-described
"late bloomer," became fascinated with acting.
While in college, toward the end of his freshman
year, he was a member of a folk band called The
Brothers Gross. He played the gutbucket (an
upside-down washbucket rigged with a broomstick
and a single bass string).  He was a brother of
Sigma Nu Fraternity.

He married his college sweetheart, Mary Marquardt,
in 1964. Ford and his new wife moved to Los
Angeles, California, and he contracted with
Columbia Pictures for $150 a week in the studio's
New Talent program, where he had bit parts in
three films. He then went to Universal Studios and
did minor television roles. Not happy with the
acting jobs being offered to him, Ford became a
self-taught professional carpenter to better
support his wife and two small sons before his
break-through role in American Graffiti.
Coincidentally, it was his work as a carpenter
that would land Ford his biggest role. George
Lucas hired Ford in 1975 to build some cabinets in
his home and used him to read lines for actors
being cast for parts in Star Wars. It was Steven
Spielberg who first noticed that Ford was perfect
for the part of Han Solo. 

Ford went on to star as Han Solo in the first
three Star Wars films. He starred as Indiana Jones
in Raiders of the Lost Ark and two sequels, and as
Jack Ryan (fictional character)|Jack Ryan in Tom
Clancy's Patriot Games and Clear and Present
Danger. He also has starred in Blade Runner,
Witness (1985 movie)|Witness, The Fugitive (1993
film)|The Fugitive (1993 in film|1993), and the
remake of Sabrina, among others.

Many of Ford's major film roles came to him by
default - Han Solo, due to him reading lines for
other actors; Indiana Jones, because Tom Selleck
was not available; and Jack Ryan, apparently due
to Alec Baldwin's fee demands. While some of his
most revered work is in the science-fiction
category with Star Wars and cult classic Blade
Runner, he said the latter was one of his least
favorite roles, and he has yet to return to the
genre.

The Guinness Book of Records (2001) listed Ford as
the richest actor alive. His reported salary for
the 2002 in film|2002 movie K-19: The Widowmaker
was more than $25 million.  The 27 movies he made
grossed a combined box office of more than $3.3
billion. Despite being one of the most successful
actors of his generation, Ford has received only
one Academy Award|Oscar nomination, for  Academy
Award for Best Actor|Best Actor for Witness.
However, in 1999, he received the AFI Life
Achievement Award|Life Achievement Award from the
American Film Institute. Although Ford's star has
waned in recent years following the critical
failures of K-19: The Widowmaker and Hollywood
Homicide, he intends to film a fourth Indiana
Jones movie with George Lucas and Steven Spielberg
in 2006.

Ford assisted musician Jimmy Buffett by recording
whip cracks (a skill learned for Raiders of the
Lost Ark) used in the song "Desperation Samba
(Halloween in Tijuana)."

Ford was credited as "Harrison J. Ford" for a
small role in a 1967 Western movie|Western A Time
for Killing, but the "J" didn't stand for
anything; Ford does not have a middle name. He was
credited as such to avoid confusion with another
actor named Harrison Ford, a silent-film actor who
died in 1957. The first Ford has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of famed eatery
Musso & Frank. The modern-day Harrison Ford
received a star on Hollywood Boulevard on June 2,
2003.

Ford has been married twice. He married Mary
Marquadt in 1964, and divorced in 1979, and he had
two children with her, Benjamin and Willard. He
married again, to Melissa Mathison writer of Black
Beauty and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, in 1983,
divorcing in January 2004, and had with her
another two children: a son, Malcom, and a
daughter, Georgia. He is engaged to actress
Calista Flockhart.

Ford is a private pilot of both Monoplane|planes
and helicopters, and owns an 800 acre (3.2
km²) ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. On
several occasions he personally has provided
emergency helicopter services at the behest of
local authorities. In one instance, he rescued a
hiker overcome by dehydration. He is the current
Chairman of the Experimental Aircraft
Association|Experimental Aircraft Association's
Young Eagle program, taking over after Chuck
Yeager retired. Ford also gives of his time and
money for environmental causes. He sits on the
Board of Directors of Conservation International. 

Though he dislikes public speaking and can be
mean, cantankerous, and gruff in interviews, he
once appeared before a United States Senate|U.S.
Senate subcommittee on behalf of the people of
Tibet. His goal was to prevent China from gaining
Most Favored Nation status, because of the Chinese
occupation of Tibet.

== Filmography ==
{| prettytable
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
! Year !! Film !! Role !! Other notes
|-
| 2006 in film|2006 || Indiana Jones 4          ||
Indiana Jones || Announced
|-
| 2006 in film|2006 || Godspeed                 ||
||
Pre-Production
|-
| 2006 in film|2006 || Firewall (movie)|Firewall  
     || || Post-Production
|-
|2004 in film|2004 || Water To Wine       ||
Jethro (as Jethro the Bus Driver) ||
|-
| 2003 in film|2003 || Hollywood Homicide       ||
Joe Gavilan ||
|-
| 2002 in film|2002 || K-19: The Widowmaker     ||
Alexei Vostrikov ||
|-
| 2000 in film|2000 || What Lies Beneath        ||
Dr. Norman Spencer ||
|-
| 1999 in film|1999 || Random Hearts            ||
Sergeant William "Dutch" Van Den Broeck ||
|-
| 1998 in film|1998 || Six Days Seven Nights    ||
Quinn Harris ||
|-
| 1997 in film|1997 || Air Force One (movie)|Air
Force One   || President James Marshall ||
|-
| 1997 in film|1997 || The Devil's Own          ||
Tom O'Meara ||
|-
| 1995 in film|1995 || Sabrina (1995 film)|Sabrina
    || Linus Larrabee ||
|-
| 1995 in film|1995 || Les Cent et une nuits    ||
Himself ||
|-
| 1994 in film|1994 || Jimmy Hollywood          ||
Himself ||
|-
| 1994 in film|1994 || Clear and Present Danger ||
Jack Ryan ||
|-
| 1994 in film|1994 || A Century of Cinema      ||
Himself ||
|-
| 1994 in film|1994 || Mustang: The Hidden Kingdom
(TV) || Narrator ||
|-
| 1993 in film|1993 || The Fugitive (1993
film)|The Fugitive                     || Dr.
Richard Kimble ||
|-
| 1992 in film|1992 || Commercial Entertainment
Product || Himself (uncredited) ||
|-
| 1992 in film|1992 || Earth and the American
Dream     || Narrator ||
|-
| 1992 in film|1992 || Patriot Games              
     || Jack Ryan ||
|-
| 1992 in film|1992 || L'Envers du décor:
Portrait de Pierre Guffroy || ||
|-
| 1991 in film|1991 || Regarding Henry          ||
Henry Turner ||
|-
| 1990 in film|1990 || Presumed Innocent        ||
Rusty Sabich ||
|-
| 1989 in film|1989 || Indiana Jones and the Last
Crusade || Indiana Jones ||
|-
| 1988 in film|1988 || Working Girl             ||
Jack Trainer ||
|-
| 1988 in film|1988 || Frantic                  ||
Dr. Richard Walker ||
|-
| 1986 in film|1986 || The Mosquito Coast       ||
Allie Fox ||
|-
| 1985 in film|1985 || Witness (1985
movie)|Witness    || Detective Captain John Book
||
|-
| 1984 in film|1984 || Indiana Jones and the
Temple of Doom || Indiana Jones ||
|-
| 1983 in film|1983 || Star Wars Episode VI:
Return of the Jedi || Han Solo ||
|-
| 1982 in film|1982 || Blade Runner             ||
Rick Deckard ||
|-
| 1981 in film|1981 || Raiders of the Lost Ark  ||
Indiana Jones ||
|-
| 1980 in film|1980 || Star Wars Episode V: The
Empire Strikes Back || Han Solo ||
|-
| 1979 in film|1979 || More American Graffiti   ||
Officer Bob Falfa (uncredited) ||
|-
| 1979 in film|1979 || The Frisco Kid           ||
Tommy Lillard ||
|-
| 1979 in film|1979 || Apocalypse Now           ||
Colonel Lucas ||
|-
| 1979 in film|1979 || Hanover Street           ||
David Halloran ||
|-
| 1978 in film|1978 || The Star Wars Holiday
Special (TV) || Han Solo ||
|-
| 1978 in film|1978 || Force 10 from Navarone   ||
Lieutenant Colonel Mike Barnsby ||
|-
| 1977 in film|1977 || Heroes                   ||
Ken Boyd ||
|-
| 1977 in film|1977 || Star Wars|Star Wars Episode
IV: A New Hope || Han Solo ||
|-
| 1977 in film|1977 || The Possessed (TV)       ||
Paul Winjam ||
|-
| 1976 in film|1976 || Dynasty (TV)             ||
Mark Blackwood ||
|-
| 1975 in film|1975 || Judgement: The Court
Martial of Lt William Calley (TV) || Frank Crowder
||
|-
| 1974 in film|1974 || The Conversation         ||
Martin Stett ||
|-
| 1973 in film|1973 || American Graffiti        ||
Bob Falfa ||
|-
| 1970 in film|1970 || The Intruders (TV)       ||
Carl ||
|-
| 1970 in film|1970 || Getting Straight         ||
Jake ||
|-
| 1970 in film|1970 || Zabriskie Point
(movie)|Zabriskie Point          || Airport worker
(uncredited) ||
|-
| 1968 in film|1968 || Journey to Shiloh        ||
Willie Bill Rearden ||
|-
| 1967 in film|1967 || A Time for Killing       ||
Lieutenant Shaffer ||
|-
| 1967 in film|1967 || Luv                      ||
Hippy (uncredited) ||
|-
| 1966 in film|1966 || Dead Heat on a
Merry-Go-Round || Bellhop ||
|}

== Salary history ==
*K-19: The Widowmaker (2002 in film|2002) -
$25,000,000 + 20% of the Gross
*What Lies Beneath (2000 in film|2000) -
$20,000,000
*Random Hearts (1999 in film|1999) - $20,000,000
*Six Days Seven Nights (1998 in film|1998) -
$20,000,000
*Air Force One (1997 in film|1997) - $22,000,000
*The Devil's Own (1997) - $20,000,000
*Presumed Innocent (1990 in film|1990) -
$12,500,000
*American Graffiti (1973 in film|1973) - $500/week

==External links==

*imdb name|name=Harrison Ford|id=0000148
*http://www.conservation.org/xp/CIWEB/home
Conservation International
*http://apartment42.com/text.htm Harrison Ford: A
Web Guide to the Films
*http://www.westlord.com/harrison-ford/ Harrison
Ford Website at WestLord