Glenn Ford: A Complicated Man
Posted on July 1, 2013 by bob in Features
On the set of “Heaven with a Gun” (1968) where Peter was the dialogue coach. (courtesy Peter Ford)
If you’re a fan of old movies, you’ll recognize what these classics have in common — “Gilda,” “Blackboard Jungle,” “Courtship of Eddie’s Father,” “Fastest Gun Alive.” The answer is Glenn Ford. Though he appeared in around 100 feature films, the first biography on Ford was only published in 2011, when his son Peter authored “Glenn Ford: A Life.” The book is an insightful Hollywood bio filled with stories of one of film’s most under appreciated actors. In addition to acting, Ford had a number of other interests including a great fondness for women, which Peter approaches with objective candor without turning the book into a trashy memoir.
“He’s perceived by the public as a ‘Jimmy Stewart’ – a wholesome, all-American guy,” Peter said. “He was that, but he also had a lot of ‘Errol Flynn’ in him. In reviewing all my sources, I counted 146 women he had a dalliance with, including Marilyn Monroe.”
Those sources included Ford’s own writings.
“My father kept a diary every day of his life since 1933 and I have every one of them. So there was an enormous amount of material there,” explained Peter. “If you picked any day since then, I could tell you what he had for breakfast, where he went, what he did, what he thought, who he talked to, etc.”
Glenn Ford was also a pack rat of monumental proportions. When he died in 2006, Peter donated many of his father’s personal items to charities. Other items were sold, including a piano given to Ford by Judy Garland, a slot machine from Frank Sinatra, and a couch on which he “entertained” Ms. Monroe. The auction house hauled away two, 26-foot-long trucks filled with “stuff” – and that only touched the surface of the contents of Ford’s 9,000 square foot home in Beverly Hills.
Eleanor Powell, Peter and Glenn Ford. (Courtesy Peter Ford)
“He saved everything,” said Peter. “I have every letter he ever received and copies of letters he wrote. I have his baby teeth, the lock of hair from his first haircut, the dish he used as a baby, and every report card from school. There [were] also thousands of photographs, and thousands of books. Wherever he went, he would take scraps of paper and write his thoughts. Often, he would stick these randomly in books, along with letters, Christmas cards and even money.”
Peter donated hundreds of those books to libraries, but had to check each one in case his father had left some long forgotten treasure within its pages. In one, he found letters from singer Sophie Tucker. Another Ford “hobby” was to secretly record telephone conversations.
In the late 1950s Ford, unbeknownst to his family and friends, installed a phone tap on the family’s phone. After his father died, Peter discovered hundreds of reel-to-reel and cassette recordings of celebrities and politicians.
“He has some of President Richard Nixon,” said Peter with a chuckle. “Isn’t that ironic? The most infamous taper himself getting taped!”
Publicity still from “Gilda” with Rita Hayworth.
Peter also recalls childhood Sunday morning walks with his dad along Santa Monica Boulevard where they would often stop under a leafy ficus tree. Ford would ask his son if he wanted some chewing gum. Adept at sleight-of-hand tricks, Ford would appear to pull chewing gum from the tree, leading young Peter to believe there really was such a thing as a “gum tree!”
Peter also remembers flying in a private plane with his dad to Cody, Wyoming, for the dedication of the Buffalo Bill Museum. The ceremony culminated with a live buffalo dangling in a harness from a helicopter, flying over the crowd. But as the pilot hovered above the assembled dignitaries, the terrified animal’s bladder and bowels proved unstable. When combined with the downward force of the chopper’s rotor blades, Peter says it was a most memorable event!
Glenn Ford was a complex man, which led to difficulties and intricacies in his professional and personal life. Peter’s revelations about his dad – as well as his mom, the great dancer, Eleanor Powell – provide a fascinating glimpse into the golden age of Hollywood.
Nick Thomas teaches at AUM. His features and columns have appeared in more than 300 magazines and newspapers, and he is the author of “Raised by the Stars,” published by McFarland. He can be reached at his blog: http://getnickt.blogspot.com.
