Wallace Ford
Encyclopedia
Wallace Ford was an English
film and television actor who, with his friendly appearance and stocky build later in life, appeared in a number of film westerns and B-movies.
Born Samuel Jones Grundy in Bolton
, Lancashire
, England
, he spent childhood in a Dr. Barnardo
's home. At an early age he was adopted by a farmer from Manitoba
, Canada
where he was ill treated. About the age of eleven, he ran away and did odd jobs later becoming an usher in a theatre.
Following his discharge from the army after World War I
, he became a vaudeville actor in a stock company before performing on Broadway
.
He started on a film career when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
gave him part in the film Possessed
and went on to appear in over 200 films including 13 directed by John Ford
. (The two were unrelated.)
He also appeared in a 1964 episode of The Andy Griffith Show
as Roger Hanover, Aunt Bee's old flame. He is buried with an unmarked grave in Culver City's Holy Cross Cemetery
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
film and television actor who, with his friendly appearance and stocky build later in life, appeared in a number of film westerns and B-movies.
Born Samuel Jones Grundy in Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, he spent childhood in a Dr. Barnardo
Thomas John Barnardo
Thomas John Barnardo was a philanthropist and founder and director of homes for poor children, born in Dublin. From the foundation of the first Barnardo's home in 1870 to the date of Barnardo’s death, nearly 100,000 children had been rescued, trained and given a better life.- Early life :Barnardo...
's home. At an early age he was adopted by a farmer from Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
where he was ill treated. About the age of eleven, he ran away and did odd jobs later becoming an usher in a theatre.
Following his discharge from the army after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he became a vaudeville actor in a stock company before performing on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
.
He started on a film career when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
gave him part in the film Possessed
Possessed (1931 film)
Possessed is a Pre-Code 1931 drama film directed by Clarence Brown, starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film is the story of Marian Martin, a factory worker who rises to the top as the mistress of a wealthy attorney. The screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee...
and went on to appear in over 200 films including 13 directed by John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
. (The two were unrelated.)
He also appeared in a 1964 episode of The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
as Roger Hanover, Aunt Bee's old flame. He is buried with an unmarked grave in Culver City's Holy Cross Cemetery
Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
Holy Cross Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery at 5835 West Slauson Avenue in Culver City, California, operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles....
.
Partial filmography
- FreaksFreaksFreaks is a 1932 American Pre-Code horror film about sideshow performers, directed and produced by Tod Browning and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with a cast mostly composed of actual carnival performers. The film was based on Tod Robbins' 1923 short story "Spurs"...
(1932) - Three-Cornered MoonThree-Cornered MoonThree-Cornered Moon is a 1933 film directed by Elliot Nugent, and written by Ray Harris and S.K. Lauren, based on play by Gertrude Tonkonogy Friedberg. The film reached No...
(1933) - The Lost PatrolThe Lost Patrol (1934 film)The Lost Patrol is a 1934 war film made by RKO. It was directed and produced by John Ford, with Merian C. Cooper as executive producer and Cliff Reid as associate producer. The screenplay was by Dudley Nichols, adapted by Garrett Fort from the novel Patrol by Philip MacDonald. The music score was...
(1934) - The Mysterious Mr. WongThe Mysterious Mr. WongThe Mysterious Mr. Wong is a mystery film starring Bela Lugosi as a powerful criminal of the Chinatown underworld, and Wallace Ford as a wisecracking reporter.-Plot:...
(1934) - The Informer (1935)
- Mary Burns, FugitiveMary Burns, FugitiveMary Burns, Fugitive is a 1935 American drama film directed by William K. Howard. Sylvia Sidney is once again the poor victim, but Alan Baxter overshadows everybody, even Ms. Sidney, as the gangster who marries her, and, eventually, sends her to jail.-Cast:...
(1935) - O.H.M.S.O.H.M.S. (film)O.H.M.S. is a 1937 British action comedy film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Wallace Ford, John Mills, Anna Lee and Grace Bradley. An American criminal evades the police by joining the British army.-Cast:* Wallace Ford - Jimmy Tracy...
(1937) - Of Mice And MenOf Mice and MenOf Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California, USA....
(1937) - Shadow of a DoubtShadow of a DoubtShadow of a Doubt is a 1943 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten. Written by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, and Alma Reville, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story for Gordon McDonell...
(1943) - The Cross of LorraineThe Cross of LorraineThe Cross of Lorraine is a 1943 war film about French prisoners of war held by the Germans in World War II. It stars Jean-Pierre Aumont and Gene Kelly and was adapted from Hans Habe's novel A Thousand Shall Fall.-Cast:*Jean-Pierre Aumont as Paul...
(1943) - SpellboundSpellbound (1945 film)Spellbound is a psychological mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1945. It tells the story of the new head of a mental asylum who turns out not to be what he claims. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Michael Chekhov and Leo G. Carroll. It is an adaptation by Angus...
(1945) - The Green YearsThe Green Years (film)The Green Years is a 1946 American comedy-drama film featuring Charles Coburn, Tom Drake, Hume Cronyn, Gladys Cooper, Dean Stockwell, and Jessica Tandy, based on A. J. Cronin's novel of the same title...
(1946) - T-MenT-MenT-Men is a semidocumentary style 1947 film noir shot in black-and-white. The film was directed by Anthony Mann with cinematography by noted noir cameraman John Alton....
(1947) - Dead Reckoning (1947)
- Coroner CreekCoroner CreekCoroner Creek is a 1948 western film starring Randolph Scott as a man who seeks vengeance for the death of his fiancée. It was based on the novel of the same name by Luke Short.-Cast:*Randolph Scott as Chris Denning*Marguerite Chapman as Kate Hardison...
(1948) - Embraceable YouEmbraceable You (film)Embraceable You is a 1948 romantic drama film starring Dane Clark and Geraldine Brooks, and directed by Felix Jacoves. A getaway car, leaving the scene of a murder, strikes and injures a woman. Afterward, the driver visits her in the hospital.-Cast:...
(1948) - The Set-UpThe Set-Up (1949 film)For 2011 Set Up see hereThe Set-Up is an American film noir boxing drama directed by Robert Wise and featuring Robert Ryan and Audrey Totter. The screenplay was adapted by Art Cohn from a 1928 poem written by Joseph Moncure March. The film is about the boxing underworld.-Plot:Stoker Thompson ...
(1949) - HarveyHarvey (film)Harvey is a 1950 film based on Mary Chase's play of the same name, directed by Henry Koster, and starring James Stewart and Josephine Hull. The story is about a man whose best friend is a pooka named Harvey—in the form of a six-foot, three-and-one-half-inch tall invisible rabbit.-Plot:Elwood P...
(1950) - She Couldn't Say NoShe Couldn't Say No (1954 film)She Couldn't Say No is a 1954 comedy-drama film starring Robert Mitchum and Jean Simmons.-Plot:Wealthy Corby Lane visits the small American hamlet of Progress, Arkansas, whose residents had paid for a critical medical operation for her when she was a child. She decides to express her gratitude by...
(1954) - The Boy from OklahomaThe Boy from OklahomaThe Boy from Oklahoma is a 1954 Western movie directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Will Rogers, Jr. The film became the basis for the 1957 Warner Bros. television series Sugarfoot, in which Will Hutchins replaced Rogers as lead character Tom Brewster. The movie features Lon Chaney, Jr. and...
(1954) - DestryDestry (film)Destry is a 1954 western starring Mari Blanchard, Audie Murphy, and Thomas Mitchell. The third and final film version of Max Brand's Destry Rides Again, this 1954 version is closer to the 1939 Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart film version than it is to the Brand original. Indeed Halliwells film...
(1954) - Wichita (1955)
- The Man From LaramieThe Man from LaramieThe Man from Laramie is an American Technicolor Western film directed by Anthony Mann and starring James Stewart in the fifth and final of their Western collaborations, and their seventh collaboration overall. It was adapted from a story of the same title by Thomas T...
(1955) - A Lawless StreetA Lawless StreetA Lawless Street is a 1955 western film directed by Joseph H. Lewis and starring Randolph Scott and Angela Lansbury. The film is also known as The Marshal of Medicine Bend in the US.-Plot:...
(1955) - Twilight for the GodsTwilight for the GodsTwilight for the Gods is a 1958 drama film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Rock Hudson and Cyd Charisse. The story is based on the novel Twilight for the Gods by Ernest K. Gann.-Plot synopsis:...
(1958) - The MatchmakerThe Matchmaker (film)The Matchmaker is a 1958 American comedy film directed by Joseph Anthony. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes is based on the 1955 play of the same name by Thornton Wilder.-Plot:...
(1958) - Warlock (1959)
- A Patch of BlueA Patch of BlueA Patch of Blue is a 1965 American drama film directed by Guy Green about the relationship between a black man, Gordon , and a blind white female teenager, Selina , and the problems that plague their relationship when they fall in love in a racially divided America...
(1965)
Television
- Father Knows BestFather Knows BestFather Knows Best is an American radio and television comedy series which portrayed a middle class family life in the Midwest. It was created by writer Ed James in the 1940s.-Radio:...
(1954) - JusticeJustice (1954 TV series)Justice is an NBC half-hour drama television series about attorneys of the Legal Aid Society of New York, which aired from April 8, 1954 to March 25, 1956. In the 1954-1955 season, Justice starred Dane Clark as Richard Adams and Gary Merrill as Jason Tyler. In the 1955-1956 season, William Prince...
(1954) - Damon RunyonDamon RunyonAlfred Damon Runyon was an American newspaperman and writer.He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To New Yorkers of his generation, a "Damon Runyon character" evoked a distinctive social type from the...
Theater (1955) - The Andy Griffith ShowThe Andy Griffith ShowThe Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
(1964)