Wallace Ford

Wallace Ford

actor, soundtrack

Wallace Ford was born on Feb 12, 1898 in UK. Wallace Ford's big-screen debut came with Freaks directed by Tod Browning in 1932, strarring Phroso. Wallace Ford is known for A Patch of Blue directed by Guy Green, Sidney Poitier stars as Gordon Ralfe and Shelley Winters as Rose-Ann D'Arcey. The upcoming new movie Wallace Ford plays is A Patch of Blue which will be released on Dec 10, 1965.

A stocky, friendly-faced character actor, Ford was born Samuel Jones in England, where the brutality of his childhood rivaled anything that Charles Dickens ever dreamed up. He lived for a while in an orphanage after being separated from his parents. While still young, he was sent to a Toronto branch of the orphanage. There, he began a cycle that involved living in 17 foster homes, the longest being with a farm family that treated him like a slave. At age 11 he ran away and joined a vaudeville troupe called the Winnipeg Kiddies, with whom he stayed until 1914. He then joined a friend named Wallace Ford, and the two 'hoboed" their way into the United States. After the friend was crushed to death by a railroad car, he took the name Wallace Ford in his friend's memory and found work in theatrical troupes and repertory companies. On Broadway he acted in "Abraham Lincoln", "Abie's Irish Rose", and "Bad Girl". He left Broadway in 1932 to appear with Joan Crawford in Fascination (1931); he also landed the lead in MGM's notorious Freaks - La monstrueuse parade (1932), although his fellow actors proved more memorable. He also co-starred as Walter Huston's amoral brother in one of the studio's few full-blown gangster melodramas, La bête de la cité (1932), starring Jean Harlow in arguably her most hard-bitten role. In all he appeared in over 200 films, including five directed by John Ford (La dernière fanfare (1958), Toute la ville en parle (1935), Les sacrifiés (1945), La patrouille perdue (1934), and Le mouchard (1935)). He also appeared with Henry Fonda in the TV series "The Deputy", which ran from 1959 to 1960. Ford died of a heart attack soon after his last memorable role as "Old Pa" in the hit Sidney Poitier drama Un coin de ciel bleu (1965).

  • Birthday

    Feb 12, 1898
  • Place of Birth

    Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, UK

Known For

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