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Paul Ford is a Actor American born on 2 november 1901 at Baltimore (USA)

Paul Ford

Paul Ford
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Birth name Paul Ford Weaver
Nationality USA
Birth 2 november 1901 at Baltimore (USA)
Death 12 april 1976 (at 74 years) at Mineola (USA)

Paul Ford (born Paul Ford Weaver; November 2, 1901 – April 12, 1976) was an American character actor who came to specialize in authority figures whose ineptitude and pompous demeanor were played for comic effect.

Biography

Ford was born in Baltimore, Maryland. At an early 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, but did not get the part. Later, he dropped his surname and was known professionally as Paul Ford.

Ford became an "overnight" success at age 54 when he played Colonel John T. Hall opposite Phil Silvers on Silvers' The Phil Silvers Show TV show (often known as Sergeant Bilko or just Bilko). 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. The other role he is most identified with is that of Horace Vandergelder opposite the Dolly Levi of Shirley Booth in the 1958 screen version of The Matchmaker. Ford had an active career in both films and television until his retirement in the early 1970s.

Despite being a respected Broadway character actor, Ford was notorious for being unable to remember his lines. This would alternately cause difficulty forcing him and those around him to improvise. This became especially notable on The Phil Silvers Show.

He appeared in the 1962–1963 season in the CBS anthology The Lloyd Bridges Show. He starred in The Baileys of Balboa, which lasted only one season (1964–1965).

His stage credits include Another Part of the Forest (1946), Command Decision (1947), The Teahouse of the August Moon (1953), Whoop-Up (1958), replacing David Burns as Mayor Shinn in The Music Man (1957), A Thurber Carnival (1960), Never Too Late (1962), 3 Bags Full (1966) and What Did We Do Wrong? (1967).

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, "My kids used to think everyone lived on peanut butter sandwiches."

Paul Ford died of a heart attack at age 74 in 1976. His final role prior to his death was a Washington Doctor in Richard.

Usually with

Bud Westmore
Bud Westmore
(4 films)
Will Geer
Will Geer
(4 films)
Percy Helton
Percy Helton
(4 films)
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
(3 films)
Frank Wilcox
Frank Wilcox
(3 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Paul Ford (21 films)

Display filmography as list

Actor

Journey Back to Oz, 1h28
Directed by Don Bluth, Hal Sutherland
Origin USA
Genres Fantasy, Musical, Animation
Themes Films about magic and magicians, Monde imaginaire, Le pays d'Oz, Children's films
Actors Milton Berle, Herschel Bernardi, Paul Ford, Don Messick, Margaret Hamilton, Paul Lynde
Roles Uncle Henry (voice)
Rating57% 2.85032.85032.85032.85032.8503
After a tornado in Kansas causes a loose gate to knock Dorothy unconscious, she re-appears in the Land of Oz with Toto, and encounters a talking Signpost (voiced by Jack E. Leonard), whose three signs point in different directions, all marked "Emerald City". They later meet Pumpkinhead (voiced by Paul Lynde), the unwilling servant of antagonist Mombi. Toto chases a cat to a small cottage where Dorothy is captured by Mombi's pet crow (voiced by Mel Blanc) and Mombi (voiced by Ethel Merman) herself. Pumpkinhead sneaks into the house in Mombi's absence, and discovers her creation of green elephants, to use as her army to conquer the Emerald City. Pumpkinhead frees Dorothy, and they flee. After finding Dorothy gone, Mombi threatens that their warning the Scarecrow will not help when her green elephants "come crashing through the gate".
Richard
Richard (1972)
, 1h23
Directed by Harry Hurwitz
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Actors John Carradine, Vivian Blaine, Mickey Rooney, Paul Ford, Kevin McCarthy
Roles Washington Doctor
Rating65% 3.278753.278753.278753.278753.27875
In order to earn his wings, a Guardian Angel (Rooney) comes down from heaven to train Richard (Dixon) to be President of the United States. He wins the 1968 Presidential Election which was, in reality, sponsored by a group of Irishmen on a bet.
Twinky
Twinky (1970)
, 1h38
Directed by Richard Donner
Origin Italie
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romance
Themes Films about writers
Actors Charles Bronson, Susan George, Trevor Howard, Michael Craig, Orson Bean, Honor Blackman
Roles Mr. Wardman-Scott's father
Rating53% 2.65272.65272.65272.65272.6527
A 38-year-old writer of pornographic novels Scott (Charles Bronson) meets and falls in love with a sixteen-year-old school girl (Susan George) whilst living in London.
The Comedians, 2h30
Directed by Peter Glenville
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Seafaring films, Transport films, Political films
Actors Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Alec Guinness, Peter Ustinov, Lillian Gish, Georg Stanford Brown
Roles Smith
Rating62% 3.1478053.1478053.1478053.1478053.147805
A ship arrives in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Four of the alighting passengers are: Major H. O. Jones (Alec Guinness), a British businessman with a letter of invitation to do business with the government; an elderly American couple, Mr. and Mrs. Smith (Paul Ford and Lillian Gish) who wish to set up a vegetarian complex for education and nutrition for the locals, and the central character, a cynical, washed-up hotel owner named Brown, portrayed by Richard Burton.
A Big Hand for the Little Lady, 1h35
Directed by Fielder Cook
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Action, Western
Themes Jeu, Poker
Actors Henry Fonda, Joanne Woodward, Paul Ford, Jason Robards, Burgess Meredith, Charles Bickford
Roles C.P. Ballinger
Rating72% 3.6462453.6462453.6462453.6462453.646245
The five richest men in the territory gather in Laredo for their annual high-stakes poker game. The high rollers let nothing get in the way of their yearly showdown. When undertaker Tropp (Charles Bickford) calls for them in his horse-drawn hearse, cattleman Henry Drummond (Jason Robards) forces a postponement of his daughter's wedding, while lawyer Otto Habershaw (Kevin McCarthy) abandons his closing arguments in a trial, with his client's life hanging in the balance. They are joined by Wilcox (Robert Middleton) and Buford (John Qualen) in the back room of Sam's saloon, while the curious gather outside for occasional reports.
The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!, 2h6
Directed by Norman Jewison
Origin USA
Genres War, Comedy, Action
Themes Military humor in film, Seafaring films, Politique, Transport films, Underwater action films, Submarine films, Musical films, Political films
Actors Alan Arkin, Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Brian Keith, Jonathan Winters, Theodore Bikel
Roles Fendall Hawkins
Rating69% 3.495893.495893.495893.495893.49589
A Russian submarine called Спрут ("Octopus") draws too close to the New England coast one morning when its captain (Theodore Bikel) wants to take a good look at America and runs aground on a sandbar near the fictional Gloucester Island, which, from other references in the movie, is located off the coast of Cape Ann or Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Rather than radio for help and risk an embarrassing international incident, the captain sends a nine-man landing party, headed by his zampolit (Political Officer) Lieutenant Yuri Rozanov (Alan Arkin), to find a motor launch to help free the submarine from the bar. The men arrive at the house of Walt Whittaker (Carl Reiner), a vacationing playwright from New York City. Whittaker is eager to get his wife Elspeth (Eva Marie Saint) and two children, obnoxious but precocious nine and half-year-old Pete (Sheldon Collins) and three-year-old Annie (Cindy Putnam), off the island now that summer is over.
Never Too Late, 1h45
Directed by Bud Yorkin
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Films based on plays
Actors Paul Ford, Connie Stevens, Maureen O'Sullivan, Jim Hutton, Jane Wyatt, Henry Jones
Roles Harry Lambert
Rating64% 3.244173.244173.244173.244173.24417
Harry Lambert is a New England lumber company executive in a humdrum life with his wife Edith. He feels his life has grown stale since his defeat in an election for town mayor. His adult daughter Kate is of little or no help to anybody; she and her husband Charlie live with him and Edith, and Charlie lives a freeloader's life, working at the lumber company.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, 2h34
Directed by Stanley Kramer, Carey Loftin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Action, Adventure, Crime
Themes Transport films, Films about automobiles, Road movies, Heist films, Chase films, Gangster films, Escroquerie
Actors Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Buddy Hackett, Dorothy Provine, Moe Howard
Roles Col. Wilberforce
Rating74% 3.74683.74683.74683.74683.7468
"Smiler" Grogan (Jimmy Durante), wanted by police in a tuna factory robbery fifteen years ago and on the run from the police, careens his 1957 Ford Victoria off twisting, mountainous State Highway 74 near Palm Springs in Southern California and crashes. Five motorists stop to help him - Melville Crump (Sid Caesar), a dentist, Lennie Pike (Jonathan Winters), a furniture mover, Dingy Bell (Mickey Rooney) and Benjy Benjamin (Buddy Hackett), two friends on their way to Las Vegas, and J. Russell Finch (Milton Berle), who owns Pacific Edible Seaweed Company in Fresno. Just before he dies, Grogan tells the five about $350,000 buried in Santa Rosita State Park near the Mexican border under a mysterious "big W".
Who's Got the Action?, 1h29
Directed by Daniel Mann
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Actors Dean Martin, Lana Turner, Eddie Albert, Walter Matthau, Margo, Paul Ford
Roles Judge Boatwright
Rating55% 2.7571852.7571852.7571852.7571852.757185
The gambling habit of lawyer Steve Flood (Dean Martin) is beginning to get on the nerves of his wife Melanie (Lana Turner), who initially suspects him of marital infidelity. When she learns about the gambling, Melanie talks Steve's law partner Clint Morgan (Eddie Albert), an old flame, into helping her act as a fictitious horse race bookie offering unusually attractive terms to clients.
The Music Man, 2h31
Directed by Morton DaCosta
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical theatre, Romantic comedy, Musical, Romance
Themes Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Films based on plays, Films based on musicals
Actors Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Hermione Gingold, Paul Ford, Pert Kelton
Roles Mayor George Shinn
Rating76% 3.8469153.8469153.8469153.8469153.846915
In July 1912, a traveling salesman, "Professor" Harold Hill (Robert Preston), arrives in the fictional location of River City, Iowa, intrigued by the challenge of swindling the famously stubborn natives of Iowa ("Iowa Stubborn"). Masquerading as a traveling band instructor, Professor Hill plans to con the citizens of River City into paying him to create a boys' marching band, including instruments, uniforms, and music instruction. Once he has collected the money and the instruments and uniforms have arrived, he will hop the next train out of town, leaving them without their money or a band.
Advise & Consent, 2h19
Directed by Otto Preminger
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Politic
Themes Politique, Films about sexuality, LGBT-related films, Political films, LGBT-related films, LGBT-related film
Actors Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Don Murray, Walter Pidgeon, Peter Lawford, Gene Tierney
Roles Senator Stanley Danta
Rating76% 3.845093.845093.845093.845093.84509
The President of the United States (Franchot Tone) nominates Robert A. Leffingwell (Henry Fonda) as Secretary of State. The second-term President, who unbeknownst to the public is ill, has chosen Leffingwell because he does not believe that Vice President Harley Hudson (Lew Ayres)—someone he and others generally tolerate or ignore—could successfully continue the administration's foreign policy should he die.
The Matchmaker, 1h40
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality, Théâtre, Films based on plays, LGBT-related film, Cross-dressing in film
Actors Shirley Booth, Anthony Perkins, Shirley MacLaine, Paul Ford, Robert Morse, Russell Collins
Roles Horace Vandergelder
Rating67% 3.395693.395693.395693.395693.39569
Set in 1884, the story focuses on Dolly Gallagher Levi, a widow who supports herself by a variety of means, with matchmaking as her primary source of income. Horace Vandergelder, a wealthy but miserly merchant from Yonkers, New York, has hired her to find him a wife, but unbeknownst to him Dolly is determined to fill the position herself. When he expresses his intent to travel to New York City to woo milliner Irene Molloy, Dolly shows him the photograph of a woman she calls Miss Ernestina Simple and tells him the buxom beauty would be a far better choice for him. Horace agrees to have dinner with Ernestina at the Harmonia Gardens after visiting Irene.
The Missouri Traveler, 1h43
Directed by Jerry Hopper
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Western
Themes Films about animals, Films about horses
Actors Brandon deWilde, Lee Marvin, Gary Merrill, Paul Ford, Ken Curtis, Kathleen Freeman
Roles Finas Daugherty
Rating62% 3.145323.145323.145323.145323.14532
Brandon deWilde leads a cast lengthy in character actors playing subdued Biarn Turner, a 15-year-old runaway from the Eatondale Orphan Asylum bound for Florida in the post-World War I time period of 1926. He receives a ride into the rural Missouri town of Delphi with rich land-owner Tobias Brown (Lee Marvin). There, after an episode in the town square involving most of the populace, he meets crusty newspaper man Doyle Magee (Gary Merrill).
The Teahouse of the August Moon, 1h39
Directed by Daniel Mann
Origin USA
Genres Comedy
Themes Seafaring films, Théâtre, Transport films, Films based on plays
Actors Marlon Brando, Glenn Ford, Machiko Kyō, Paul Ford, Eddie Albert, Jun Negami
Roles Wainwright Purdy III
Rating66% 3.3455253.3455253.3455253.3455253.345525
Misfit Captain Fisby (Glenn Ford) is sent to Americanize the village of Tobiki on Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands. His commanding officer, Colonel Wainwright Purdy III (Paul Ford), assigns him a wily local, Sakini (Marlon Brando), to act as interpreter.