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Who is Harrison Ford?
Harrison Ford is one of the most prolific actors in Hollywood who came to prominence for his role in ‘Star Wars’ trilogy and ‘Indiana Jones’. Such is his association with creating charismatic leading roles that the movie goer has to try very hard to distinguish him from Indiana Jones. If one very shrewd reviewer were to take a look at this actor’s body of work, he would be disappointed to see a really short dramatic range. So, why would directors vie to cast this actor in lead roles in their films? Only the audience know. They pay to see him on screen, and he has made producers and directors very rich. Although he started very late, he fashioned a career by taking every chance and challenging every role that came his way. Popular stats show that he played four of the top six box-office hits of all time. From churning out monster hits after monster hits, his career witnessed a perplexing slump. But the grand old man of super hits has reinvented the smaller roles with his intense energy and reinvigorated his career playing a new set of characters and by carrying sequels on his shoulders.
Career
In 1964, Harrison Ford travelled to Los Angeles to find job opportunities in radio voice-overs. Two years later, he landed his first bit role as a bellboy in ‘Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round’. As a result of offending producer Jerry Tokovsky, he found little luck in minor roles as well.
Harrison Ford's first credited role was the 1967 Western film A Time for Killing.
He worked on several TV shows throughout the 60s and 70s: Gunsmoke, Ironside, The Virginian, The F.B.I., Love, American Style, and Kung Fu. Around this time, he supported his wife and two sons through his carpentry skills and by being a stagehand for The Doors.
Harrison Ford played significant roles in the super hits of the 70s: American Graffiti, Conversation, Apocalyse Now, Heroes, Force 10 from Navarone, Hanover Street, and The Frisco Kid (1979).
The 80s saw the second wave of hits from collaborations with Ridley Scott, Peter Weir, Roman Polanski, etc. Some of the hits include Blade Runner, Witness, The Mosquito Coast, and Frantic.
The early 90s saw the actor cast in the works of Tom Clancy, Alan Pakula, Andrew Davis, and Sydney Pollack. Some of these films were Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, Presumed Innocent, The Devil’s Own, The Fugitive, Sabrina, Air Force One, What Lies Beneath and Regarding Henry, among others.
Harrison Ford’s work during the late 90s and early 2000s are best forgotten. They include Six Days Seven Nights, Random Hearts, K-19: The Widowmaker, Hollywood Homicide, Firewall, etc.
In addition to working in Crossing Over, and the documentary Dalai Lama Renaissance, Harrison Ford starred in 2008’s second-highest grossing film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
In 2010, he released Extraordinary Measures, and worked on Morning Glory.
In 2011, he starred alongside Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde in the wildly successful science-fiction Western Cowboys & Aliens. To promote the film, the actor appeared hand-cuffed and led by security guards at the San Diego Comic-Con International, as though he was being dragged to the event against his will.
In 2013, he co-starred alongside Liam Hemsworth and Gary Oldman in the corporate espionage thriller Paranoia.
Harrison Ford is set to reprise the role of Han Solo in the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII.