This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.
John Ford (1894-1973) directed scores of memorable movies that feature countless scenes that linger in one’s memory. He is the only director to have won four Best Director Academy Awards, for The Informer (1935), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), and The Quiet Man (1952).
There have been many biographies and film studies of John Ford and his motion pictures. There has never been a single volume devoted to the stock company of actors and actresses who worked for him, some continually, many intermittently, from his silent westerns of the ‘teens to his final films of the 1960s. This book spotlights 112 members of Ford’s fluid repertory company and includes a mini-chapter on each member of the troupe.
And it was a diverse group. One wrote three books on the Baha'i Faith religion; another boxed the heavyweight champion of the world to a draw; one eloped with Loretta Young when she was seventeen; one participated in the Yukon gold rush; a photograph of one player’s ear is the clublogo for a professional wrestling association; another taught Lucy how to jitterbug; one was a legendary undercover agent for the OSS in France during World War II; another was a member of the advisory board to the Bank of America concerning loans to the studios; two were rodeo world champions.
All of them, from obscure bit players to barely-remembered character actors to legendary film stars, made substantial contributions to Ford’s movie legacy.
About the Author
Bill Levy is the author of John Ford: A Bio-Bibliography and Beyond the Beach: The Wit and Wisdom of Nevil Shute. He has been writing his Forgotten Gems column on films of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s for New Jersey’s monthly senior publication, Fifty Plus, since 2001. He lives in Mendham, New Jersey.
