Harrison Ford-ranked the sexiest man alive by UK magazine Empire; no other actor in history has box-office grosses as large as Ford's.

Harrison Ford was born on July 13, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, to Dorothy (Nidelman), a radio actress, and Christopher Ford (born John William Ford), an actor turned advertising executive. His father had Irish and German ancestry, and his maternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire. He was a lacklustre student at Maine Township High School East in Park Ridge Illinois (no athletic star, never above a C average). After dropping out of Ripon College in Wisconsin, where he did some acting and later summer stock, he signed a Hollywood contract with Columbia and later Universal. His roles in movies and television (Ironside (1967), The Virginian (1962)) remained secondary and discouraged, he turned to a career in professional carpentry. He came back big four years later, however, as Bob Falfa in American Graffiti (1973). Four years after that, he hit colossal with the role of Han Solo in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977). Another four years and Ford was Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

Four years later and he received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for his role as John Book in Witness (1985). All he managed four years after that was his third starring success as Indiana Jones; in fact, many of his earlier successful roles led to sequels as did his more recent portrayal of Jack Ryan in Patriot Games (1992). Another Golden Globe nomination came his way for the part of Dr. Richard Kimble in The Fugitive (1993). He is clearly a well-established Hollywood superstar. He also maintains an 800-acre ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
s Sexiest Man Alive.
Ranked #1 in Empire (UK) magazine’s “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time” list. [October 1997]
Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.
Listed as one of 50 people barred from entering Tibet. Disney clashed with Chinese officials over the film Kundun (1997), which Ford’s second wife, Melissa Mathison, wrote. [December 1996]
Studied at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin, but left without obtaining a degree.
His ex-wife, Melissa Mathison, wrote the screenplay for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).
Considers The Mosquito Coast (1986) to be the favorite of all his movies.
Lives in a white-painted ranch house that he built himself in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Has a scar on his chin which he got in 1968 when he tried to “buckle up” while already driving, and lost control of the car. The scar has been explained in two of his films: in the River Phoenix introductory sequence in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), an inexperienced young Indy hits himself in the chin the first time he tries to use the whip; and in Working Girl (1988), he first says that he got the scar in a knife fight, then admits that the true story is that he knocked his chin on a toilet after fainting during an ear-piercing.
He was billed as Harrison J. Ford until 1970 for less confusion between him and silent-screen actor Harrison Ford. He actually has no middle name.
While in college Ford appeared as Mac the Knife in the musical play “The Threepenny Opera”.
Older brother of Terence Ford.
Piloted his helicopter to rescue dehydrated 20-year-old hiker Sarah George from Table Mountain near his ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. [July 2000]
Turned down the romance-action film Proof of Life (2000) (the Russell Crowe role), the summer-blockbuster The Perfect Storm (2000) (the George Clooney role), and finally, another summer-blockbuster, the war-epic The Patriot (2000) (the Mel Gibson role). Ford has said The Patriot was “too violent” for his tastes, especially considering that many children were killed and endangered throughout the film. He told People Magazine that he also turned down the film because he felt the story was too simple: “The Revolutionary War boiled down to one man seeking revenge”.
Replaced Kevin Costner in Air Force One (1997).
Listed in the 2001 Guinness Book of Records as the richest male actor.
Turned down the role of Judge Wakefield in the movie Traffic (2000).
Credited with “creating” what many believe to be the best scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) because he was suffering from a bout of dysentery at the time of filming: during the scene in Cairo with the swordsman in black, the script called for a much longer fight, but because of his condition, he quietly asked director Steven Spielberg if they could shorten the scene. Spielberg’s reply was that the only way it could be done would be if Indy pulled out his gun and “just shot the guy.” The rest of the crew, not aware of the change, laughed at this, and it remained in the final cut.
Honoured for his work with the environment, Ford was asked to name a new breed of butterfly. He named it after his daughter, Georgia.
Dragonfly (2002) was written with Ford in mind for the lead role. He turned it down to take a year off from making movies, and the part was given to Kevin Costner.
His and Kevin Costner’s casting choices have crossed paths many times before. Ford turned down the Jack Ryan role in The Hunt for Red October (1990), as did Costner. Ford instead made Presumed Innocent (1990) and Costner made his Oscar-winning Dances with Wolves (1990). The Jack Ryan role went to Alec Baldwin.
The U.S. box office grosses of all of Ford’s films total about $3.18 billion, with worldwide grosses totaling approximately $5.65 billion. No other actor in history has box-office grosses as large as Ford’s.

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