John Ford
Director
Biography
John Ford (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973) was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach (1939), The Searchers (1956), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath (1940). His four Academy Awards for Best Director (1935, 1940, 1941, 1952) is a record, and one of those films, How Green Was My Valley (1941), also won Best Picture.
In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Ford directed more than 140 films (although nearly all of his silent films are now lost) and he is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. Ford's films and personality were held in high regard by his colleagues, with Ingmar Bergman and Orson Welles among those who have named him as one of the greatest directors of all time.
In particular, Ford was a pioneer of location shooting and the long shot which frames his characters against a vast, harsh and rugged natural terrain.
Filmography
The Birth of a Nation
as Klansman (uncredited) 1915
The Horse Soldiers
as Ned (uncredited) 1959
Five Came Back
as Self (archive footage) 2017
Directed by John Ford
as Self (uncredited) 1971
Spanish Western
as Self (archive footage) 2015
The American West of John Ford
as Self 1971
Undercover: How to Operate Behind Enemy Lines
as J.P. Baldwin 1943
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
as Self (archive footage) 2009
John Ford: The Man Who Invented America
as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage) 2019
The Bandit's Wager
1916
Shooting War
as himself 2000
Show-Business at War
as Self 1943
The Tornado
as Jack Dayton (as Jack Ford) 1917
The Trail of Hate
as Lt. Jack Brewer 1917
The Scrapper
as Buck, the scrapper 1917
Filmmakers for the Prosecution
as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage) 2023
The Broken Coin
as Sacchio's Accomplice (as Jack Ford) 1915