# Wallace Ford

Wallace Ford (born Samuel Grundy Jones; 12 February 1898 – 11 June 1966) was an English–American vaudevillian, stage performer and screen actor. Usually playing wise-cracking characters, he combined a tough but friendly-faced demeanor with a small but powerful, stocky physique.

## Early life

He was born Samuel Grundy Jones in Bolton, Lancashire, England, into a working-class family of limited means. At the age of three, he was placed by his uncle and aunt, in whose care he had been, into a Barnardo's orphanage home, since they were unable to maintain his upkeep along with their own several children. When he was seven, he and other children from similar backgrounds were shipped to Canada to be found new homes with farming foster families as a part of the British Empire's ongoing programme to populate the territory.
Samuel was adopted by a family in Manitoba. He was ill-treated and became a serial runaway, being resettled several times with different families by the Canadian authorities. According to his own account, at the age of 11 he ran away for the last time and joined a vaudeville traveling troupe touring Canada called the Winnipeg Kiddies, from which he acquired his initial training as a performer.
In 1914, 16-year-old Samuel and another youth named Wallace Ford decided to head south to the United States to seek their fortunes, riding a freight train illicitly. During the trip, Ford was killed beneath the wheels of a train. Later, Samuel adopted as his stage name the name of his dead traveling companion.

## Acting career

Following his service as a trooper in the army at Fort Riley, Kansas, with the United States Cavalry during World War I, he became a vaudeville stage actor in an American stock company. In 1919, he performed in an adaptation of Booth Tarkington's Seventeen, which played to full houses in Chicago for several months, before transferring to a successful run on Broadway in New York City. Ford became a successful Broadway performer through the Roaring Twenties, appearing in multiple productions, including the lead role in the Broadway smash hit Abie's Irish Rose.
In motion pictures, he made his credited debut with Possessed in 1931, appearing with Clark Gable and Joan Crawford, and the next year he was given the lead in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Freaks, directed by Tod Browning. Ford went on to have an extensive career over 30 years, appearing in more than 150 films, with lead roles in the 1930s and '40s in Hollywood B movies such as The Rogues' Tavern (1936), Murder by Invitation (1941), and Roar of the Press (1941) and supporting roles in larger feature films such as The Lost Patrol (1934), The Informer (1935), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Spellbound (1945), and Dead Reckoning (1947).
In 1938, he returned to the Broadway stage to play the role of George in the original production of Of Mice and Men.
In 1945, Ford appeared in the film Blood on the Sun alongside Jimmy Cagney, whose physique and acting style resembled his own. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he transitioned into a character actor, appearing as a regular performer in the newly fashionable Western genre, and in multiple John Ford productions as one of his preferred support players.
In the latter stage of his career, during the 1950s and early 1960s, Ford performed increasingly on television. He had a recurring role in the Western series The Deputy starring Henry Fonda and his final appearance on the "small screen" was on The Andy Griffith Show in 1964, playing Roger Hanover, Aunt Bee's old flame. The next year, he appeared in his last film, A Patch of Blue, for which he received a Golden Laurel nomination. Ford's performance as Ole Pa in A Patch of Blue proved to be the final role of his extensive acting career.

## Personal life

The actor became a naturalized United States citizen on May 8, 1942; by this act, he also legally changed his name from Samuel Grundy to Wallace Ford. He met his future wife, Martha Haworth, in 1922 while they were performing together on Broadway in Abie's Irish Rose, her being a chorus girl at the time. They had one child, a daughter named Patricia (1927–2005).
After the death of his wife in February 1966, Ford moved into the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital at Woodland Hills, California, and died in the hospital there of heart failure four months later. His body was buried in an unmarked grave at Culver City's Holy Cross Cemetery.

## Broadway credits

| Date | Title | Role | Notes |
| 29 August – September 1921 | The Poppy God | Higgins | Hudson Theatre, New York |
| 6 March–?, 1922 | Broken Branches | Arthur Weldon | 39th Street Theatre, New York |
| 22 October – November 1923 | Nobody's Business | Oliver Pratt | Klaw Theatre, New York |
| 14 January – February 1924 | Gypsy Jim | Tom Blake | 49th Street Theatre, New York |
| 31 March – May 1924 | Nancy Ann | Dan Dennis | 49th Street Theatre, New York |
| 1 September 1924 – June 1925 | Pigs | Thomas Atkins Jr. | Little Theatre, New York |
| 14 January – March 1929 | Gypsy | Mac | Klaw Theatre, New York |
| 14 October – November 1929 | The Nut Farm | Willie Barton | Klaw Theatre, New York |
| 23 November 1937 – May 1938 | Of Mice and Men | George | Music Box Theatre, New York |
| 26 December 1939 – 6 January 1940 | Kindred | Dermot O'Regan (Prologue) | Maxine Elliott Theatre, New York |

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1929 | Married in Hollywood | Mitzi's Fan | Uncredited |
| 1931 | Possessed | Al Manning | |
| 1931 | X Marks the Spot | Ted Lloyd | |
| 1932 | Freaks | Phroso | |
| 1932 | The Beast of the City | Ed Fitzpatrick | |
| 1932 | The Wet Parade | Jerry Tyler | |
| 1932 | Are You Listening? | Larry Barnes | |
| 1932 | Skyscraper Souls | Slim | |
| 1932 | Central Park | Rick | |
| 1932 | Hypnotized | Bill Bogard | |
| 1933 | Employees' Entrance | Martin West | |
| 1933 | Night of Terror | Tom Hartley | |
| 1933 | The Big Cage | Russ Penny | |
| 1933 | Headline Shooter | Mike | |
| 1933 | Three-Cornered Moon | Kenneth Rimplegar | |
| 1933 | Goodbye Again | Arthur Westlake | |
| 1933 | My Woman | Chick Rollins | |
| 1933 | East of Fifth Avenue | Vic Howard | |
| 1934 | Money Means Nothing | Joe Flynn | |
| 1934 | The Lost Patrol | Morelli | |
| 1934 | Men in White | Shorty | |
| 1934 | I Hate Women | Scoop McGuire | |
| 1934 | Money Means Nothing | Kenneth 'Kenny' McKay | |
| 1934 | The Mysterious Mr. Wong | Jason H. Barton | |
| 1934 | The Man Who Reclaimed His Head | Curly | |
| 1935 | The Whole Town's Talking | Healy | |
| 1935 | In Spite of Danger | Bob Crane | |
| 1935 | The Nut Farm | Willie Barton | |
| 1935 | One Frightened Night | Joe Luvalie | |
| 1935 | Swell-Head | Terry McCall | |
| 1935 | Men of the Hour | Andy Blane | |
| 1935 | The Informer | Frankie McPhillip | |
| 1935 | Get That Man | Jack Kirkland / John Prescott | |
| 1935 | She Couldn't Take It | Fingers Boston | |
| 1935 | Mary Burns, Fugitive | Harper | |
| 1935 | Another Face | Joe Haynes | |
| 1936 | Two in the Dark | Harry Hillyer | |
| 1936 | Absolute Quiet | Jack | |
| 1936 | The Rogues' Tavern | Jimmy Kelly | |
| 1936 | A Son Comes Home | Steve | |
| 1937 | You're in the Army Now | Jimmy Tracy | |
| 1937 | Jericho | Mike Clancy | |
| 1937 | Exiled to Shanghai | Ted Young | |
| 1938 | Swing It, Sailor! | Pete Kelly | |
| 1938 | Stardust | Peter Jackson | |
| 1938 | The Marines Come Thru | Pvt. 'Singapore' Stebbins | re-released in 1943 as Fight On, Marines |
| 1939 | Back Door to Heaven | Frankie Rogers | |
| 1940 | Isle of Destiny | Millard Barnes | |
| 1940 | Two Girls on Broadway | Jed Marlowe | |
| 1940 | Love, Honor, and Oh Baby! | Joe Redmond | |
| 1940 | Scatterbrain | Sam Maxwell | |
| 1940 | The Mummy's Hand | Babe Jenson | |
| 1940 | Give Us Wings | Mr. York | |
| 1941 | A Man Betrayed | Casey | |
| 1941 | Roar of the Press | Wally Williams | |
| 1941 | Murder by Invitation | Bob White | |
| 1941 | Blues in the Night | Brad Ames | |
| 1942 | All Through the Night | Spats Hunter | |
| 1942 | Inside the Law | Billy | |
| 1942 | Scattergood Survives a Murder | Wally Collins | |
| 1942 | The Mummy's Tomb | Babe Hanson | |
| 1942 | Seven Days' Leave | Sergeant Mead | |
| 1943 | Shadow of a Doubt | Fred Saunders | |
| 1943 | The Ape Man | Jeff Carter | |
| 1943 | The Cross of Lorraine | Pierre Flandeau | |
| 1944 | Secret Command | Miller | |
| 1944 | Machine Gun Mama | Johnny O'Reilly | |
| 1945 | Blood on the Sun | Ollie Miller | |
| 1945 | The Great John L. | McManus | |
| 1945 | On Stage Everybody | Emmett Rogers | |
| 1945 | Spellbound | Stranger in hotel lobby | |
| 1946 | A Guy Could Change | Bill Conley | |
| 1946 | The Green Years | Jamie Nigg | |
| 1946 | Lover Come Back | Tubbs | |
| 1946 | Rendezvous with Annie | Al Morgan | |
| 1946 | Black Angel | Joe | |
| 1946 | Crack-Up | Lieutenant Cochrane | |
| 1947 | Dead Reckoning | McGee | |
| 1947 | Magic Town | Lou Dicketts | |
| 1947 | T-Men | The schemer | |
| 1948 | The Man from Texas | Jed | |
| 1948 | Shed No Tears | Sam Grover | |
| 1948 | Embraceable You | Police Lt. Ferria | |
| 1948 | Coroner Creek | Andy West | |
| 1948 | Belle Starr's Daughter | Lafe Bailey | |
| 1949 | The Set-Up | Gus | |
| 1949 | Red Stallion in the Rockies | Talky Carson | |
| 1950 | Dakota Lil | Carter | |
| 1950 | The Furies | Scotty Hyslip | |
| 1950 | The Breaking Point | F.R. Duncan | |
| 1950 | Harvey | Ellis Logfren, The Taxi Driver | |
| 1951 | He Ran All the Way | Mr. Dobbs | |
| 1951 | Warpath | Private Potts | |
| 1951 | Painting the Clouds with Sunshine | Sam Parks | |
| 1952 | She Couldn't Say No | Joe Wheelen | |
| 1952 | Rodeo | Barbecue Jones | |
| 1952 | Flesh and Fury | Jack "Pop" Richardson | |
| 1953 | The Great Jesse James Raid | Elias Hobbs | |
| 1953 | The Nebraskan | Mac McBride | |
| 1954 | The Boy from Oklahoma | Wally Higgins | |
| 1954 | Destry | Doc Curtis | |
| 1954 | 3 Ring Circus | Sam Morley | |
| 1955 | The Man from Laramie | Charley O'Leary | |
| 1955 | Wichita | Arthur Whiteside | |
| 1955 | Lucy Gallant | Gus Basserman | |
| 1955 | A Lawless Street | Dr. Amos Wynn | |
| 1955 | The Spoilers | Flapjack Simms | |
| 1956 | The Maverick Queen | Jamie | |
| 1956 | The First Texan | Henry Delaney | |
| 1956 | Johnny Concho | Albert Dark | |
| 1956 | Thunder Over Arizona | Hal Stiles | |
| 1956 | Stagecoach to Fury | Judge Lester Farrell | |
| 1956 | The Rainmaker | Sheriff Howard Thomas | |
| 1958 | Twilight for the Gods | Old Brown | |
| 1958 | The Matchmaker | Malachi Stack | |
| 1958 | The Last Hurrah | Charles J. Hennessey | |
| 1959 | Warlock | Judge Holloway | |
| 1960 | Tess of the Storm Country | Fred Thorson | |
| 1965 | A Patch of Blue | Ole Pa | |

## Select television credits

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1953 | The Motorola Television Hour | | "Outlaw's Reckoning" (series debut) |
| 1953 | Goodyear Television Playhouse | | "The Happy Rest" |
| 1953 | Armstrong Circle Theatre | | "The Marshal of Misery Gulch" |
| 1954 | Father Knows Best | Nick | "The Christmas Story” |
| 1954 | Inner Sanctum | Photographer | "Dark of the Night" |
| 1955 | Ford Theatre | Talker | "Sunday Mourn" |
| 1955 | Damon Runyon Theatre | Lt. Harrigan | "Tobias the Terrible" |
| 1957 | The Court of Last Resort | William Markham | "The Jim Thompson Case" |
| 1958 | Playhouse 90 | Mule Rogers | "The Last Man" |
| 1959–61 | The Deputy | Marshal Herk Lamson | |
| 1960 | Tales of Wells Fargo | "Dead Man's Street" | F. X. Murphy, Marshal |
| 1964 | The Andy Griffith Show | Roger Hanover | |