# Faith Ford

Faith Alexis Ford (born September 14, 1964) is an American actress. She played Corky Sherwood on the CBS sitcom Murphy Brown, receiving five Primetime Emmy Award nominations. She also played Hope Shanowski on the ABC sitcom Hope & Faith.

## Early life

Ford was born Faith Alexis Ford in Alexandria, Louisiana. She is the younger daughter of Patricia Walker, a schoolteacher, and Charles Ford, an insurance agent. Ford lived in nearby Pineville and began acting while attending Pineville High School. At 17, she moved to Manhattan, where she began modeling and acting.

## Career

In 1983, Ford landed her first television role on ABC's One Life to Live. Her first major role was playing the Julia Shearer character for several years on the NBC soap opera Another World, a role Kyra Sedgwick previously played. After the producers let her go, Ford moved to Hollywood, where she got a regular role on the short-lived sitcom The Popcorn Kid. She then had a five-episode appearance on thirtysomething, played a homeless woman on Family Ties, and joined Murphy Brown. After the series’s ten-year run, Ford pursued other TV endeavors. In 1998, she executive-produced her own short-lived sitcom, Maggie Winters. Ford also appeared on The Norm Show with Norm Macdonald, Laurie Metcalf, and Artie Lange from 1999 to 2001.
Ford starred in Hope & Faith for three years with Kelly Ripa, playing Hope Fairfield-Shanowski, a homemaker living a peaceful life until her sister, a star Hollywood actress, moves in and complicates her life.
In 2004, she published her own cookbook, Cooking with Faith, crediting her mother and two grandmothers for teaching her how to cook. In the Disney film released in early 2005, The Pacifier, Ford played the mother of a family whose husband had died. In 2007, she appeared in the sitcom Carpoolers. In June 2009, she spoke about her series and the future of digital programming at the Digital Content NewFront. In 2011, Ford appeared in the Disney teen film, Prom, playing the role of Kitty Prescott, mother of the main character Nova Prescott, played by Aimee Teegarden.
On February 26, 2018, it was announced that Ford would return to a revival of Murphy Brown with costars Candice Bergen, Joe Regalbuto, and Grant Shaud. She appeared in all 13 episodes.

## Personal life

Ford was married to Robert Nottingham from 1989 to 1996. She has been married to writer/director Campion Murphy since 1998. Ford and Murphy coproduced an original short film entitled Citation of Merit, which appeared in numerous film festivals across the United States.
Ford has been diagnosed with Graves' disease.
Her sister, Devon O'Day, also is in the entertainment industry, most notably in radio.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1987 | You Talkin' to Me? | Dana Archer | |
| 1993 | For Goodness Sake | | Short film |
| 1994 | North | Donna Nelson | |
| 1998 | Sometimes They Come Back... for More | Dr. Jennifer Wells | |
| 2003 | Beethoven's 5th | Sheriff Julie Dempsey | |
| 2005 | The Pacifier | Julie Plummer | |
| 2011 | Prom | Kitty Prescott | |
| 2011 | Escapee | Det. Alison Jensen | |
| 2013 | The Day I Finally Decided to Kill Myself | Sally | Short film |
| 2019 | Jake and Kyle Get Wedding Dates | Holly Westen (voice) | Direct-to-video |
| 2023 | We Have a Ghost | Barbara Mangold | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1983 | One Life to Live | Muffy Critchlow | Series regular |
| 1983–1984 | Another World | Julia Shearer | Series regular |
| 1985 | Hardcastle and McCormick | Tina Cutler | Episode: "The Career Breaker" |
| 1986 | Webster | Terry Berman | Episode: "Almost Home" |
| 1986 | Scarecrow and Mrs. King | Tina Cutler | Episode: "All the World's a Stage" |
| 1986 | Cagney & Lacey | Karen Price | Episode: "Rites of Passage" |
| 1987 | The Popcorn Kid | Lynn Holly Brickhouse | Series regular (6 episodes) |
| 1987 | If It's Tuesday, It Still Must Be Belgium | Kalin Brewster | Television film |
| 1987–1988 | thirtysomething | Janine | 5 episodes |
| 1988–1998, 2018 | Murphy Brown | Corky Sherwood | Main role (250 episodes) Nominated: American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1990, 1996) Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (1991–92) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1989–92, 1994) Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series |
| 1990 | Murder, She Wrote | Sunny Albertson | Episode: "Good-Bye Charlie" |
| 1993 | Poisoned by Love: The Kern County Murders | Joyce Catlin | Television film |
| 1993 | The Hidden Room | Iris / Ruth | Episode: "The Third Option" |
| 1996 | A Weekend in the Country | Susan Kaye | Television film |
| 1996 | Her Desperate Choice | Jody Murdock | Television film |
| 1996 | Night Visitors | Kelly Wells | Television film |
| 1998–1999 | Maggie Winters | Maggie Winters | Series regular (16 episodes) |
| 1999–2001 | The Norm Show | Shelly Kilmartin | Series regular (29 episodes) |
| 2000 | Family Guy | Corky Sherwood/Sarah Bennett | Episodes: "A Picture's Worth a Thousand Bucks" "I Am Peter, Hear Me Roar" |
| 2002 | Mom's on Strike | Pam Harris | Television film |
| 2003–2006 | Hope & Faith | Hope Shanowski | Lead role (73 episodes) |
| 2007–2008 | Carpoolers | Leila Brooker | Series regular (13 episodes) |
| 2008 | Criminal Minds | Vanessa Hill | Episode: "Normal" |
| 2008 | A Kiss at Midnight | Susan Flowers | Television film |
| 2009 | The Fish Tank | Ann | Pilot |
| 2009 | My Name Is Earl | Rachel McGann | Episode: "Got the Babysitter Pregnant" |
| 2009 | Sorority Wars | Summer | Television film |
| 2011 | Field of Vision | Jody McFarland | Television film |
| 2011 | Trading Christmas | Emily | Television film |
| 2015 | The Middle | Sheila | Episode: "Thanksgiving VII" (season 7) |
| 2015 | The Bridge | Donna Bartons | Television film |
| 2016 | The Bridge Part 2 | Donna Bartons | Television film |
| 2017 | Christmas in Mississippi | Caroline Logan | Television film |
| 2022 | Killing It | Angelica | 2 episodes |
| 2023 | Night Court | Gina Stone | Episode: "Blood Moon Binga" (season 1, episode 8) |

## Accolades

In 2017, she won the MovieGuide Grace Award for her role in The Bridge, Part 2.