By ERIC C. RODENBERG
AntiqueWeek Editor

DALLAS, Texas — On the silver screen, legendary actor Glenn Ford was a “man’s man.”

Although he tackled all the genres of movies including classic film noir, Gilda (1946), The Big Heat (1953) and The Blackboard Jungle (1955), it is in his Westerns that he’s best remembered. 3:10 to Yuma (1957) and The Rounders (1965) are two of his most enduring films.

“The Western is a man’s world and I love it,” Ford is quoted as saying. And … “I’ve never played anyone but myself on the screen,” pretty much bolsters that larger than life machismo.

But, Ford was also more than bluster. As a U.S. Marine he was awarded the French Legion of Honor Medal for his services during World War II. A member of the Hall of Fame within the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Ford is credited with being the fastest “gun” in Hollywood westerns. Able to draw and fire in less than half a second he was faster than John Wayne and James Arness, Marshall Matt Dillon of television’s Gunsmoke.

During Ford’s more than 50-year tenure in Hollywood, he ran with an elite crowd, counting among his friends Clark Gable, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne and William Holden.

In addition to being a “man’s man,” Ford was also a “ladies’ man.” Through the years he has been romantically linked with Joan Crawford, Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Hope Lange, Debbie Reynolds, Dinah Shore and Rita Hayworth.

“It’s another side that not everyone knows about,” said his son, Peter Ford. “He was John Wayne on the outside, but had the spirit of Errol Flynn in his heart.”

Ford’s only son, Peter, perhaps knew Glenn Ford better than anyone. He moved into the spacious Ford home in Beverly Hills during the last 15 years of his father’s life.

On Aug. 30, 2006 – at the ripe age of 90 – Glenn Ford died at his Beverly Hills home from complications of multiple strokes.
Peter Ford and his father were close throughout their lives. He is now working on a biography of his famous father. Much of what can be culled from his father’s life will come from a diary the actor kept throughout much of his life.

“He started the diary in 1934 and kept it up most of his life,” Ford said. “It’s an incredible look at my father. It’s very specific, I could tell you what he had for breakfast on May 15, 1952 … it’s an inside look at the man, his friends and his most inner thoughts.”
Since his father’s death, Peter Ford and his wife, Lynda, have lived within what has nearly become a museum to Glenn Ford. “It’s just crammed with memorabilia,” the son said.

But, now the 10,000 square-foot home situated in the “platinum triangle” of Beverly Hills, has nearly become too much for the couple, particularly since their three children have moved on to their own careers.

“It’s time for us to move on now,” Ford said.

As a result, Ford has consigned, what he describes as “95 percent” of the Glenn Ford memorabilia, to Heritage Auction Galleries for its Oct. 4-6 Signature Music and Entertainment Memorabilia Auction. It will be a highly unique auction, offering a glimpse at a Hollywood that created a “star system,” specifically designed for the adulations of the masses. Glenn Ford – and his life – were a very integral part of this stable of stars.

Examples of these relics of vintage Hollywood nostalgia include:
•A slot machine from the old Sands Hotel in Vegas, given to Glenn Ford by Frank Sinatra.

•A baby grand piano given to Glenn Ford by actress Judy Garland. Peter Ford remembers the night it arrived at his house, during a party in which famed pianist Oscar Levant sat at the piano and played Rhapsody in Blue.

•A dining room table and chairs, handmade by fellow actor George Montgomery, given to Ford.

•The couch where Ford is said to have routinely “nested” with another screen icon, Marilyn Monroe.

•The cowboy boots Ford wore in almost all his Western films, in addition to several “screen worn” Western hats, coats and outfits from 3:10 to Yuma and The Rounders.

“I grew up around all this stuff,” Peter Ford said, “and it almost pains me to part with some of it. It becomes a part of you, but sometimes your possessions start to possess you … I have to force myself to let these things go … but, it’s time to simplify.”
As the only son of Ford and his wife, movie star Eleanor Powell, one of MGM’s greatest musical stars, Peter acknowledges that he lead a “privileged existence.”

“It was the old days of Hollywood,” Ford said, almost wistfully. “It was a time of glamour. It was a time when Hollywood really had stars.”

Down the street from Ford’s house was the famous “Pickfair,” the home of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. “Old Blue Eyes” often stopped in for drinks at night; and it was not unusual to have Clark Gable, Bette Davis or Barbara Stanwyck sitting at the dinner table. William Wyler and Fred Astaire also lived down the street.
“I will never forget the night that Charlie Chaplin (the Fords’ next door neighbor), rushing down the street in his car, hit my beloved German Shepherd, Bill. I suffered a lot of trauma over my dog’s death. Any child would.”

In 1952, Chaplin left the United States for what was intended as a brief trip home to the United Kingdom. His nemesis, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover learning of the trip, convinced the Immigration and Naturalization Service to revoke Chaplin’s re-entry permit because of his “anti-American activities” as a “suspected Communist sympathizer.”

“My dad told me that Chaplin was unable to return to the United States because he ran over Bill,” Ford said. “I believed that for a long time.”

Another neighbor, James Mason, often served as Ford’s babysitter.
Pearl Bailey is his godmother and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson is his godfather.

“At the time, I never thought we were any different,” he said.
After the sale, Ford said he plans on buying some acreage in Northern Idaho, Wyoming or Montana. “Maybe something like five acres,” he said. “Just a small place where I can continue writing, with maybe a small stream through it for fly fishing.”

In addition to his writing, Ford is a collector and student of Native American items. He also has a collection of personally inscribed photos of many of America’s stage and screen stars, which he began as a child. The collection has been described as one of the most comprehensive collections in existence.

“It was a different time,” he said, reflecting on his father and the names of many of the stars he met. “My parents were entertainers and their friends were entertainers. It is amusing to think back on, now that I realize how significant these people were.”
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