Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford,  (born July 13, 1942, Chicago, Illlinois, U.S.), American actor, perhaps best known for playing charismatic rogues in the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film franchises.

Ford was born in Chicago and was raised in the city’s suburbs. After attending Ripon College in Wisconsin, he took minor acting roles in movies and television for Columbia and Universal studios but soon fell back on a sideline career in carpentry. His film career began in earnest with a bit part in the successful American Graffiti (1973), the first major work of director George Lucas. The movie was produced by Francis Ford Coppola, who later directed Ford in The Conversation (1974) and Apocalypse Now (1979).

Ford achieved real success as the opportunistic Han Solo in Lucas’s Star Wars (1977). The space-fantasy film became one of the highest-grossing motion pictures of all time. Ford’s fame was cemented with the Star Wars sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) and with the Indiana Jones series, in which he starred as an adventurer-archaeologist. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and its sequels Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) were produced by Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg. They featured Ford as a swashbuckling 1930s action hero whose larger-than-life qualities were tempered with a charming vulnerability. He expanded his repertoire in the science-fiction classic Blade Runner (1982), the drama The Mosquito Coast (1986), the thriller Frantic (1988), and the comedy Working Girl (1988). His performance in Witness (1985)—as an urban homicide detective hiding out in an Amish community—earned him an Academy Award nomination for best actor.

In the 1990s Ford accepted dramatic leading roles in Presumed Innocent (1990) and Regarding Henry (1991) and returned to romantic comedy with Sabrina (1995), but his fame rested with action-adventure movies. He portrayed CIA agent Jack Ryan in two popular films adapted from Tom Clancy novels—Patriot Games (1992) and Clear and Present Danger (1994). In The Fugitive (1993), a film based on the 1960s television show, he portrayed the wrongly convicted Dr. Richard Kimble.

Subsequent films did not reach the blockbuster level of his previous works, but Ford enjoyed success with the summer hit Air Force One (1997) and the supernatural thriller What Lies Beneath (2000). Along with Lucas and Spielberg, Ford revived the dormant Indiana Jones franchise with a fourth installment, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). He followed it with roles in the drama Extraordinary Measures (2010), the comedy Morning Glory (2010), the science-fiction western Cowboys & Aliens (2011), and the corporate thriller Paranoia (2013). In the inspirational 42 (2013), about the life of Jackie Robinson, Ford portrayed the pioneering baseball executive Branch Rickey. In Ender’s Game (2013), an adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s novel of the same name, Ford played a military officer tasked with training adolescents to battle aliens. He joined the ensemble cast of the action thriller The Expendables 3 (2014) as a CIA officer.

Harrison Ford, Aviation Rescue Badass

Harrison Ford is very lucky to be alive after crash-landing his World War II-era airplane onto a golf course. The 72-year-old star was hospitalized after on Thursday after he lost engine power, and he is expected to make a full recovery.

According to an eyewitness speaking to NBC News on Friday, Ford “saved several lives” by avoiding crashing his plane into a densely populated suburban area.

“Looking at where he crashed and how the plane went down, I’m sure there was a moment where he said, ‘I’m not going to risk lives, whatever happens, happens. It’s going to be just me,’” said Eddie Aguglia, who was golfing at the time of the incident. “He risked life and limb by putting it down on the golf course instead of trying to go further to try to get back to the airport. Another 25 to 30 yards and… I don’t want to think about it.”

If this is the case, then this wouldn’t even be the first time that Harrison Ford has rescued someone while piloting aircraft.

In July 2000, Ford helped save a dehydrated hiker in Idaho Falls. The actor, who was volunteering his services and his Bell 407 helicopter to local mountain rescuers and the sheriff’s department, received a call regarding a 20-year-old hiker named Sarah George. She had been on a five-hour climb of Table Mountain when she nearly collapsed. A fellow hiker phoned for help, which brought none other than Harrison Ford to the scene.

“I can’t believe I barfed in Harrison Ford’s helicopter.”

“He was wearing a T-shirt and a cowboy hat,” George told the Associated Press at the time. “He didn’t look like I’d ever seen him before.”

Before reaching the hospital, the sick hiker vomited into an EMT worker’s hat while onboard Ford’s helicopter. “I can’t believe I barfed in Harrison Ford’s helicopter,” George remarked. (She later told the press that she would, out of gratitude, watch any movie that he made from then on.)

The next summer, Ford was out once again saving people via aircraft, pro bono. This time, it was a 13-year-old Boy Scout named Cody Clawson who got lost in Yellowstone National Park. Ford found the boy shivering and hungry, having spent the night alone in the rain.

“Cody said the kids [in his Boy Scout troop] asked if he got an autograph and he said, ‘No, but I got a hug and a handshake, and that’s better than an autograph,’” Clawson’s mom told the AP.

Ford’s love of aviation has also taken him to Capitol Hill. In 2013, he joined members of the House General Aviation Caucus to discuss “issues of importance to the general aviation community.” In 2011, he stopped by the Senate General Aviation Caucus during discussions on jet fuel and tax burden on pilots.

Ford had taken a few flying lessons in his 20s, but didn’t really get into flight training until the mid-1990s.

“I wasn’t sure if at the age of 54 that I still had the capacity to learn something that I saw as very complicated and difficult,” he told Downwind magazine. “I was so identified with what I did for a living, and I enjoy it, have respect for it, and love the freedom and responsibility that acting provides; however, flying gave me the opportunity to create an identity other than Harrison Ford, the actor. I admire the ability to fly and always loved the sound of airplanes and was curious about them.”

Downwind also asked him how much rudder trim was needed on the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars. “That was Chewbacca’s job not mine,” Ford tersely replied. “He handled the rudders.”

Harrison Ford Plane Crash Described by Doctor Who Was on the Scene: "He Was Moaning and in Pain"

Sanjay Khurana, the doctor who helped Harrison Ford after his plane crash on March 5, described the incident to various news outlets, saying: "He was moaning and in pain."Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Talk about timing. Doctor Sanjay Khurana was playing on the seventh hole of the Penmar Golf Course on Thursday, March 5, when Harrison Ford's plane crashed right before his eyes.

Khurana, a spine surgeon, gave his account of the events to both CBS Los Angeles and ABC News following the incident, recalling how he instinctively dropped his clubs and ran to the plane to check if the pilot was okay.

"He was stunned a bit," Khurana told ABC News. "He was moaning and in pain."

The medical professional added to the local CBS affiliate that Ford was "slumped over in distress belted in," and the odor of fuel was pervasive when he and other golfers noticed it seeping out from the plane.

"I motioned to some of the other folks at the golf course to put dirt on the fuel so it wouldn’t combust," he told CBS. "I just wanted to get him out safely so that the situation wouldn’t erupt into a fire."

Once the group pulled the man from the aircraft, Khurana realized who he was. "It was obvious by his face, it was Harrison Ford," he told ABC News. "I’m old enough, or young enough, to have watched all his Star Wars films. So, it was obvious."

The golfers then stabilized Ford's spine and neck on the course, and Khurana made sure the actor's blood pressure and airway were in good condition. Ford, 72, was then transported to a nearby hospital.

A general view at the Penmar Golf Course after a single-engine plane piloted by actor Harrison Ford crashed on March 5, 2015 in Venice, California.
Credit: David Buchan/Getty Images

Harrison's rep later released a statement to Us Weekly regarding the actor's accident.

"Harrison was flying a WW2 vintage plane today which had engine trouble upon take off," the statement read. "He had no other choice but to make an emergency landing, which he did safely. He was banged up and is in the hospital receiving medical care. The injuries sustained are not life threatening, and he is expected to make a full recovery."

According to National Transportation Safety Board investigator Patrick Jones, Ford described trouble in his engine moments after departing from the Santa Monica Municipal Airport. Jones told ABC News that the actor's plane clipped a tree before crashing.

The hero of the hour, Khurana, told the outlet that he was stunned by the events that had transpired that day. "You don't go golfing expecting to see an airplane crash and to help extract someone and realize it's someone you know from the movies, right?" he said. "But as a surgeon, I've been practicing for almost over a decade now, you deal with urgent situations."

Harrison Ford no stranger to aircraft crashes, rescues

Actor Harrison Ford pilots his helicopter July 10, 2001, near Jackson, Wyoming, after rescuing a missing Boy Scout.

 

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Last Updated Mar 6, 2015 7:39 AM EST

Harrison Ford always loved flying, but it wasn't until he was an established Hollywood star that he became a pilot.

"I always had the dream. I was in college and I took a couple of lessons then. It was about $11 an hour to go with an instructor pilot, and I couldn't afford it" Ford told CBS News in 2005.

Actor Harrison Ford flies his helicopter July 10, 2001, near Jackson, Wyoming.

 GETTY IMAGES

"Years later, I was flying around as a passenger. I'd go up front and watch what the guys were doing. I got fascinated by it again. At the age of, I think, about 55, I decided I would give it a whack," he continued. "I didn't know if I would be able to learn enough to do it. But it has been a wonderful experience for me. I've had a great, great time."

Ford owns several aircraft, both fixed-wing airplanes and helicopters. He belongs to a number of aviation organizations and routinely flies in and out of Santa Monica Municipal Airport, close to the golf course where his vintage plane crash-landed Thursday.

He has donated his flying skills to non-profit organizations, including Operation Smile and the Special Olympics, and flew medical personnel and supplies to Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake.

"I enjoy the pure freedom, and the beauty of the third dimension when you fly," he told Downwind magazine in 2009. "We live in two-dimensional world when our feet are on the ground, and getting in the sky is a rare experience that re-invigorates your perspective on things. Flying is always an adventure."Ford has played a leading role in at least two real-life dramas, helping to rescue a missing hiker and a Boy Scout on separate occasions in 2001.

"The idea is to give young people, ages eight through 17, a ride in a general aviation airplane," Ford explained to CBS News in 2005. "That gives them a chance to experience the freedom and responsibilities that attend to flying an airplane."Hoping to inspire the same love of flying in others, Ford served as chairman of the Experimental Aircraft Association's Young Eagles program from 2004 to 2009.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has an award named for him, the Harrison Ford Legacy in Aviation Award. In January, Ford presented what he called "the awkwardly named" honor to the organization's new president.

But what goes up, must come down -- and the actor best known for piloting the Millennium Falcon in the "Star Wars" films has had several close calls.

In 1999, his helicopter crashed during a training flight in Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles. The following year, gusty winds pushed Ford's six-seat plane off the runway as he tried to land in Lincoln, Nebraska. Ford and his passenger weren't hurt.

Harrison Ford Elected to AIA Board

"Indiana Jones" shows his commitment to real archaeology.

After years of being identified on screen as the legendary archaeologist "Indiana Jones," actor Harrison Ford has won election to the Board of Directors of the Archaeological Institute of America. With his Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull set to hit U.S. movie theaters on May 22, the film star commented on his real world dedication to archaeology, "Knowledge is power, and understanding the past can only help us in dealing with the present and the future."

The Archaeological Institute of America is North America's oldest and largest non-profit organization devoted to archaeology. With more nearly a quarter of a million members and subscribers and 105 local chapters, it promotes archaeological excavation, research, education, and preservation on a global basis. At the core of its mission is the belief that an understanding of the past enhances our shared sense of humanity and enriches our existence. As archaeological finds are a non-renewable resource, the AIA's work benefits not only the current generation, but also those yet to come in the future.

"Harrison Ford has played a significant role in stimulating the public's interest in archaeological exploration," said Brian Rose, President of the AIA. "We are all delighted that he has agreed to join the AIA's Governing Board."

In addition, the current May/June issue of ARCHAEOLOGY magazine, published by the AIA, features a cover story devoted to the mysteries surrounding the alleged crystal skull archaeological finds that inspired the new "Indiana Jones" film.

Harrison Ford is already helping to raise public awareness of the AIA and its mission as the news of his election to the Board has spread. Many media outlets have covered the story. Here are a few links:

The AIA was delighted to honor Harrison Ford with the inaugural Bandelier Award for raising public awareness of archaeology through his on-screen work in the Indiana Jones film series.

In 1880, Adolf Bandelier was sent by the Archaeological Institute of America to study prehistoric sites in the Southwest. At Los Alamos, northwest of Santa Fe, Bandelier investigated Tyuonyi pueblo, Long House, and other sites. These were preserved in a National Monument established in 1916 and named after Bandelier. Visitors to the National Monument can experience the wonder of seeing archaeological sites first hand, much as viewers of Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones movies experience the excitement of exploring lost civilizations. We invite you to watch Harrison Ford's award video and acceptance speech below.