Glenn Ford

Solid. Steady. Competent. Glenn Ford embodied these qualities as an actor and as a man. He once stated that he was never acting; he was just playing himself, and the statement did not seem disingenuous. In a career that spanned over 50 years, he worked constantly in movies and TV but never received an Academy Award or Emmy Award nomination. He was one of Hollywood's biggest box-office stars during the 1950s, but still enjoyed working on the plumbing, air conditioning, and electrical wiring at his luxurious mansion in Beverly Hills. No matter the role, he projected a quiet strength, unforced affability, and masculine charm that anchored his fellow actors, whether it was the ravishing Rita Hayworth in "Gilda" (1946) or the roguish Marlon Brando in "The Teahouse of the August Moon" (1956). After mesmerizing audiences in numerous noir flicks and the controversial "Blackboard Jungle" (1955), he went on to lend class and gravitas to the role of Pa Kent in "Superman the Movie" (1978). When he died at the age of 90 - one of the last Golden Age male stars still alive into the next millennium - he left behind a legacy of consistently dignified performances. The ever dependable, manly Ford was always right on the money.