Wallace Ford

Wallace Ford, born as Samuel Grundy Jones, was an English-born, American naturalized vaudevillian, stage performer, and screen actor. Recognized for his wise-cracking characters, he held a tough but friendly-faced demeanor along with his small yet powerful, stocky physique. Wallace was born into a working-class family with limited means and was placed into a Barnardo's orphanage home when he was three. He was eventually adopted by a family in Manitoba but ran away at age 11 and joined a vaudeville traveling troupe the Winnipeg Kiddies where he learned his initial performance arts. Years later he adopted the name, Wallace Ford, after his friend of the same name died tragically during their freight-train journey from Canada to the United States. Serving in the army at Fort Riley, Kansas, during World War I, he later found success as a Broadway performer, appearing in multiple productions. He debuted in motion pictures with the film Possessed in 1931, appearing with Clark Gable and Joan Crawford, and went on to have an extensive career of over 30 years, appearing in more than 150 films. Wallace transitioned into a character actor in the late 1940s, becoming a regular performer in Western genres and multiple John Ford productions.