John Ford

John Ford (born John Martin Feeney; February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973) was an American film director and producer, famous for both his westerns such as 'Stagecoach', 'The Searchers', and 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance', and adaptations of classic 20th-century American novels such as 'The Grapes of Wrath'. He is renowned for his long association with actor John Wayne, having directed him in multiple films. Ford also held the record for the most Best Director wins at the Academy Awards, with a total of four. He joined the United States Navy for World War II, where he served as head of the Photographic Unit of the OSS, and later the Korean War, earning a reputation as a patriotic director of wartime propaganda films like 'The Battle of Midway' and documentary films. After the war, his prominence continued, making one of his most personal films 'The Quiet Man' among others, with Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. He won public praise for the war efforts, and President Richard Nixon awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, proclaiming him as a national treasure.