Paul Ford

If any man ever had a curmudgeon character face absolutely made for TV and film, it was 'Paul Ford' (qv). Small-eyed, balding, lugubrious, pot-bellied and with a memorable plum nose to rival that of the great 'Karl Malden' (qv), he made a very late entry into show business, finding major success as blowhard military brass, gruff executives, grouchy sheriffs and blustery judges.Born 'Paul Ford' (qv) Weaver on November 2, 1901, in Baltimore, Maryland, he dropped out of Dartmouth College before working as a salesman throughout the Great Depression. The married Ford was a rather wanderlust family man who decided to give acting a try in his early 40s. He excelled at puppetry and found work staging such shows at the World's Fair. Billing himself as 'Paul Ford' (qv), his middle name and mother's maiden name, he eventually found a fair amount of radio and theatre offers. Making his off-Broadway debut in 1939, he moved to Broadway playing a sergeant in the 1944 play "Decision" and continued on the New York stage with such popular 40's plays as "Kiss Them for Me," "Flamingo Road" and "Command Decision."Paul moved inauspiciously into films with uncredited roles in the dramatic films _The House on 92nd Street (1945)_ (qv), _The Naked City (1948)_ (qv) and _All the King's Men (1949)_ (qv), then walked up the credits ladder rung by rung with credited roles in _Lust for Gold (1949)_ (qv), _The Kid from Texas (1950)_ (qv) and _Perfect Strangers (1950)_ (qv). Eventually he included the newer medium of TV, finding roles on various anthology series including "Armstrong Circle Theatre," "The Ford Theatre Hour," "The Philco Television Playhouse," "Suspense" and "Studio One in Hollywood."Paul earned a huge hit on Broadway with his delightfully huffy portrayal of Colonel Wainright Purdy in the 1953 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning war comedy "Teahouse of the August Moon." He went on to transfer his role to film with _The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956)_ (qv). From there, he was given the part of irascible Horace Vandergelder in the movie version of the 'Thornton Wilder' (qv) play _The Matchmaker (1958)_ (qv) also starring 'Shirley Booth' (qv) as Dolly Levi, 'Shirley MacLaine' (qv) as Irene Malloy, 'Anthony Perkins' (qv) as Cornelius Hackl and 'Robert Morse' (qv) as Barnaby Tucker.Having already conquered radio, stage and film, it was on TV that 54-year-old Paul would achieve "overnight success" and become a household name when he was hired played a befuddled second banana to comedian 'Phil Silvers' (qv) on TV. Butting heads week after week as the ever-flustered Colonel Hall with Silvers' classic portrayal of the sly, manipulative Sergeant Bilko in The 'Phil Silvers' (qv) Show (1955), Paul amused audiences for four seasons and was Emmy-nominated three times. During this time he scored another Broadway success playing multiple roles in the light-hearted sketch revue "Thurber's Carnival" in 1960.As a reward for his small screen success, Paul was awarded the opportunity to film another stage hit. Shining in the pompous supporting role of Mayor Shinn in the 1957 Tony-awarded musical hit "The Music Man" (he replaced Tony-winning 'David Burns' (qv), the actor, along with 'Robert Preston' (qv) (as Harold Hill) and 'Pert Kelton' (qv) (as Mrs. Paroo) transferred his character to the immortal feature film version of _The Music Man (1962)_ (qv).Ford went on playing playing old coot gents and took a third Broadway triumph to film as elderly father-to-be Harry Lambert in the family comedy _Never Too Late (1965)_ (qv) co-starring his stage partner 'Maureen O'Sullivan' (qv) as expectant wife Edith. Other twilight character film roles included his senator in _Advise & Consent (1962)_ (qv), another colonel in _It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)_ (qv), a general in _The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966)_ (qv), a military commander in _The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966)_ (qv), a one-time third-party presidential candidate in _The Comedians (1967)_ (qv) (for which he won a National Board of Review award for "Best Supporting Actor"), and his last film, as a doctor in the little seen comedy _Richard (1972)_ (qv).Ford eventually retired in 1972, and died four years later of a heart attack in Mineola, New York, on April 12, 1976. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Los Angeles. Falling somewhat below 'W.C. Fields' (qv) and 'Walter Matthau' (qv) in crabby popularity, this delightful curmudgeon nevertheless earned deserved his brief, late-night success.::Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net