He was never nominated for an Oscar®, but Glenn Ford was one of Hollywood's most talented and bankable actors, and his best work elevated the simplest of roles to something deep and revealing. Sadly, he died on August 30 in Beverly Hills of natural causes. He was 90.

He was born Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford on May 1, 1916 in Sainte-Christine, Quebec, Canada. His father was a railroad executive who relocated the family to Santa Monica when Glenn was just seven years old. After gaining some footing with drama in high school, he toured briefly with a theatrical company before being discovered by a talent scout for Columbia Pictures in 1939. His early films were inauspicious (Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence (1939), Blondie Plays Cupid (1940), So Ends Our Night (1941). After military service in World War II (1942-45), there was little to indicate that his career would take off after he returned to acting, but then came that sordid film noir Gilda (1946). Holding his own opposite the sultry Rita Hayworth, Ford showed strong presence in his first big break, and he moved quickly to the front ranks with moviegoers.

With his strong jaw and no-nonsense demeanor, he was a sturdy heroic lead, whether he was in westerns: The Man from Colorado (1948), The Redhead and the Cowboy (1951); or crime dramas: Framed (1947), The Undercover Man (1949). As an actor, he continued to develop his range; and this was exemplified in his "golden" period, which was undoubtedly between 1953-1959: the vengeful detective in The Big Heat (1953); the teacher trying to reach out to inner city kids in The Blackboard Jungle (1955); a terrific performance as an outlaw trying to outwit Van Heflin in 3:10 to Yuma (1957); the established cowhand breaking in Jack Lemmon in Cowboy (1958); the reluctant hero who takes a stand for sheep owners and romances Shirley MacLaine in the charming The Sheepman (1958); the probing commander in the taut Torpedo Run (1958). He also proved his considerable comic chops in two splendid farcical comedies with Debbie Reynolds - It Started with a Kiss and The Gazebo (both 1959).

The momentum couldn't last forever, and in the early '60s, he had the misfortune of starring in three big-budget remakes of earlier Hollywood classics: Cimarron (1960), Pocketful of Miracles (1961), and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962). None of them were well received by the critics. Still, as the decade wore on, he did have his bright spots: the excellent stalker thriller Experiment in Terror (1962), the winsome family comedy The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), his beautifully melancholic turn as a lonely conventioneer who falls for Geraldine Page in Dear Heart (1964); and as a good cop who flirts with darker temptations in The Money Trap (1965).

The '70s saw Ford move to television, first for a series (Cade's County (1971-72); and than some sharp telefilms (The Disappearance of Flight 412 (1974), Once an Eagle (1976), before he was cast as Clark Kent's father in Superman (1978). The huge box-office success of that film didn't earn better roles for this fine actor, and after a few forgettable flicks (Day of the Assassin (1979), Happy Birthday to Me (1981), he found few movie roles. His last film appearance was in Raw Nerve (1991) and than he retired permanently due to heart problems. He is survived by his son through his late wife and dancing star, Eleanor Powell, Peter; and three grandchildren.

by Michael T. Toole