Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersIndependent Spirit AwardsWomen's History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Francis Ford(1881-1953)

  • Actor
  • Director
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Francis Ford
Page turning trailer for this black and white western
Play trailer2:18
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
1 Video
99+ Photos
Elder brother of the director John Ford and himself a screen director (and John's erstwhile mentor) until the advent of sound. He had also acted in his own films and those of other directors, but turned to acting exclusively circa 1929. As actor, he would provide convincing portrayals of men of authority - men sometimes ruthless if not downright unsavory. (See him as the Republican judge in his brother John's The Informer (1935).) But he also had an ample feel for light comedy. (See him in John's The Quiet Man (1952), as the village elder who - almost in the manner of slapstick - rouses himself from his very deathbed to witness the film's donnybrook dénouement.)
BornAugust 14, 1881
DiedSeptember 5, 1953(72)
BornAugust 14, 1881
DiedSeptember 5, 1953(72)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank

Photos142

Harry Carey, Warner Baxter, Francis Ford, Maurice Murphy, and Jack Pennick in The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936)
John Carradine, Francis Ford, and O.P. Heggie in The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936)
John Carradine and Francis Ford in The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936)
Francis Ford in In Time for Press (1911)
Francis Ford and Edith Storey in The Reformation of Jack Robbins (1911)
William A. Carroll and Francis Ford in The Immortal Alamo (1911)
William Clifford and Francis Ford in Jack Mason's Last Deal (1911)
Francis Ford and Edith Storey in Sir Percy and the Punchers (1911)
Francis Ford in The Snake in the Grass (1911)
Francis Ford in Billy and His Pal (1911)
Francis Ford in Billy and His Pal (1911)
Buck Connors, Francis Ford, Katherine Grant, Jack Hoxie, William McCall, and Jack Pratt in Ridin' Thunder (1925)

Known for

Grace Cunard in The Purple Mask (1916)
The Purple Mask
5.3
  • Phil Kelly
  • The Sphinx
  • 1916
Crimson Shoals (1919)
Crimson Shoals
  • Jack Quinn, the son
  • Frederick Fielding, the father
  • Thomas Fielding, the grandfather
  • 1919
The Black Masks
Short
  • Fred Francis
  • 1913
Francis Ford in Berlin Via America (1918)
Berlin Via America
  • Phil Kelly
  • 1918

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Laurie Anders in The Marshal's Daughter (1953)
    The Marshal's Daughter
    • Gramps (uncredited)
    • 1953
  • John Forsythe, Jane Darwell, Edgar Buchanan, Gladys George, Frank McHugh, and Loretta Young in It Happens Every Thursday (1953)
    It Happens Every Thursday
    • Elderly Man (uncredited)
    • 1953
  • John Russell, Arleen Whelan, and Charles Winninger in The Sun Shines Bright (1953)
    The Sun Shines Bright
    • Feeney - Old Backwoodsman
    • 1953
  • The Living Bible (1952)
    The Living Bible
    • Samaritan Leper
    • TV Series
    • 1952
  • The Lawless Breed (1952)
    The Lawless Breed
    • Charlie - Saloon Janitor (uncredited)
    • 1952
  • Joan Leslie and Vaughn Monroe in Toughest Man in Arizona (1952)
    Toughest Man in Arizona
    • Hanchette
    • 1952
  • Maureen O'Hara, John Wayne, Ward Bond, Barry Fitzgerald, and Victor McLaglen in The Quiet Man (1952)
    The Quiet Man
    • Dan Tobin
    • 1952
  • Gruen Guild Theater
    • TV Series
    • 1952
  • Andy Devine and Guy Madison in Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1951)
    Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
    • Old Zeke
    • Rimrock Robby
    • TV Series
    • 1951–1952
  • Fireside Theatre (1949)
    Fireside Theatre
    • TV Series
    • 1950–1952
  • Rim of the Wheel
    • Mr. Dickerson
    • Short
    • 1951
  • The Gene Autry Show (1950)
    The Gene Autry Show
    • Jed - Rancher
    • Whopper Darrow
    • TV Series
    • 1950
  • Walter Catlett, Brett King, Mary Stuart, and Raymond Walburn in Father Makes Good (1950)
    Father Makes Good
    • Fisherman
    • 1950
  • Joanne Dru and Ben Johnson in Wagon Master (1950)
    Wagon Master
    • Mr. Peachtree
    • 1950
  • Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels in The Lone Ranger (1949)
    The Lone Ranger
    • Sam Dingle
    • TV Series
    • 1950

Director

  • The Phantom Pinto (1928)
    The Phantom Pinto
    • Director
    • 1928
  • Joan Alden, William Steele, and Dynamite the Dog in The Call of the Heart (1928)
    The Call of the Heart
    • Director
    • 1928
  • Wolf's Trail (1927)
    Wolf's Trail
    • Director
    • 1927
  • Wolves of the Air
    • Director
    • 1927
  • Her Own Story
    • Director
    • 1926
  • False Friends
    • Director
    • 1926
  • Melodies
    • Director
    • 1926
  • Sam Allen, Edmund Cobb, Ruth Renick, and Fearless the Dog in Dog Scents (1926)
    Dog Scents
    • Director
    • Short
    • 1926
  • The Silent Trailer
    • Director
    • Short
    • 1926
  • The Ghetto Shamrock (1926)
    The Ghetto Shamrock
    • Director
    • 1926
  • Lash of the Whip
    • Director
    • 1926
  • Officer '444' (1926)
    Officer '444'
    • Director
    • 1926
  • William Desmond in The Winking Idol (1926)
    The Winking Idol
    • Director
    • 1926
  • The Four from Nowhere
    • Director
    • 1925
  • Joe Bonomo, Eva Gordon, and Margaret Quimby in Perils of the Wild (1925)
    Perils of the Wild
    • Director
    • 1925

Writer

  • Shadows of Broadway
    • Writer (as J. Francis O' Fearna)
    • Short
    • 1930
  • The Phantom Pinto (1928)
    The Phantom Pinto
    • Writer (as J. Francis O'Fearna)
    • 1928
  • The Chinatown Mystery
    • writer
    • 1928
  • Wolves of the Air
    • story (as J. Francis O'Fearna)
    • 1927
  • Melodies
    • Writer (as J. Francis O'Fearna)
    • 1926
  • The Silent Trailer
    • scenario (as J. Francis O'Fearna)
    • Short
    • 1926
  • Lash of the Whip
    • Writer
    • 1926
  • Officer '444' (1926)
    Officer '444'
    • scenario
    • 1926
  • The Four from Nowhere
    • Writer
    • 1925
  • The Diamond Bandit
    • Writer
    • 1924
  • Midnight Shadows
    • Writer
    • 1924
  • Cupid's Rustler
    • Writer
    • 1924
  • Range Blood
    • Writer
    • 1924
  • Edmund Cobb and Florence Gilbert in Western Yesterdays (1924)
    Western Yesterdays
    • adaptation
    • 1924
  • A Rodeo Mixup
    • Writer
    • 1924

Videos1

Drums Along The Mohawk
Trailer 2:18
Drums Along The Mohawk

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative names
    • J. Francis O' Fearna
  • Height
    • 6′ (1.83 m)
  • Born
    • August 14, 1881
    • Portland, Maine, USA
  • Died
    • September 5, 1953
    • Los Angeles, California, USA(undisclosed)
  • Spouses
      Mary Elizabeth SwearingenDecember 24, 1935 - September 5, 1953 (his death)
  • Relatives
      John Ford(Sibling)
  • Publicity listings
    • 16 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    According to Garry Wills' biography of John Wayne, "John Wayne's America," John Ford kept Francis as part of his stock company partly so he could humiliate him by giving him small, meaningless roles and yelling at him on the set. The younger Ford could not handle feelings of indebtedness, which was one of the reasons he only worked with Harry Carey once in the quarter-century after Carey left Universal. Carey was given the role of the prison warden and Francis the role of a corporal of the guard in Ford's The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936).

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.