Francis Ford(1881-1953)
- Actor
- Director
- Writer
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.)
