WITH HUMILITY, FORD THANKS HIS PEERS WHEN RECEIVING AFI AWARD

By Gary Dretzka
Tribune Staff Writer
February 21, 2000

HOLLYWOOD -- I would love to be able to describe for you what Harrison Ford told an audience of friends, admirers and A-list stars gathered in the Beverly Hilton Hotel, after Steven Spielberg and George Lucas handed him the American Film Institute's prestigious Silver Star award, for life achievement. I truly would.

Unfortunately, the carpenter-turned-actor reverted to his all-American aw-shucks mode as he stood before the podium at the black-tie gala Thursday night. Consequently, his expressions of gratitude -- presumably made to family members, fellow artists and agents (everyone in Hollywood thanks them, sometimes first) -- were delivered in tones audible only to bats and those fortunate few seated at the first row of tables.

When Ford finally did shuffle his way to within six inches of the microphone, he could be heard quoting Spencer Tracy, "`This is a job . . . a craft. . . . When you start thinking of yourself as a member of some la-de-da elite, you'll end up on your ass.' . . . I've collaborated with some of the best minds and hearts in the business and they've enriched my life."

That said, he quickly added, "I've had a lot of fun tonight, you've made me laugh and, if I don't get the hell out of here right now, I'll start to cry."

Or, something like that.

No one in the black-tie crowd seemed terribly dismayed or surprised by Ford's display of unvarnished humility and almost grudging acceptance of their wild applause.

This is a guy, after all, who has never felt terribly comfortable among the Hollywood glitterati, preferring the wilds of Wyoming to the lights of Hollywood. Indeed, in a taped interview shown during the ceremony, he compared himself to a pair of old shoes.xxx

If the honoree wasn't about to toot his own horn, however, there were plenty of other celebrities on hand who were only too happy to do it for him. They included Chewbacca, Sharon Stone, Anne Heche, Anne Archer, Mike Nichols, Daryl Hannah, David Schwimmer, Brad Pitt and Carrie Fisher, who had both Ford and the audience in stitches as she recalled her teenage infatuation with an unexpectedly cerebral Ford during the making of "Star Wars."

As the 28th recipient of the Life Achievement Award, the Maine Township High School graduate is the second named Ford (John was the first), the 23th white male (Sidney Poitier being the lone minority), 17th full-time actor (Orson Welles and John Huston were part-timers) and, at 57, one of the youngest thus honored.

This salient fact prompted Thora Birch, who played Jack Ryan's daughter in "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger," to observe, "That's what so weird about him getting the Lifetime Achievement Award. ... Hello, he's still working."

Nonetheless, Ford's career clearly meets all the requirements set forth by the AFI, chief among them having a body of work that's "stood the test of time." His resume includes 35 feature films -- he started out in 1966, playing a bellboy ("Paging Mr. Ellis ... paging Mr. Ellis ...") in "Dead Heat on a Merry Go Round" -- and 10 of those titles, including those in the "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" trilogies, have made more than $100 million at the box office.

More to the point, as Spielberg emphasized, Ford "defined a new breed of American film hero." The many clips shown during the ceremony were reminders of how this ruggedly handsome leading man was able to temper his characters' macho streaks with sneaky-quick humor and undeniable charm.

Stone, Heche, Fisher and Archer also testified on his ability to deliver a kiss, as well as a punch.

Among Ford's lesser honorifics, the Ripon College dropout can lay claim to being the National Association of Theater Owners "Star of the Century" (1994), People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" (1998) and the People's Choice Award's Favorite All Time Movie Star (1999). Oh, yeah, he also received a MTV Movie Award in the Best Duo category for "The Fugitive."

When he isn't working, Ford spends most of his time on his spread in Jackson Hole, with his wife -- screenwriter Melissa Mathison -- and their children, Georgia and Malcolm (he has two other adult sons from a previous marriage). In one of the video segments, Ford was interviewed while cross-country skiing on his gorgeous property there.