STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT
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.
Earlier this week, at a taping of an interview for Bravo, the
actor let slip that he would welcome the opportunity to reprise
Indiana Jones a third time, and that Lucas already had a script
ready for such an eventuality, although it's far from a done deal.
In the meantime, Ford's preparing to shoot Steven Soderbergh's
art-house film, "Traffic," and anticipating the release of
DreamWorks' "What Lies Beneath."