Harrison Ford turns 80; He has been making films for 60 years, and he started his career as a carpenter

The extraordinary actor will blow out 80 candles on July 13, and in 2023 we will see him in “Indiana Jones 5”.

Those who loved Star Wars, Blade Runner and Indiana Jones will hardly believe it, but Harrison Ford is turning 80 years old.

The career of the great American actor spans six decades and he can boast of collaborations with some of the most influential directors of his time.

Harrison Ford was born on July 13, 1942 at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago to Jewish radio actress Dorothy Needleman and former actor and marketing executive John William “Christopher” Ford, a Christian of Irish and German descent.

A philosophy major and Boy Scout, Harrison Ford became passionate about acting during his college years in Ripon, Wisconsin, before moving to Los Angeles to try his luck in Hollywood.

The first contract, worth $150 a week, is with Columbia Pictures, and then he moves to the Universal studio, with which he works in cameo roles for TV series.

In the first stage of his career, the future Indiana Jones worked as a carpenter and as a concert cameraman, but then in 1973, the turning point happened: George Lucas asked him in “American Graffiti”.

It was Steven Spielberg who suggested him for the character of Han Solo in the original episode of the Star Wars epic in 1977, a legendary role that he would later play in the sequels.

Next comes Apocalypse Now, a 1979 film based on Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness. The film, starring Marlon Brando and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is particularly fond of Ford, so much so that he named his sons Benjamin and Willard after the first and last names of the film’s protagonist, played by Martin Sheen.

In 1981, with the film “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, the Indiana Jones series begins, based on the adventures of the fictional archaeologist created by George Lucas in honor of the action heroes of the 1930s film series. The character appears in four films directed by Steven Spielberg and a television series, as well as in novels, comics, video games, and other media.

“Dr. Jones, we’ve heard a lot about you: professor of archaeology, expert in the occult, and what do you say?” Explorer of Rare Antiquities”.

A phrase from “Raiders of the Lost Ark” describes and predicts the character’s global success:

In 2003, the American Film Institute ranked him as the second greatest movie hero of all time, and in 2020, Empire magazine named him the greatest movie character of all time. Entertainment Weekly ranked him #2 on their list of the coolest pop culture heroes, and Premiere magazine placed him #7 on their list of the 100 Greatest Movie Characters.

The iconic hero’s latest exploits will hit theaters starting June 30, 2023, as Indiana Jones 5, directed by James Mangold, begins filming.