
Constance Ford (born Cornelia M. Ford; July 1, 1923 – February 26, 1993) was an American actress and
model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , .
Models can be divided in ...
. She portrayed Ada Lucas Hobson on the long-running daytime soap opera ''
Another World'', from 1967 until shortly before her death in 1993. She also appeared in nearly two dozen movies from 1956 to 1974, with her most noteworthy role being the matriarch Helen Jorgenson in ''
A Summer Place'' (1959).
Early years
Constance Ford was born Cornelia M. Ford on July 1, 1923, in
The Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
, to parents Cornelia R. (née Smith) and Edwin J. Ford. Her siblings were Arthur, John, and Evelyn. Ford was a graduate of St. Barnabas Grammar and High School, and she attended Hunter College.
[ She studied acting at ]HB Studio
The HB Studio (Herbert Berghof Studio) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization offering professional training in the performing arts through classes, workshops, free lectures, theater productions, theater rentals, a theater artist residency prog ...
in New York City.
Career
Ford initially worked as a model for the Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward is the name of two successive U.S. retail corporations. The original Montgomery Ward & Co. was a mail-order business and later a department store chain that operated between 1872 and 2001; its common nickname was "Monkey Wards". ...
catalog when she was 15 years old.[ ] Her face became famous in the Elizabeth Arden
Elizabeth Arden (December 31, 1881 – October 18, 1966), also known as Elizabeth N. Graham, was a Canadian-American businesswoman who founded what is now Elizabeth Arden, Inc., and built a cosmetics empire in the United States.
Backg ...
1941 advertising campaign for ''Victory Red'' lipstick, which featured a Philippe Halsman photo showing her face against the American flag
The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...
. She acted on Broadway from 1949, appearing in such productions as the musical '' Say Darling'' and ''Nobody Loves an Albatross''. She also played the prostitute in the original Broadway production of ''Death of a Salesman
''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by the American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a ...
''.
She began her television career in 1950, with performances on live television dramas such as '' Studio One'', ''Armstrong Circle Theatre
''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series which ran from June 6, 1950, to June 25, 1957, on NBC, and from October 2, 1957, to August 28, 1963, on CBS. It alternated weekly with '' The United States Steel Ho ...
'', ''Goodyear Television Playhouse
''Goodyear Television Playhouse'' is an American anthology series that was telecast live on NBC from 1951 to 1957 during the first Golden Age of Television.
Goodyear alternated sponsorship with Philco, and ''The Philco Television Playhouse'' ...
'', and other acclaimed series. As a Warner Bros. contract player, she had her most famous role as Sandra Dee
Sandra Dee (born Alexandra Zuck; April 23, 1942 – February 20, 2005) was an American actress. Dee began her career as a child model, working first in commercials and then film in her teenage years. Best known for her portrayal of ingénues ...
's mother in '' A Summer Place'' (1959), in which her abused husband Richard Egan had a scene telling her off for her outdated prejudices, and Ford arranges for Dee to be tested for her virginity. Another scene had Ford slapping Dee so hard that she fell into a Christmas tree, which toppled over on her. In '' Rome Adventure'' (1962), she played Daisy Bronson, owner of a bookstore in Rome, opposite Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette (January 31, 1937 – January 19, 2008) was an American actress. Pleshette was known for her roles in theatre, film, and television. She was nominated for three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. For her role as Emily Hart ...
and Troy Donahue
Troy Donahue (born Merle Johnson Jr., January 27, 1936 – September 2, 2001) was an American film and television actor, best known for his role as Johnny Hunter in the film '' A Summer Place''. He was a popular sex symbol in the 1950s and ...
, being kinder to him than she had been in ''A Summer Place''. In '' House of Women'', she played an aggressive but ultimately sympathetic female prisoner who gets into a catfight with prison matron Jeanne Cooper. She played the tough-as-nails nurse alongside Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion-picture cont ...
in '' The Caretakers'' (1963). She also had a walk-on playing a flirtatious but bored society matron who makes a play for Warren Beatty
Henry Warren Beatty (né Beaty; born March 30, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career has spanned over six decades, and he has received an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards. He also received the Irving G. Thalberg Memor ...
in '' All Fall Down''.
She made three appearances on ''Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and four short stories, all of which involve a ...
'', including the role of a woman with multiple personality disorder in the 1958 episode "The Case of the Deadly Double", and as Frances Walden in "The Case of the Potted Planter" (1963) and defendant Sylvia Thompson in "The Case of the Shifty Shoebox" (also 1963). In 1960, she played heartless Connie Walworth ("You haven't got the flair, dear ...") for director Mitchell Leisen
James Mitchell Leisen (October 6, 1898 – October 28, 1972) was an American film director, director, art director, and costume designer.
Film career
He entered the film industry in the 1920s, beginning in the art and costume departments. He d ...
in the "Worse Than Murder" episode of '' Thriller''. She was often featured in episodes of '' Kraft Television Theater'', ''Appointment with Adventure'', '' State Trooper'', ''Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
''Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre'' is an American Western anthology television series broadcast on CBS from October 5, 1956 until May 18, 1961.
Synopsis
Many episodes were based on novels by Zane Grey, to all of which Four Star Films held ...
'' (as Laura Lovett, opposite Jack Palance
Walter Jack Palance ( ; born Volodymyr Palahniuk, , ''Volodymyr Ivanovych Palahniuk''; February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006) was an American screen and stage actor, known to film audiences for playing tough guys and villains. He was nominat ...
in the 1956 episode, "Lariat"), ''Bat Masterson
Bartholemew William Barclay "Bat" Masterson (November 26, 1853 – October 25, 1921) was a U.S. Army scout, lawman, professional gambler, and journalist known for his exploits in the late 19th and early 20th-century American Old West. He was bo ...
'', ''The Phil Silvers Show
''The Phil Silvers Show'', originally titled ''You'll Never Get Rich'', is a sitcom which ran on the CBS Television Network from 1955 to 1959. A pilot titled "Audition Show" was made in 1955, but it was never broadcast. 143 other episodes wer ...
'', ''Have Gun – Will Travel
''Have Gun – Will Travel'' is an American Westerns on television, Western television series that was produced and originally broadcast by CBS on both television and radio from 1957 through 1963. The television version of the series starring Ri ...
'', ''Rawhide
Rawhide may refer to:
*Rawhide (material), a hide or animal skin that has not been tanned
* Whip made from rawhide
Entertainment
* ''Rawhide'' (1926 film), a Western directed by Richard Thorpe
* ''Rawhide'' (1938 film), a Western starring baseball ...
'', '' Wanted: Dead or Alive'', ''Tombstone Territory
''Tombstone Territory'' is an American Western television series starring Pat Conway and Richard Eastham. The first two seasons aired on ABC from 1957 to 1959. The first season was sponsored by Bristol-Myers (consumer products) and the seco ...
'' (episode "Silver Killers"), ''Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...
'' (in the episode "Wagon Girls" and as title character in the episode "Poor Pearl" in 1956), ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents
''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 ...
'', '' Target: The Corruptors!'', and ''The Twilight Zone
''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...
'' episode " Uncle Simon". She also appeared on the NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
interview program '' Here's Hollywood''.
In 1954, she made her soap-opera debut as Lynn Sherwood on ''Woman With A Past
''Woman with a Past'' is an American daytime soap opera that aired on CBS from February 1, 1954, to July 2, 1954.
The sustaining program originated at WCBS-TV and replaced ''Action in the Afternoon'' in the CBS schedule.
Synopsis
The soap focus ...
'' on CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
. On ''Search for Tomorrow
''Search for Tomorrow'' is an American television soap opera. It began its run on CBS on September 3, 1951, and concluded on NBC, 35 years later, on December 26, 1986.
Set in the fictional town of Henderson in an unspecified state, the show f ...
'', Ford was Rose Peterson, an employee of the mob, who was hired to discredit leading character Joanne Tate. Her on-screen brother was played by Don Knotts
Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on the 1960s sitcom ''The Andy Griffith Show'', for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He als ...
. On ''The Edge of Night
''The Edge of Night'' is an American mystery crime drama soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions.
It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network for most of its ...
'', Ford played the murderous theatre owner Eve Morris.
''Another World''
In 1967, she joined ''Another World'' as Ada, the strong-willed mother of Rachel ( Robin Strasser and later Victoria Wyndham). While her mother character was a total contrast to her role of Helen in ''A Summer Place'', she was brutally tough and honest, yet supportive and loving, first as a working-class mother to Rachel and later as a mentor to many of Bay City's young characters. Her first line, responding to brother Sam Lucas's inquiry, "Ada, is that you?" was a curt, "No, it's Princess Grace!"
Over the years, Ford played Ada's trials - she was widowed three times and worked in a variety of professions, from hairdressing to police clerk to restaurant owner. In 1975, middle-aged Ada gave birth to a daughter, Nancy.
Ford left the show in 1992 due to declining health, and Ada was said to be out of town visiting Nancy. When Ford died, the character of Ada also died, and the show paid tribute to character and actress both.
Recognition
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences gave Ford a Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Contribution to Daytime Drama.[
]
Death
Ford never publicly dated, married, or had children, which fueled rumors that she was a lesbian
A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
. Ford was romantically linked to children's author Louise Fitzhugh in a biography of the latter, published in 2020.A new biography explores the rebellious, bohemian life of the author of Harriet The Spy
Ihnat, Gwen. ''The A.V. Club''. 1 December 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
Ford died in New York Hospital
Weill Cornell Medical Center (; previously known as New York Hospital, Old New York Hospital, and City Hospital) is a research hospital in New York City. It is the teaching hospital for Cornell University's medical school and is part of NewYork-P ...
in Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
on February 26, 1993, from cancer, aged 69.
Filmography and selected TV work
References
External links
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*
*
Her 1941 advertising image at Halsman retrospective at The Smithsonian NPG
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Constance
1923 births
1993 deaths
20th-century American actresses
Actresses from the Bronx
Female models from New York (state)
American film actresses
American television actresses
American soap opera actresses
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)