Ruth Ford (July 7, 1911 – August 12, 2009) was an American actress and model. Her brother was the bohemian

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

Charles Henri Ford. Their parents owned or managed hotels in the American South, and the family regularly moved.

Life and career

Born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, Ford was the daughter of Charles and Gertrude Cato Ford, who owned hotels in four towns in the South. She was a graduate of the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

. Writer and artist Charles Henri Ford was her brother. As a model, Ford posed for photographers

Cecil Beaton Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton, (14 January 1904 – 18 January 1980) was a British fashion, portrait and war photographer, diarist, painter, and interior designer, as well as an Academy Awards, Oscar–winning stage design, stage and costume de ...

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each ...

, and Carl Van Vechten, among others. She married actor Peter Van Eyck in 1940, but the marriage was unsuccessful. Van Eyck was the father of her daughter, Shelley, who was born in 1941. Before Ford's trip to Hollywood, she was a member of

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

Mercury Theatre The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs and motion pictures. The Mercury also r ...

, and appeared in his film '' Too Much Johnson'' (1938), which was considered lost until the rediscovery of footage in 2013. Welles's assistance helped her to land contracts with

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the multi ...

and

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

studios. Ford's Broadway debut was in ''The Shoemaker's Holiday'' (1938). Among her other Broadway performances, she starred in ''

Poor Murderer ''Poor Murderer'' is a play written by Pavel Kohout that premiered at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway on 20 October 1976 and closed on 2 January 1977 after 87 performances. Setting The time is 1900, and it takes place in the great hall o ...

'' (1976). Ford married film star

Zachary Scott Zachary Scott (February 21, 1914 – October 3, 1965)Obituary '' Variety'', October 6, 1965. was an American actor who was known for his roles as villains and "mystery men". Early life Scott was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Sallie L ...

, and they remained together until Scott's death in 1965. Scott adopted Shelley, who took the name Shelley Scott. Zachary Scott reportedly died penniless except for a $100,000 insurance policy he left for his widow. Later, in the 1970s, she was involved in a relationship with a much younger man, the writer Dotson Rader. Ford, writing out Christmas cards by her courtyard window was the first person to call 911 to report shots fired at

The Dakota The Dakota, also known as the Dakota Apartments, is a cooperative apartment building at 1 West 72nd Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The Dakota was constructed between 1880 and 1884 in the Renaissance ...

apartments which would turn out to be the murder of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

. Ford died in New York City.

Posthumous

In May 2010 it was reported, originally in ''The Wall Street Journal'', that Ford's estate had been worth $8.4 million, almost all of it in the value of two apartments she owned in the apartment building

in Manhattan, where she died at the age of 98 in 2009. One of the apartments had belonged to her brother Charles, who predeceased her. She bequeathed the apartments to her cook/butler, Indra Tamang, a Nepalese-American whom Charles Henri Ford had brought to New York. Ford's daughter and grandchildren reportedly were disinherited. Tamang sold the larger of Ford's Dakota apartments in 2011 for less than $4.5 million.

Partial filmography

* ''

Chloe, Love Is Calling You ''Chloe, Love Is Calling You'' is a 1934 American pre-Code drama film directed by Marshall Neilan. The film is also known as ''Chloe'' (American short title). This was lead actress Olive Borden's last film. Plot summary A low-budget Southern d ...

'' (1934) – Minor Role (uncredited) * '' Too Much Johnson'' (1938) – Mrs. Billings * '' Roaring Frontiers'' (1941) – Reba Bailey * '' Secrets of the Lone Wolf'' (1941) – Helene de Leon * ''

The Man Who Returned to Life ''The Man Who Returned to Life'' is a 1942 American black-and-white drama film directed by Lew Landers, written by Gordon Rigby and released by Columbia Pictures. Plot David Jameson lives in a rural town in Maryland. He is forced to flee aft ...

'' (1942) – Beth Beebe * '' The Lady Is Willing'' (1942) – Myrtle Glossamer * ''

Lady Gangster ''Lady Gangster'' is a 1942 Warner Bros. B picture crime film directed by Robert Florey, credited as "Florian Roberts". It is based on the play ''Gangstress, or Women in Prison'' by Dorothy Mackaye, who in 1928, as #440960, served less than ten ...

'' (1942) – Lucy Fenton * ''

Murder in the Big House ''Murder in the Big House'' is a black-and-white American crime drama, released by Warner Bros in April 1942. Structured as an hour-long second feature, it is directed by the prolific specialist in low-budget action productions, B. Reeves Eason, ...

'' (1942) – Mrs. Irene Gordon * ''

In This Our Life ''In This Our Life'' is a 1942 American drama film, the second to be directed by John Huston. The screenplay by Howard Koch is based on the 1941 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title by Ellen Glasgow. The cast included the establis ...

'' (1942) – Mother of Accident Victim (uncredited) * ''

Escape from Crime ''Escape from Crime'' is a 1942 American crime film directed by D. Ross Lederman. It has essentially the same plot as the earlier ''Picture Snatcher'' (1933).

'' (1942) – Myrt * ''

Secret Enemies ''Secret Enemies'' is a 1942 American drama film directed by Benjamin Stoloff and written by Raymond L. Schrock. The film stars Craig Stevens, Faye Emerson, John Ridgely, Charles Lang, Robert Warwick, and Frank Reicher. The film was released by ...

'' (1942) – Miss Page (uncredited) * '' Across the Pacific'' (1942) – Secretary (uncredited) * '' The Hidden Hand'' (1942) – Estelle Channing * '' The Gorilla Man'' (1943) – Janet Devon * ''

Truck Busters ''Truck Busters'' is a 1943 American drama film directed by B. Reeves Eason, written by Robert E. Kent and Raymond L. Schrock, and starring Richard Travis, Virginia Christine, Charles Lang, Ruth Ford, Richard Fraser, Tod Andrews and Frank Wi ...

'' (1943) – Pearl * ''

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ar ...

'' (1943) – Nurse (uncredited) * '' Murder on the Waterfront'' (1943) – Lana Shane * '' Adventure in Iraq'' (1943) – Tess Torrence * '' Princess O'Rourke'' (1943) – Clare Stillwell (uncredited) * ''

Wilson Wilson may refer to: People *Wilson (name) ** List of people with given name Wilson ** List of people with surname Wilson * Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender *Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Rod ...

'' (1944) – Margaret Wilson * ''

The Keys of the Kingdom ''The Keys of the Kingdom'' is a 1941 novel by A. J. Cronin. Spanning six decades, it tells the story of Father Francis Chisholm, an unconventional Scottish Catholic priest who struggles to establish a mission in China. Beset by tragedy in h ...

'' (1944) – Sister Clotilde * ''

Circumstantial Evidence Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact—such as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion directly—i.e., without need ...

'' (1945) – Mrs. Simms * '' The Woman Who Came Back'' (1945) – Ruth Gibson * '' Strange Impersonation'' (1946) – Jane Karaski #1 * '' Dragonwyck'' (1946) – Cornelia Van Borden (uncredited) * '' Act One'' (1963) – Beatrice Kaufman * '' The Tree'' (1969) – Mrs. Gagnon * '' Play It As It Lays'' (1972) – Carlotta * '' Too Scared to Scream'' (1985) – Irma (final film role)

References

External links

*
Ruth Ford
at

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...

* *
Ruth Ford's obituary in ''The Daily Telegraph''

Ruth Ford's obituary in ''The Times''

* Ruth Ford Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Ruth Actresses from Mississippi Female models from Mississippi American film actresses American stage actresses People from Brookhaven, Mississippi People from Clarksville, Tennessee 1911 births 2009 deaths 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American women