Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford (Google)

The name Harrison Ford was not always as well known as it is today. Harrison was born on July 13th, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, unaware of the influence he would have on his audience in the future. When Harry reached high school he had a hard time fitting in with the crowd. He was often bullied, lacked athletic abilities and got nothing above a C average. The one thing he showed great interest in was radio broadcasting, and later he became the first student broadcaster voice on his high school's radio station, WMTH.

After high school Ford moved on to the Ripon College in Wisconsin. As any freshman in college, Harrison had a hard time adjusting. He developed depression and would not get out of bed and slept long hours. Because of this he missed classes and fell far behind in his studies. In his Junior year at Ripon, Harry decided to take up drama classes. At the time it wasn't purely interest in acting, but a way to talk to girls. However after taking some courses he began to love acting. Harrison did not graduate from college and decided to move to Los Angeles to find a job in radio broadcasting.

Instead he found some small roles in TV series like Ironside, Gunsmoke and Kung Fu. To help pay the bills he became a carpenter and built stages and sets for movies and plays. Being a carpenter not only helped support his wife and children but surprisingly opened the door to his acting debut. He was asked to build cabinets for George Lucas, who then cast him in a small role in his upcoming movie American Graffiti. It seemed as though Harrison would get better roles from here on out.

However, by the late 1970's Ford still hadn't had his big break in the acting field. While working on a doorway for a set, George Lucas spotted Harrison and asked him to read the part of a character in his newest movie saga. Ford accepted and read along with other potentials, such as Christopher Walken. As soon as Harry read those lines, Lucas knew he had found his man to play Han Solo in his upcoming hit Star Wars. Ford had finally caught his big break and went on to make many movies later on like Indiana Jones.

Harrison is my hero because he has had his ups and downs just like everyone has, but he has come out successful because he never gave up on his dreams. He did what he had to do and it paid off. He overcame his fears to accomplish what he wanted out of life. Not only has he overcome obstacles but he has been respectful and helpful to those around him. Half of his 800 acre ranch is donated to a nature reserve, which shows he cares about his environment and taking care of the planet as well. Being a private pilot of both planes and helicopters, Harrison has even provided emergency rescue help to local authorities to help those in grave danger in hard to reach places. Ford is not afraid of giving all that he has for someone and is a noble person to look up to. Harrison Ford is an outstanding example of a man who gets going when the going gets tough.