Back in 1964 Harrison Ford was a very part-time actor who supported himself as a carpenter. It allowed me to eat regularly grins Ford better known today as the dashing Han Solo than as a guy who makes decent dovetail joints. I still do carpentry though. It s more relaxing because I don t have to earn my living at it anymore.

No Indeed. It was in 1972 that as part of Its new talent program Columbia Pictures offered the Chicago-born actor a seven-year contract. Ford s first feature role was Bob Falfa the cocky drag racer of American Graffiti, directed by fledgling wunderkind George Lucas. When Lucas cast Ford in his next film Star Wars, the actor s professional woodworking days ended.

Adjusting to the Star Wars fantasy trip wasn t easy at first and Ford found the space-age dialogue (like, it'll take a megasecond for the nava computer to calculate the coordinates) difficult to say. You feel silly at moments, shooting guns that make no sounds and flying in a plane, destroying battleships that you're unable to see because the special effects won't be done till months later.

Star Wars made bold advances, and no one was certain that the public would be receptive. Harrison recalls: I wasn't sure how the first film would do. I thought either it would reach a wide audience who saw it as a fun space-age western, or it'd be so silly my two kids would be embarrassed for me even to leave the house.

Ford, of course, was right the first time. The pop epic reached an incredibly wide audience, and the actor had to plot a post-Star Wars career course. I didn't want to be typecast, he says, so I did Heroes with Henry Wlnkler and Sally Field right away. I started choosing films based on interesting characters. I realized I could never personally top Star Wars success.

Right again. So far, Ford s subsequent films - including Force 10 From Navarone, The Frisco Kld, Apocalypse Now, and Hanover Street - have neither topped nor even equalled Star Wars' success. I wish I could see only the heroics my character performs onscreen but, unfortunately, I seem to be aware only of my mistakes," perfectionist Ford admits.

Hanover Street, in particular, did nothing for his bankability. Co-starring Lesley-Anne Down, the movie was a World War II romance set in London; reviews of the film resembled a description of St. Paul's Cathedral shortly after the blitz. "Actually I never saw Hanover Street," Ford laughs. "I'm still counting the number of people who said nice things about that film. When it gets to 50, I think I might see it."

But if he was grounded by Hanover Street, Ford is orbiting again with The Empire Strikes Back. "Personally, I have no emotional response to seeing Han Solo dolls," he admits. "But I love both the Star Wars films. I've already seen Empire four times." So have a lot of other people - which means this former carpenter is once again a celestial being in the eyes of Hollywood flnanciers.

None of this, however, fazes Ford, who says he's never been a big movie buff and has never studied or thought about other actors' work. "I don't take myself or my public image too seriously," he remarks. "I can go for days without people recognizing me, which suits me just fine. When George Lucas saw me in Apocalypse Now, he didn't even recognize me - even though I named my character Colonel Lucas."

Separated from his wife since 1978, Ford spends most of his free time at his Hollywood home, still doing carpentry. "I don't take my work home with me at all," he laughs, when asked if the onscreen derring-do of Han Solo continues offstage. "I don't exactly love the night life, if you know what I mean. I'm a slow, even boring character," he readily concedes. "I'm a very ordinary person who lives in fear of being stuck at some Hollywood party for eternity."

So, is it likely to find Harrison Ford at a glittering disco, mingling with the Famed and Fabled? "You'd only find me in a place like that," he laughs, "if I died and didn't go to heaven."

Craig Modderno
US Magazine
1980