Glenn Ford's Western Roles

Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades. Ford was a versatile actor best known for playing either cowboys or ordinary men in unusual circumstances.

In 1971, Ford signed with CBS to star in his first television series, a half hour comedy/drama titled The Glenn Ford Show. However, CBS head Fred Silverman noticed that many of the featured films being shown at a Glenn Ford film festival were westerns. He suggested doing a western series instead, which resulted in the "modern day western" series, Cade's County. Ford played southwestern Sheriff Cade for one season (1971-1972) in a mix of western drama and police mystery.

Ford was always very comfortable in Westerns, and he could ride like a stunt man, like Ben Johnson or Richard Farnsworth. Like many other actors, he had a favorite hat, a favorite horse, that old brown denim jacket, and other good luck props. He always felt that acting in a Western was "too easy". Under hypnosis, later in life, he recalled a past life of a Colorado cowboy named Charlie Bill. Ford was excellent in every film, but I responded best to his Westerns.