(real name, Sean Aloysius O’Feeney). Born Feb. 1, 1895, in Cape Elizabeth, Me.; died Aug. 31, 1973, in Palm Desert, Calif. American film director. Irish by nationality.

Ford attended the University of Maine. In 1914 he went to Hollywood, becoming an assistant director and, in 1917, a director. From 1920 to 1930 he made westerns; he was to become known for enriching the traditional western by his concern for social issues and for presenting characters with psychological depth. Ford’s films manifest a mastery of the director’s art and the use of artistic solutions to problems of filming; they are characterized by narrative rhythm and a precisely reconstructed atmosphere. Ford’s best films are those adapted from literary works, which as a rule he enriched by his cinematographic treatment. Ford portrayed the exceptional in ordinary circumstances, the heroic in the everyday, and the humorous in tragic situations. His prime concern was the study of individuals in the face of adversity.

Ford’s films include Arrowsmith (1932, from the novel by S. Lewis), The Lost Patrol (1934, from a novel by P. MacDonald), The Informer (1935, from the novel by L. O’Flaherty), The Plough and the Stars (1937, from the play by S. O’Casey), Submarine Patrol (1939; Soviet title The Journey Will Be Dangerous), Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940, from the novel by J. Steinbeck), The Long Voyage Home (1940, from the plays of E. O’Neill), How Green Was My Valley (1941, from the novel by R. Llewellyn), My Darling Clementine (1946), Rio Grande (1950), What Price Glory (1952), The Last Hurrah (1957), and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). Ford also made the documentary films The Battle of Midway (1942), We Sail at Midnight (1943), and This Is Korea (1951).

Born April 1586 in Ilsington; died circa 1639; place of death unknown. English playwright.

The conflict between reality and the ideals of honor and nobility constitutes the theme of Ford’s early poetry and prose (for example, the pamphlet Honour Triumphant, 1606). In 1613, Ford turned to the writing of plays, collaborating with T. Decker or W. Rowley. Ford steeped himself in psychology and depicted his characters as grappling with fatal passions and as the victims of a tragic fate (’Tis Pity She’s a Whore, 1633; The Broken Heart, 1633). Ford also wrote the historical chronicle play Perkin Warbeck (1634). His work marks the culmination of English Renaissance drama.