Ward Bond
| Ward Bond | |
|---|---|
 in A Guy Named Joe (1943) |
|
| Born | Wardell Edwin Bond April 9, 1903 Benkelman, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Died | November 5, 1960 (aged 57) Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1929–60 |
| Spouse | Mary Louise May (1954–60) (his death) Doris Sellers Childs (1936–44) (divorced) |
Wardell Edwin "Ward" Bond (April 9, 1903 – November 5, 1960)[1] was an American film actor whose rugged appearance and easygoing charm were featured in over 200 movies and the television series Wagon Train.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Bond was born in Benkelman, Nebraska, a small town located in the southwestern corner of Nebraska just a few miles from the Kansas and Colorado borders. The Bond family, consisting of father John W., mother Mabel L., and sister Bernice, lived in Benkelman until 1919 when they moved to Denver. Ward Bond graduated from East High School in Denver.
Bond attended the University of Southern California and played football on the same team as future USC coach Jess Hill.[2] At 6'2" and 195 pounds, Bond was a starting lineman on USC's first national championship team in 1928.
Bond and John Wayne, who as Marion Morrison had played tackle for USC in 1926 before an injury ended his career,[3] became lifelong friends and colleagues. Bond, Wayne and the entire Southern Cal team were hired to appear in Salute (1929), a football film starring George O'Brien and directed by John Ford. It was during the filming of this movie that Bond and Wayne became friendly with Ford, and both actors would appear in many of Ford's later films.
[edit] Hollywood
Bond made his screen debut in Salute, and thereafter played over 200 supporting roles, rarely playing the lead in a theatrical release but starring in the television series Wagon Train from 1957 until his death in 1960. He was frequently typecast as a friendly policeman or as a brutal thug. He had a long-time working relationship with directors John Ford and Frank Capra, performing in such films as The Searchers, Drums Along the Mohawk, The Quiet Man, and Fort Apache for Ford, with whom he made 25 films, and It Happened One Night and It's a Wonderful Life for Capra. Among his other well-known films were Bringing Up Baby (1938), Gone with the Wind (1939), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Sergeant York (1941), They Were Expendable (1945), Joan of Arc (1948), in which he was atypically cast as Captain La Hire, Rio Bravo (1959), and Raoul Walsh's 1930 widescreen wagon train epic The Big Trail, which also featured John Wayne's first leading role. Bond later starred in the popular NBC western television series Wagon Train from 1957 until his death. Wagon Train was inspired by the 1950 movie Wagon Master, in which Bond also appeared, and was influenced by The Big Trail.
An epileptic, he was rejected by the draft during World War II.
During the 1940s, Bond was a member of the conservative group called the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, whose major rationale was opposition to communists in the film industry. In 1960, Bond campaigned for the Republican presidential nominee Richard M. Nixon. Bond died three days before Democrat John F. Kennedy narrowly defeated Nixon.
The wide-shouldered 6'2" Bond appears in more of the films on both the original and the tenth anniversary edition of the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Movies lists than any other actor, albeit always as a supporting player: It Happened One Night (1934), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Gone with the Wind (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), The Maltese Falcon (1941), It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and The Searchers (1956).
Bond has also been in 11 films that were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, which may be more than any other actor:[4] Arrowsmith (1931/32), Lady for a Day (1933), It Happened One Night (1934), You Can't Take It with You (1938), Gone with the Wind (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Sergeant York (1941), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), The Quiet Man (1952) and Mister Roberts (1955).
.jpg)
Bond made 16 movies with John Wayne; Rio Bravo (1959). The Wings of Eagles (1957), The Searchers (1956), Rookie of the Year (1955). Hondo (1953), The Quiet Man (1952), Operation Pacific (1951), Fort Apache (1948), 3 Godfathers (1948), They Were Expendable (1945), Dakota (1945), Tall in the Saddle (1944), The Shepherd of the Hills (1941), The Long Voyage Home (1940), Conflict (1936), and The Big Trail (1930).
A legend has developed that country singer Johnny Horton died in an automobile accident while driving to see Bond at a hotel in Dallas to discuss a possible role in the fourth season of Wagon Train. Although Horton was indeed killed in a car crash at 1:30 a.m. on November 5, 1960, and Bond died from a massive heart attack at noon that same day, the two events were unrelated. Horton was on his way from Austin to Shreveport, Louisiana, not Dallas. Bond was in Dallas to attend a football game.[5][6]
Bond was 57 at the time of his death; John Wayne gave the eulogy at his funeral. Bond's will bequeathed to Wayne the shotgun with which Wayne had once accidentally shot Bond.[7]
For his contribution to the television industry, Bond has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6933 Hollywood Blvd. In 2001, he was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. There is also a Ward Bond Memorial Park in his birthplace of Benkelman, Nebraska.
[edit] Partial filmography
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Ward Bond's Boyhood Home". Nebraska State Historical Society. 12 December 2006. http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/markers/texts/ward_bond.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-05.
- ^ "1928 USC Football Roster". Fanbase.com. http://www.fanbase.com/USC-Trojans-Football-1928. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
- ^ "1926 USC Football Roster". Fanbase.com. http://www.fanbase.com/USC-Trojans-Football-1926/roster. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
- ^ "Actors and how many best picture nominees they've been in". The Sophomore Critic. 2007-02-18. http://sophomorecritic.blogspot.com/2007/02/actors-and-how-many-best-picture.html. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
- ^ "The Legendary Tillman Franks". TillmanFranks.com. http://www.tillmanfranks.com/biography.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
- ^ http://www.woodstock.com/johnny-horton-concerts/
- ^ "Biography for Ward Bond". imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000955/bio. Retrieved 2011-10-05.
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ward Bond |
- 1903 births
- 1960 deaths
- American film actors
- American television actors
- Western (genre) film actors
- Actors from California
- Actors from Nebraska
- Nebraska Republicans
- University of Southern California alumni
- USC Trojans football players
- California Republicans
- People with epilepsy
- People from Los Angeles, California
- Deaths from myocardial infarction
- People from Dundy County, Nebraska
