Ford, John (1895-1973)

US film director. Active from the silent film era, he became one of the most acclaimed figures of classical Hollywood cinema, winning four Academy Awards for best director. Responsible for a number of impressive Westerns such as The Iron Horse (1924), Stagecoach (1939), My Darling Clementine (1946), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), The Searchers (1956), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), he also directed a range of comedies and dramas, including The Grapes of Wrath (1940).

He frequently collaborated with the actors John Wayne, Henry Fonda, and James Stewart, and filmed many of his Westerns in the stunning landscape of Monument Valley, Arizona. Among his other films are The Informer (1935), The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936), Young Mr Lincoln (1939), How Green Was My Valley (1941), They Were Expendable (1945), Rio Grande (1950), Wagon Master (1950), The Quiet Man (1952), Mogambo (1953), Mister Roberts (1955), Sergeant Rutledge (1960), Donovan's Reef (1963), and Cheyenne Autumn (1964).

He was the recipient of the American Film Institute's first Life Achievement Award in 1973.