Editing Harrison Ford (section)

=== 1964–1976 ===
In 1964, after a season of [[Summer stock theatre|summer stock]] with the [[Belfry Players]] in Wisconsin,<ref>Franzene, Jessica, "Theologians & Thespians," in Welcome Home, a realtors' guide to property history in the Lake Geneva region, August 2012</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Harrison Ford Breaks Down His Career, from 'Star Wars' to 'Indiana Jones' |publisher=Vanity Fair |website=YouTube |date=February 27, 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNN1Hbg9oNU |access-date=July 11, 2023 |language=en |archive-date=July 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705203707/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNN1Hbg9oNU |url-status=live }}</ref> Ford traveled to Los Angeles and eventually signed a contract with [[Columbia Pictures]]' new talent program.{{r|Fordbook1|pp=60-69}} His first known role was an uncredited one as a bellhop in ''[[Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round]]'' (1966). There is little record of his non-speaking (or "[[extra (film)|extra]]") roles in film. Ford was at the bottom of the hiring list, having offended producer [[Jerry Tokofsky]]. According to one anecdote, Tokofsky told Ford that when actor [[Tony Curtis]] delivered a bag of groceries, he could tell that Curtis was a movie star whereas Ford wasn't; Ford immediately retorted that if Curtis was truly a talented actor, he would've delivered them like a bellhop. Ford was apparently fired soon after.{{r|Fordbook1}}{{page needed|date=January 2024}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Harrison Ford Once Joked the Studio Executive Who Disliked His First Film Became His Butler |publisher=The Hollywood Reporter|date=July 13, 2016 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/harrison-ford-birthday-star-joked-910573/|access-date=April 14, 2024|language=en}}</ref>

His speaking roles continued next with ''[[Luv (film)|Luv]]'' (1967), though he was still uncredited. He was finally credited as "Harrison J. Ford" in the 1967 [[Western (genre)|Western]] film ''[[A Time for Killing]]'', starring [[Glenn Ford]], [[George Hamilton (actor)|George Hamilton]] and [[Inger Stevens]], but the "J" did not stand for anything since he has no middle name. It was added to avoid confusion with [[Harrison Ford (silent film actor)|a silent film actor named Harrison Ford]], who appeared in more than 80 films between 1915 and 1932 and died in 1957. Ford later said that he was unaware of the existence of the earlier actor until he came upon a star with his own name on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]. Ford soon dropped the "J" and worked for [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]], playing minor roles in many television series throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, including ''[[Gunsmoke]]'', ''[[Ironside (TV series)|Ironside]]'', ''[[The Virginian (TV series)|The Virginian]]'', ''[[The F.B.I. (TV series)|The F.B.I.]]'', ''[[Love, American Style]]'' and ''[[Kung Fu (1972 TV series)|Kung Fu]]''. He appeared in the western ''[[Journey to Shiloh]]'' (1968) and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in [[Michelangelo Antonioni]]'s 1970 film ''[[Zabriskie Point (film)|Zabriskie Point]]'' as an arrested student protester. In 1968, he also worked as a camera operator for one of [[the Doors]]' tours.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Jack |last=Whaley |date=September 29, 2021 |title=When Harrison Ford Worked as a Roadie for the Doors |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/when-harrison-ford-worked-as-a-roadie-for-the-doors/amp |magazine=[[Far Out Magazine]] |access-date=July 15, 2023}}</ref> French filmmaker [[Jacques Demy]] chose Ford for the lead role of his first American film, ''[[Model Shop (film)|Model Shop]]'' (1969), but the head of Columbia Pictures thought Ford had "no future" in the film business and told Demy to hire a more experienced actor. The part eventually went to [[Gary Lockwood]]. Ford later commented that the experience had been nevertheless a positive one because Demy was the first to show such faith in him.<ref>{{cite news | last=Nichols | first=Peter M. | title=New DVDs; Unknown Harrison Ford With No Future | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=December 9, 2003 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/09/movies/new-dvd-s-unknown-harrison-ford-with-no-future.html | access-date=July 9, 2019 | archive-date=March 30, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330035047/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/09/movies/new-dvd-s-unknown-harrison-ford-with-no-future.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[http://www.lefigaro.fr/cinema/2013/04/08/03002-20130408ARTFIG00281-harrison-ford-demy-avait-foi-en-moi.php Harrison Ford: «Jacques Demy avait foi en moi»] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714030207/http://www.lefigaro.fr/cinema/2013/04/08/03002-20130408ARTFIG00281-harrison-ford-demy-avait-foi-en-moi.php |date=July 14, 2019 }}, ''[[Le Figaro]]'', April 8, 2013</ref>

Not happy with the roles offered to him, Ford became a self-taught professional carpenter<ref name=tca/> to support his then-wife and two young sons. Clients at this time included the writers [[Joan Didion]] and [[John Gregory Dunne]], who lived on the beach at [[Malibu, California|Malibu]]. Ford appears in the documentary ''[[Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold]]''. He and his wife became friends of the writers.<ref>[https://www.netflix.com/title/80117454 Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925221633/https://www.netflix.com/title/80117454 |date=September 25, 2021 }} September 25, 2021</ref> Casting director and fledgling producer [[Fred Roos]] championed the young Ford and secured him an audition with [[George Lucas]] for the role of Bob Falfa, which Ford went on to play in ''[[American Graffiti]]'' (1973).<ref name=tca/> Ford's relationship with Lucas profoundly affected his career later. After director [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s film ''[[The Godfather]]'' was a success, he hired Ford to expand his office and gave him small roles in his next two films, ''[[The Conversation]]'' (1974) and ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'' (1979); in the latter film, Ford played an army colonel named "G. Lucas".