Paul Ford Biography

After having drifted from job to job--with a wife and five children in tow--Baltimore native Paul Ford decided in his late 30s to give acting a try. He worked with the Depression-era W.P.A. agency in a puppet show project and also wrote shows for the Federal Theatre; his biggest break came when he and his co-workers staged a puppet production for the 1939 New York World's Fair. Radio, stage and film work followed, but Ford wouldn't truly hit the big time until 1955, when he was engaged to play the apoplectic Colonel Hall on Phil Silvers' situation comedy You'll Never Get Rich. For four seasons, TV fans were regaled by the efforts of conniving Sgt. Bilko (Silvers) and long-suffering Col. Hall to outsmart one another. During this period, Ford worked steadily in the theatre, recreating his popular stage role as Colonel Purdy in Teahouse for the August Moon when the play was committed to film in 1955. After Phil Silvers' series was cancelled, Ford continued his stage and screen career, scoring a major success in 1965 in the play Never Too Late, in which he played a fiftyish husband who discovered that his middle-aged wife was pregnant. Never Too Late was filmed in 1967, with Ford once again in the starring role; five years and many lucrative acting assignments later, Paul Ford retired. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

• 1. Colonel Purdy: You'll need an interpreter...
  2. Capt. Fisby: I can study the language.
  3. Colonel Purdy: No need. We won the war.
  From The Teahouse of the August Moon. Submitted by Francis L (31 days ago)

• 1. Harold Hill: A man can't turn tail and run just because a little personal risk is involved. What did Shakespeare say? 'Cowards die a thousand deaths, the brave man... only 500'?
  2. Mayor Shinn: It's as clear as a buttonhook in the well water!
  3. Mayor Shinn: You watch your phraseology!
  4. Mrs. Paroo: When a woman's got a husband, and you've got none, why should she take advice from you? Even if you can quote Balzac and Shakespeare and all them other high-falutin' Greeks.
  5. Mrs. Paroo: I know all about your standards and if you don't mind my sayin' so there's not a man alive who could hope to measure up to that blend of Paul Bunyan, Saint Pat, and Noah Webster you've concocted for yourself out of your Irish imagination, your Iowa stubbornness, and your li'berry full of books!
  6. Harold Hill: The sadder but wiser girl for me.
  From The Music Man. Submitted by rick b (50 days ago)

• 1. Harold Hill: Think, boys. THINK! [Harold uses the Think System to teach music]
  2. Mayor Shinn: Its fine if you want to go around in your drawers all day. [the horrid heat]
  3. Harold Hill: I always think there's a band kid.
  From The Music Man. Submitted by rick b (50 days ago)