Harrison Ford

Early in his career, major studio heads told Harrison Ford not to quit his day job as a carpenter. What do they know? If Ford would have listened to them, he never would have gone on to star in some of Hollywood's biggest films and become one of the biggest names in the business.

In high school he had no certain desire to become an actor. He considered himself a casual movie goer. After high school, he went on to study English and Philosophy at Ripon College in Wisconsin. Ford did not care much for his studies and began acting before being expelled from school for not finishing his required thesis. He and his then wife, Mary Marquardt, then decided to move to Hollywood where he took a number of small roles as bellboys and cowboys.

Discouraged at his difficulty to provide for his family, Ford decided to give up acting and pick up carpentry. He soon became in demand doing work around Hollywood. This led to him doing some work for a friend who was a casting director. His friend was able to get Ford a part in George Lucas' American Graffiti. The film unexpectedly became a blockbuster hit and increased Ford's familiarity. This new relationship with George Lucas lead to him being cast as space pilot Han Solo in Star Wars.

Though Star Wars is now seen as one of the greatest movies of all time, back then it didn't do much for Ford's career. It wasn't until the early 80's when the sequel to Star Wars came out in conjunction to the first Indiana Jones movie that Ford become an enormous hit. The Indiana Jones series has gone on to produce more hit films and it appears there are even more in the works today.

After starring in those mega hits, Ford went on to test his acting in different roles in non-action films with mixed reviews.

Ford has reprized his roles as action hero cementing his legacy as one of the greatest action hero actors in Hollywood history and has shown that even with a few years on him, he can still kick some serious bad guy butt.