Ward Bond

Wardell E. Bond (April 9 1903 – November 5 1960) was an American film actor whose rugged appearance and easygoing charm led to featured roles in numerous classic films.

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Early life

Bond was born in Benkelman, Nebraska – located in the far southwestern corner of Nebraska just a few miles from Kansas and Colorado. The Bond family – father John, mother Mabel and sister Bernice – lived in Benkelman until 1919 when they moved to Denver. He graduated from East Denver High School.

College

Bond attended the University of Southern California and played football alongside John Wayne, who would become a lifelong friend and colleague. Wayne and Bond, along with several other football players, were recruited to play football players in a film about the United States Naval Academy.

Hollywood

Bond made his screen debut in 1929 in John Ford's Salute, and thereafter played over 200 roles. He was frequently typecast as a friendly policemen or as a brutal thug. He had a longtime 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 prominent 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 unusually cast as Captain La Hire, and Rio Bravo (1959). He later starred in the popular NBC western television series Wagon Train from 1957 until his death. Wagon Train was based on the 1950 movie Wagon Master, in which Bond also appeared.

An epileptic, he was rejected by the draft during World War II.

In the 1940s, Bond was an intensely active member of the right-wing group called the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, whose major platform was opposition to communists in the film industry. Prior to his death, Bond campaigned for the Republican presidential nominee Richard M. Nixon. Bond died three days before Democrat John F. Kennedy narrowly defeated Nixon.

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: 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 is more than any other actor^[1]: 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).

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 early on November 5, 1960, and Bond died from a massive heart attack later that same day, the two events are unrelated. Horton was on his way from Austin to Shreveport, Louisiana, not Dallas. Bond was in Dallas not to meet Horton but to attend a football game. (In any case, Bond, as star of his show, was not a producer and was in no position to hire Horton. Moreover, there was already a "Horton" on Wagon Train, actor Robert Horton (born 1924), who played the fictitious scout "Flint McCullough".)

Bond was 57 at his death; John Wayne gave the eulogy at his funeral. Bond's will bequeathed to Wayne the shotgun Wayne had once accidentally shot Bond with.^[2]

For his contribution to the television industry, Ward 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.

Partial filmography

See also

• List of actors who have appeared in multiple Best Picture Academy Award winners

References