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Job Actor
Years active 1929-1960
Known for Irish policemen, boxers, rugged warm-hearted westerners
Top Roles Morgan Earp, Wash Gibbs, Jimmy, Townley, Jim Bender
Top Genres Drama, Romance, Comedy, Crime, Western, Action
Top Topics Book-Based, World War II, Romance (Drama), Romance (Comic), Outlaws
Top Collaborators John Ford (Director), Jack Pennick, John Wayne, Irving Bacon, Eddy Chandler, Hal B. Wallis (Producer), James Flavin, Jack Mower
Also Born on April 9
Also Born in 1903
Also Born in Nebraska
Also an Aries

Ward Bond Overview:

Legendary character actor, Ward Bond, was born Wardell E. Bond on Apr 9, 1903 in Benkelman, NE. Bond appeared in over 270 film and TV roles. His best known films include Drums Along the Mohawk (as Adam Hartman), The Maltese Falcon (as Detective Tom Polhaus), The Searchers (as Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton), Mister Roberts (as Chief Petty Officer Dowdy) --- and It's a Wonderful Life (as Bert). You can also catch a glimpse of him in It Happened One Night (as the first bus driver, uncredited) and Bringing Up Baby (as the motorcycle copy at the jail, uncredited). He is most famously known for his TV role as Major Seth Adams in Wagon Train (1957-1961). Bond died at the age of 57 on Nov 5, 1960 in Dallas, TX and was cremated and his ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean between Newport Beach and C.

MINI BIO:

After a start in small roles, Bond was often cast as Irish policemen or boxers, and was also employed by director John Ford in progressively juicier parts, usually as rugged, warm-hearted westerners. He also enjoyed great success as the wagonmaster in TV's Wagon Train.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Illustrated Dictionary of Film Character Actors).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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He was honored with one star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Television. In addition, Bond was inducted into the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum . Bond was never nominated for an Academy Award.

Ward Bond BlogHub Articles:

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE BLOGATHON - A 75TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION: Ward Bond and Frank Faylen as Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver

Ari, The Classic Movie Muse is hosting the It's a Wonderful Life Blogathon, A 75th Anniversary Celebration. Click HERE to access the tributes to Capra's Classic. Assuming you have lost count of the number of times you have watched the movie, spoilers abound.It's a Wonderful Life is a story of dreams... Read full article


For Your Consideration: Ward Bond

Ward BondApril 9, 1903 - November 5, 1960Caftan Woman has been watching movies again, and again she has found a performance overlooked at Award time. This time back in 1952 by prolific character actor Ward Bond.Nebraska born Bond was attending the University of Southern California when he and a fel... Read full article


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Ward Bond Quotes:

[first lines]
Father Peter Lonergan, Narrator: Well, then. Now. I'll begin at the beginnin'. A fine soft day in the spring, it was, when the train pulled into Castletown, three hours late as usual, and himself got off. He didn't have the look of an American tourist at all about him. Not a camera on him; what was worse, not even a fishin' rod.
— From: The Quiet Man

Sen. Blakely: Not all savages paint their faces and wear eagle feathers!
— From: Dakota Incident

John Fraser - blacksmith: I don't know what the Good Lord was about when he made a female out of a perfectly good rib.
— From: Unconquered

[Senator Blakely attempts to reason with hidden Indians]
Sen. Blakely: Indian brothers, hear me! I extend my hand to you in friendship. Soon I go to the tents of your many chiefs to speak of peace and smoke the pipe of everlasting brotherhood. The promises I make you will be honored. If you allow us to go in peace and safety, then my mission can be fulfilled. And once again, you can lay aside your war drums and return to your families, raise your corn and hunt your buffalo. Tell me that my words are not blown away with the wind. Tell me that I am heard. Tell me that you will leave here now in peace and go to your villages. Speak to me, Indian brothers, so that I may know, so that...
[an arrow strikes the Senator in the stomach]
Sen. Blakely: You were right, Miss Clarke. Words aren't enough. But perhaps they just didn't understand.
— From: Dakota Incident

Father Peter Lonergan, Narrator: Ah, yes... I knew your people, Sean. Your grandfather; he died in Australia, in a penal colony. And your father, he was a good man too.
— From: The Quiet Man
See more quotes from Ward Bond...
Ward Bond Facts
Died at the Town House Motor Hotel, 2914 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, Texas.

Bond's deep involvement in ultra-right-wing politics--and especially his enthusiastic efforts to blacklist suspected Communists and anyone with "progressive" political views in Hollywood--earned him the enmity of many in the film business. For several years he couldn't get any work in films other than those of his right-wing friends like John Wayne, and he believed that "liberal" producers and directors blacklisted him. Then in 1957, at the age of 54, he made an enormous comeback as Maj. Seth Adams in "Wagon Train" (1957), and was finally a star in his own right.

Once while on location, John Ford had a photo taken of himself and John Wayne standing on either side of the rear end of a horse. He sent the photo to Bond with the caption, "Thinking of you".

Bond appears in the most films (seven) of the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest American Movies: 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).

On a hunting trip, he was accidentally shot by John Wayne. Bond left Wayne the shotgun in his will.

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