Ford, John (1895-1973), became the first motion-picture director to win Academy Awards for four movies. He won the awards for The Informer (1935), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), and The Quiet Man (1952). Ford became famous for staging outdoor action films with a keen sense of background and deep feeling for people. His major outdoor and Western movies include The Iron Horse (1924), The Hurricane (1937), Stagecoach (1939), My Darling Clementine (1946), Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Mogambo (1952), The Searchers (1956), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), and Cheyenne Autumn (1964).
Ford was born on Feb. 1, 1895, in Portland, Maine. His real name was Sean Aloysius O’Feeney. Ford began his directing career in 1914 and directed more than 200 movies. He died on Aug. 31, 1973.
