A quick ‘Google’ reveals that there’s many a tall tail floating around Hollywood suggesting that Ford got his big break when (working as a carpenter) he was installing wardrobe shelving at the home of George Lucas. The LuscasFilm boss offering him the part of Han Solo in Star Wars off the back of an impromptu on the spot audition in his newly fitted walk-in wardrobe!

Ford was quick to dispel this longstanding myth recently saying in an interview with Mark Lawson on BBC Radio 4 that,

“If I’d have done all the shelving jobs I’ve been credited for in Hollywood I’d be a very rich carpenter”

…instead of a very rich actor of course! So what’s the true story and why does Ford have 27 years’ worth of Fine Woodworking Magazine on a shelf in his home office?

"...and we''ll put the first shelf in about here"

Well Ford was in fact a struggling actor in the early 1970s and yes he was supplementing his income by installing (office) shelving when Lucus bumped into him in a reception area of a Hollywood film company offices. Having worked with Ford previously, Lucus invited him to audition for his new film American Graffiti. Ford went on to work for Lucus as Han Solo in Star Wars and the rest is, well in the words of Lucas, all  “a long time ago in a galaxy far far away”.

Harrison Ford is currently starring in the film Extraordinary Measures which is released in UK on Friday 26^th February and doesn’t I’m afraid have a plot centred on shelving and storage.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 9:38 am and is filed under Random Musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.