Biography for
Ward Bond More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

9 April 1903, Benkelman, Nebraska, USA

Date of Death

5 November 1960, Dallas, Texas, USA (heart attack)

Birth Name

Wardell E. Bond

Height

6' 2½" (1.89 m)

Mini Biography

Gruff, burly American character actor. Born in 1903 in Benkelman, Nebraska (confirmed by Social Security records; sources stating 1905 or Denver, Colorado are in error.) Bond grew up in Denver, the son of a lumberyard worker. He attended the University of Southern California, where he got work as an extra through a football teammate who would become both his best friend and one of cinema's biggest stars: John Wayne. Director John Ford promoted Bond from extra to supporting player in the film Salute (1929), and became another fast friend. An arrogant man of little tact, yet fun-loving in the extreme, Bond was either loved or hated by all who knew him. His face and personality fit perfectly into almost any type of film, and he appeared in hundreds of pictures in his more than 30-year career, in both bit parts and major supporting roles. In the films of Wayne and Ford, particularly, he was nearly always present. Among his most memorable roles are John L. Sullivan in Gentleman Jim (1942), Det. Tom Polhaus in The Maltese Falcon (1941) and the Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnson Clayton The Searchers (1956). An ardent but anti-intellectual patriot, he was perhaps the most vehement proponent, among the Hollywood community, of blacklisting in the witch hunts of the 1950s, and he served as a most unforgiving president of the ultra-right-wing Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. In the mid-'50s he gained his greatest fame as the star of TV's "Wagon Train" (1957). During its production, Bond traveled to Dallas, Texas, to attend a football game and died there in his hotel room of a massive heart attack.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Jim Beaver

Spouse

Mary Louise May	(1954 - 5 November 1960) (his death)
Doris Sellers Childs	(1936 - 1944) (divorced)

Trivia

A popular urban myth holds that on the day he died, Bond was scheduled to meet singer Johnny Horton in Dallas to sign a contract to appear on "Wagon Train" (1957). Horton died in an auto accident, hit by a drunk driver, at 1:30 a.m. and Bond died in Dallas at noon the same day. However, Bond was only the star of the series and not a producer, so he had no say in casting.

Many sources incorrectly quote 1905, and/or Denver, Colorado, USA regarding his birth.

Entered films in 1928 while attending the University of Southern California.

Family rumor is that Bond was a roommate at USC with John Wayne, who convinced him to go into acting. They were apparently best friends; one of their favorite activities in their youth was to go to bars, get drunk, and start fights.

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

In The Wings of Eagles (1957), Bond played his friend, director John Ford, under the character name John Dodge (the name itself was a play on American automobile names. Ford was a real-life friend of the film's subject character). The set dressing, wardrobe, and Oscars in the scene are all actually Ford's.

Often played a policeman or soldier.

The muppet "Bert" on "Sesame Street" (1969) was rumored to be named after Bond's character (Bert the cop) in It's a Wonderful Life (1946).

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).

Was an epileptic, a closely guarded secret not made public until many years after his death.

Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 2001.

Although John Ford mocked many actors mercilessly (including John Wayne), Bond probably was on the receiving end of the worst verbal punishment from the director (who counted Bond among his favorite actors). At Bond's funeral, Ford walked up to Andy Devine and said, "Now YOU'RE the biggest asshole I know."

Although his career was cut short by his premature death in 1960 at the age of 57, he was one of the most prolific of Hollywood's actors over a period of 30 years. He regularly appeared in 10 to 20 films per year, with the record year for him being 1935, when he acted in 30 movies.

Worked with director John Ford on 26 films. Few, if any, actors, have appeared in so many films for a single director.

On his way to John Wayne's wedding he was hit by a car, but performed his duty as best man on crutches.

Due to his heavy involvement with blacklisting suspected Communists, liberal directors sought to finish Bond's acting career by keeping him unemployed. For some years he could only find work in the movies of his friend John Wayne or other right-wing stars. Then in 1957, at the age of fifty-four, he made an enormous comeback as Major Seth Adams in "Wagon Train" (1957), and was finally a star in his own right.

Bond has been officially remembered with a TV star on Hollywood Boulevard, by being inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, and by a Ward Bond Memorial Park in his birthplace of Benkelman, Nebraska. However, he is probably most fondly remembered for his enormous output of solid work, with great respect by the industry.

Bond's involvement with Johnny Guitar (1954) was ironic considering the director, Nicholas Ray, was a major left-winger who had been shielded from the House Unamerican Activities Committee (HUAC) by millionaire producer Howard Hughes. In addition, Johnny Guitar (1954) was a thinly-veiled attack on the HUAC's drive to uncover communist sympathizers. It was strange that Bond, an activist member of the right-wing Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, should have chosen to work with Ray and stranger still that his character John McIvers eventually appeared to show remorse for the hate-mongering he had helped foster.

Died at the Town House Motor Hotel, 2914 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, Texas.

Campaigned for Republican Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election.

John Wayne gave the eulogy at his funeral.

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