Amazing Vintage Portraits of a Very Young Harrison Ford in the 1960s

Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is one of Hollywood’s leading men, with an acting career that has spanned more than 50 years and included iconic roles such as Indiana Jones and Han Solo.

“When I started carpentry, I liked it so much partly because it was such a relief from what I’d been doing before. Shortly after I got out here in 1965, I signed a contract with Columbia Pictures for $150 a week. I was pretty happy. I had a wife and two kids – I still have the kids – and the rent wasn’t much then, seventy-five dollars a month.”

Ford struggled for years as an actor before George Lucas cast him in 1973’s American Graffiti. He then hit superstardom as Han Solo in the first three Star Wars films and as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels, all huge successes. He has enjoyed leading roles in numerous Hollywood films such as Blade Runner, Witness, Working Girl, Patriot Games, The Fugitive and 42, among many others. Ford later revisited some of his most famous characters in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Blade Runner 2049.

“For a while, it was fun. I earned my money by romping on the beach at Malibu with the other contract actors, and these photos would appear in places like Argosy. The captions would read, ‘Harrison Ford et al., on the beach, courtesy Columbia Pictures.’ It was less sophisticated than modeling, but it was a way of being acknowledged as an actor while I learned how to act. They did have some good classes. The worst thing was that in those days, you had to be properly dressed – jackets, no jeans.

“I bought a house near the Hollywood Bowl and decided to take out everything I didn’t like about it. I’d never done carpentry before, but I got the books from the library, got the tools and did it – for about eight years, late Sixties, early Seventies. I did cabinets, furniture, remodeling – it was great! I could see my accomplishments. So I decided not to do more acting unless the job had a clear career advantage.”

A seventeen Harrison Ford, and some admirers.