Conservatism isn’t the “pariah” in Hollywood it once was, insists the only son of legendary film star Glenn Ford and Broadway great Eleanor Powell.
“The leaders of the industry today are liberal by their political definition,” acknowledges Peter Ford in an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV.
"There is movement afoot to kind of loosen that up. But I think that conservatism got a very bad name at one point in our Hollywood history. So it was unbecoming to be known as that.”
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The author of the new book:
“Glenn Ford: A Life” shares a conservative philosophy with his famous dad — arguably the greatest actor never to get an Oscar nomination.
Peter Ford says that liberalism is finally being unmasked for what it is and today’s celebrities are showing signs that they are more willing to express their conservative beliefs in public than in the past.
“Conservatism is not looking that bad these days,” explains Ford, who worked on two dozen film projects as an actor and dialogue director as part of a varied resume that includes a stint as a conservative radio talk show host at KIEV 870 AM in Los Angeles during the 1990s.
“I think a lot of people are embracing it and I think that … to be a conservative is not the pariah that it used to be.” While conservatism may not win anyone any Oscar nominations in tinsel town, it probably won’t damage their careers either. “I think basically if you’re a conservative today you don’t necessarily have to brag about it, but I don’t think it’s going to do you any harm,” adds Ford.
Glenn Ford passed away in 2006 at age 90 following a career spanning more than half a century and nearly 100 movies, including classics such as “Gilda,” “Blackboard Jungle,” and the original “3:10 to Yuma,” which was remade in 2007 with Russell Crowe in Ford’s role.
Growing up in such a famous household replete with 22 bedrooms afforded young Peter the opportunity to not only meet —but get to know —the likes of conservative show business royalty such as John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and Ronald and Nancy Reagan, who even double dated at times with his parents.
“I say Ronnie because I knew him too,” recalls Ford, whose father appeared in a movie with Nancy Reagan before she married the future president. The elder Ford later served as second vice president in the Screen Actors Guild when Ronald Reagan was president of that organization.
In the early years, Reagan considered himself to be a Democrat. “He had an epiphany as many people have and he changed,” Ford said of Reagan. “My father’s particular situation, he was a Democrat probably in those days as well. He was very much taken with FDR. I mean it pains me to say it. But early in his career, President Roosevelt invited him to the White House and he got an autographed picture of the president.”
Powell was the conservative who influenced Glenn Ford’s thinking the most, according to Peter Ford. “Of course in those days he befriended everybody he worked with…. It was new for him. It was quite exciting. He knew Henry Fonda and all of those people who were of a different political stripe than he became. But my mother was very conservative and so she worked on him and eventually he came to the other side.”
Today, Ford sees conservative ideas spreading across California where he holds an elected position in the Los Angeles Republican party, and throughout the United States.
“I see an awakening — and not only in California — across this land,” he explains. “I truly, truly hope and pray that come the next election cycle that enough people wake up that we can take back this nation because we are slipping into darkness.”
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