A new biography of Glenn Ford by his son Peter paints a less-than-flattering picture of the actor, who died in 2006 aged 90. According to Ford Jr. his dad was a Jekyll-and-Hyde character who devoted all his time and emotions to acting and none to his family. But to me, the actor who starred in the Sheepman, 3:10 to Yuma, Jubal and other classic Westerns, will always be remembered as an entertaining raconteur and a thoughtful and considerate host. 

  I had to go to his house on Oxford Way, behind the Beverly Hills Hotel, in 1980 to interview him for an Australian magazine about his plans for a sheep ranch somewhere in the Australian outback. Because he thought I was Australian he laid in a case of Foster’s Australian beer ready for my arrival. I didn’t disillusion him and we spent a very pleasant afternoon talking and working our way through the beer in the English-style pub he had in the house. 

Ford’s house on Oxford Way

He told me that one of his problems at the time concerned Rita Hayworth, his neighbour and former lover, who persisted in throwing her empty champagne bottles over the hedge into his garden. 

His house, by the way is currently up for sale, priced at $6,900,000.