Ward Bond, Character Actor. |
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My brother and I grew up watching old movies with my folks...and Mom used to tell us that if it was a movie made between 1930 and 1950-something, Ward Bond was probably in it. So we started to look for his name in the credits and sure enough...good ol' Ward Bond was in just about everything. He was in almost 300 movies during his career, and the roles we knew most were the Yankee captain in GONE WITH THE WIND and Officer Bert in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.
When I decided to write a column about him, I knew little more than the fact that he was in Almost Every Movie In History. While doing my research, I found out a few things I almost wish I hadn't. But I'm getting ahead of myself here...
Ward Bond was born in 1903 in a small Nebraska town, but grew up in Denver. He attended the University of Southern California, where he joined the football team and became good friends with Marion Morrison (we know him better as John Wayne). Bitten by the Acting Bug when recruited to play football players in a short film, they began their careers together.
While John Wayne went on to be one of Hollywood's biggest stars, Bond played extra after extra until John Ford promoted him to a supporting role in 1929. This was the beginning of a lifelong 
The Three Amigos--Bond, Wayne, and Ford. |
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collaboration between the three of them--thick as thieves. If John Wayne was in a movie or John Ford was directing it, you knew Bond was going to be right there.
Most of his roles went uncredited, but he filmed upwards of 20 films each year. His most prolific year was 1935, when he was in almost 30 films. In fact, Bond has the distinction of being in the most movies featured on the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Movies lists: IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, BRINGING UP BABY, GONE WITH THE WIND, THE GRAPES OF WRATH, THE MALTESE FALCON, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, and THE SEARCHERS.
Speaking of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, his character (Officer Bert) is rumoured to have been the inspiration for the popular Sesame Street character Bert (of Bert and Ernie fame). You may recall Officer Bert, alongside Frank Faylen as Ernie, serenading James Stewart and Donna Reed with "I Love You Truly" when the lovebirds were forced to honeymoon in Bedford Falls.
In the 1940s, Bond was a big supporter (and president) of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, which is just a fancy title for a club of Super Right-Wing Anti-Communists. In the 1950s, he was heavily involved in the witch hunt and blacklisting of supposed communists in 
"I told you I don't like them commies! Umm, I mean 'rebels.'" |
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the film industry, and supported Joe McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).
He made a lot of enemies, as you can imagine. Because of this, many liberal filmmakers tried to keep him out of the industry. But with John Wayne and other right-wing stars as friends, Bond wasn't down for long.
In 1957, he finally got the role that would make him a household name: Seth Adams, the main character on the TV western WAGON TRAIN. He convinced John Ford to direct an episode with John Wayne as a supporting character. I'm sure Bond reveled in that role reversal, however short it was.
Sadly, Ward Bond didn't live long enough to enjoy all 8 seasons of WAGON TRAIN. In 1960, Bond traveled to Dallas to attend a football game and died of a heart attack in his hotel shower. He was just 57.
With 270 movies under his belt, and one major television show, Ward Bond left his indelible print on the industry. I dare you to turn on TCM without seeing him! Though he was a very vocal anti-communist in the 1950s, and probably never apologetic for his actions, I'd still prefer to remember him as Ward Bond, The Guy in Every Film Ever Made. Or so it seemed to me as a kid.
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| Cannon Fodder |
Every other Thursday
Stream-of-conscious ruminations on whatever pops into Christa's head.
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| Christa Cannon |
Christa would prefer to live in a world where everyone breaks out into song and dance. Um, and also one in which she is rich and very famous.
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