His favorite record is "On the Edge", by his favorite artist, Patrick Rondat.
His mother Dorothy Ford died of lung cancer on 10 February 2004 at the age of eighty-six.
His mother is of entirely Russian-Jewish heritage, while his father is of Irish- Catholic and German-Protestant heritage. When asked what religion he was raised under he joked "democrat", since he has never been observant with any particular religion.
His performance as Indiana Jones in the "Indiana Jones" franchise is ranked #7 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.
His two most famous roles were actually not written "for him". He became attached to Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) when he was reading lines with other actors doing their screen tests. When it came time to cast Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), George Lucas was adamant about not casting Ford because he didn't want every movie he did to be a "Harrison Ford movie". However, after Tom Selleck backed out, Steven Spielberg suggested Ford again, and Lucas gave in.
Honored for his work with the environment, Ford was asked to name a new breed of butterfly. He named it after his daughter, Georgia.
Identified in "Family Guy: Blue Harvest", a Star Wars spoof, as the only actor not to have his career destroyed by featuring in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).
In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Harrison's character refers to a philosophy class taught down the hall by a Dr. Tyree. In real life, Dr. Tyree was Ford's college mentor as a philosophy major at Ripon College.
In 2003, he accepted the Oscar for "Best Director" on behalf of Roman Polanski, who wasn't present at the awards ceremony, being a fugitive from U.S. justice since fleeing the country in 1978.
In assembling the 2007 "Final Cut" version of Blade Runner (1982), the scene in which Deckard is speaking with the snake dealer, Abdul Ben Hassan, was digitally altered so that Ford's lip movements matched the altered dialog. Since he was unavailable due to scheduling issues, his son Ben Ford, being about the same age as his father had been when filming the movie, was shot on an effects stage after being made up with his father's chin scar.
In March 2003 "The New York Daily News" cleared up conflicting reports of the actor's stance on Iraq war. The newspaper had said numerous reports found Ford opposing the antiwar letter to President George W. Bush in December 2002 from the celebrity group Artists United to Win Without War. However, speaking through his manager Patricia McQueeney, Ford responded his feelings are "exactly the opposite" of what had been reported. She told the Daily News that Ford was "appalled by the idea" that anyone would think he supports a war with Iraq. "What I'm for is a regime change on both sides," Ford told the Daily News through McQueeney.
Indiana Jones was voted the second greatest screen hero of all time by the American Film Institute, just behind Gregory Peck's Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). Han Solo was ranked at #14.
Joined a talent agency for the first time in his career in 1999, following the box office failure of Random Hearts (1999).
Listed as one of 50 people barred from entering Tibet. Disney clashed with Chinese officials over the film Kundun (1997), which Ford's second wife, Melissa Mathison, wrote. [19 December 1996]
Listed in the 2001 Guinness Book of Records as the richest male actor.
Lives in a white-painted ranch house that he built himself in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Lives in Los Angeles, California and Jackson, Wyoming.
Mentioned in the song "One Week" by the Barenaked Ladies.
Neither of his two most famous roles (Han Solo and Indiana Jones) were offered to him first. Tom Selleck was the first choice to play Indiana Jones and Christopher Walken was the first choice to play Han Solo.
October 2003: Had surgery on a torn rotator cuff.