BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA: Even the famous Harrison Ford, who has had an illustrious career, had to start somewhere. The star has been part of many of the best action films ever, almost all of which have become blockbusters, but there was one industry executive who did not fully recognize his potential. In a previous interview with NBC News following the release of 'Return of the Jedi,' Ford recounted how his debut on the big screen was not entirely smooth.
At 80, Ford is actively promoting the much-awaited fifth and last edition of the cherished action-adventure film series, 'Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny.' Other than that he worked on the comedy-drama series 'Shrinking,' which premiered on Apple TV+ on January 27.
'Go back, learn, study, to be an actor'
As per The Digital Fix, Ford recalled in the 1984 interview that a Columbia official invited him, then 22, into his office to chastise him for his first, brief role as a bellboy in 1966's 'Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round' by James Coburn. Ford recounted, "He called me into his office and said, ‘I want to tell you a story, kid.’ Kid, he always called me kid. He was about 15 minutes older that I was. He said, ‘First time Tony Curtis was ever in a movie … he delivered a bag of groceries, a bag of groceries, kid. And you took one look at that guy, and you knew that was a movie star.'"
Ford, not fully understanding what was being said, stated, "Well I thought that was supposed to be a delivery boy!" The executive got annoyed and fired him. Ford added, "He said, ‘No no no, go back, learn, study, to be an actor.' That guy and I, we had the final harsh words on parting from Columbia."
Harrison Ford got fired from Crate & Barrel too
Ford previously shared some unexpected information about his time before he became an actor on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' to promote his movie, 'Call of the Wild'. The actor worked at Chicago's first Crate & Barrel furniture store before becoming Indiana Jones, but the actor claimed he didn't stay there for very long. In response to laughter from the audience, Ford recalled, "It was for about four months, until I got fired." When Kimmel asked for a reason, the star responded, "I came back late from lunch. It was their first store, and the couple that owned the company were still there. ... I was the incompetent manager of the store."
