Ward Bond

What I like about Ward Bond is the fact that he was a no nonscense kind of guy, who can fit into a part like a fine glove. I was convienced that he was truely Irish in The Quiet Man. He was just awesome as Burt the policeman in It's a Wonderful Life.

He played such wonderful parts with so many great actors. It's amazing looking at his filmoraphy that he could do so much and not be well known outside of Hollywood. I know he was known, but he wasn't a John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, Humphrey Bogart, or Clark Gable. He played with many of them, and worked with such great directors.

It was fitting that he starred in a great television show The Wagon Train. It's just a shame that he died like he did at the height of his career.

Cheers, Hondo B)

Wow! That just shows you how much I pay attention! My wife has made me watch "It's A Wonderful Life" a couple of million times, and while I thought that the voice was familiar, I never placed it with my favorite JW movie "Rio Bravo" and the Wheeler character... sheesh!

JohnTChance,

WELCOME to the John Wayne Message Board, the place to learn anything you could possibly want to know about one of the best actors to ever grace the silver screen!

And as you have seen, there is much to be gleaned about his co-stars as well. Check out the other threads (you'll be reading for DAYS !). In addition to those with whom the Duke starred, there's a lot of interesting information about some of the men who directed him, too.

Chester

PS. My wife has made me watch It's a Wonderful Life a couple million times also, although since we also discovered Ward Bond in it, it's getting better all the time.

Ward Bond was my mothers first cousin. He was a great guy

Hi Shirley

Did he ever write an autobiography or was there abiography written about him I love to read it if there was one.

Regards

Arthur

shirley,

WELCOME to the John Wayne Message Board! In addition to JW, we also talk about his many co-stars, as you can see, and Ward Bond is a favorite.

So . . . do you have any good stories to share? Were you closely acquainted with this cousin?

We look forward to "seeing" you again around here.

Chester and the Mrs.

Are there any other Ward Bond fans out there. He and Duke were best friends since USC days. He played cops, soliders and other authority figures Brilliantly .

Hi ZACK613,
In answer to your question, I guess most fans of Duke,
are also fans of not only Ward Bond, but lots of other people he worked with, Fonda, Stewart, McLaglen, Worden etc.
So yes, you can count me as a Ward Bond Fan,
as I became a fan of his, not because of Duke,
but for his excellent WAGON TRAIN tv series,

Best Wishes
ee

We certainly enjoy Ward Bond in his many roles, both in John Wayne films and others as well.

I know I've mentioned it before, but one role that was unusual was Judge Garvey in Tall in the Saddle. Usually Ward Bond is one of the Duke's buddies, but in this one he was actually a bad guy.

Until we got way more familiar with John Wayne movies, we didn't realize he was also in It's A Wonderful Life, as Bert the cop.

Chester

I watched "A guy named Joe" last night and I think Ward Bond was in it more then Spencer Tracy. Good movie....

I love Ward Bond. When the AFI came up with its list of 100 Greatest Movies of All Time he appeared in more films than anyone.

My fav Bond performances were in Wagonmaster and Gentleman Jim.

I think he was a very underrated actor.

That's interesting, may2. Maybe you could help me with naming the movies Ward Bond appeared in the AFI top 100. Thanks for that info.

Cheers B)

According to Ward's IMdB trivia:

"Bond appears in the most films (seven) of the American Film Institute's list of the 100 Greatest American Movies: It Happened One Night (1934), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Gone with the Wind (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940) , The Maltese Falcon (1941), It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and The Searchers (1956)."

Also from IMdB:

"Although his career was cut short by his premature death in 1960 at the age of 57, he was one of the most prolific of Hollywood's actors over a period of 30 years. He regularly appeared in 10 to 20 films per year, with the record year for him being 1935, when he acted in 30 movies."

"Worked with director John Ford on twenty-six films. Few, if any, actors, have appeared in so many films for a single director."

Hi,
I only now understand that he was in Jentleman Jim too - one of my favorite movies with him. Of course i like him very much in Wayne films, I think his best part in them was in Fort Apache. And I also like My Darling Clementine were he also participates.
All the best,
Senta

My sentiments exactly. Ward Bond was a great actor and was wayyyyyyyyyyyyy underrated just like another favorite of mine who is Richard Basehart.

Hello All
I think one of my favorite Ward Bond roles was as father Peter Lonergan in the Quiet man. Great fishing scene with Maureen OHara. Kilo

Can anyone tell me more about Ward Bond? How did Ward and John meet and how close were they? I'm asking because I have an autographed of Ward and would like to know more about Ward. Thanks

Quote from raabhimself

Can anyone tell me more about Ward Bond? How did Ward and John meet and how close were they? I'm asking because I have an autographed of Ward and would like to know more about Ward. Thanks

Hi Raabhimself!

Check out Ward Bond for loads of info. Apparently the two met at USC in the twenties.

Quote

Family rumor is that Bond was a roommate at USC with John Wayne, who convinced him to go into acting. They were apparently best friends; one of their favorite activities in their youth was to go to bars, get drunk, and start fights.