Harrison Ford is best known for his most iconic roles as Indiana Jones and Hans Solo in the original Star Wars. Although Ford fights Nazis as Indiana Jones, one lesser known fact about the actor is his Jewish heritage.
Here’s everything we know about Harrison Ford’s Jewish identity:
The basics
Harrison Ford was born in Chicago, Illinois on July 13, 1942 to Dorothy Nidelman and John William “Christopher” Ford. Both his parents were actors – his mother was a radio actress and his father later become a successful advertising executive.
Apparently, Legend has it that it was his father’s idea for the front of washing machines to have a window in them, so you could see what was happening inside.
His mother is Jewish
Harrison’s mother, Dorothy or “Dora,” was an Ashkenazi Jew, born in Brooklyn. Her parents, Anna Lifschutz and Harry Nidelman, were immigrants from Minsk, Belarus.
“My mother was Russian Jew,” Ford told GQ Magazine.
Was he raised Jewish?
When asked about which religion he was raised, Ford joked in an interview: “Democrat”
So, does he identify as Jewish?
“As a man I’ve always felt Irish, as an actor I’ve always felt Jewish,” Ford famously said in an interview on Inside the Actors Studio in 2000.
What exactly does that mean? We’ll let you be the judge.
His most Jewish role
In 1979, Ford played Tommy Lillard in Frisco Kid — the most Jewish movie ever — about the adventures of Polish Rabbi Avram Belinsky (Gene Wilder) as he navigates the Wild West in pursuit of delivering a Torah to a new San Francisco synagogue.
“There were previous films, great ones in fact, about Jewishness and antisemitism, but this is the first film that is “Jewish,” rather than “Jewishy,” one description for a New York Jewish film festival noted. “It includes a rabbi, a Torah, Jewish values and beliefs and uses Yiddish words.”
Here’s Harrison Ford wearing a Kippah:
Yes, Frisco Kid is so Jewish that Harrison Ford even wears a kippah by the end of the film.
Originally Published May 5, 2022 12:30AM EDT
