LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Harrison Ford: Han Solo
built 221 days ago
It was during filming Sabrina that Harrison took to the air. He'd begun riding big motorcycles at the age of 45, explaining that he'd finally begun to trust himself (well, the scar on his chin must have been an everyday reminder of irresponsibility). Now Sabrina's director Sydney Pollack began to goad him into flying his own plane. He'd already got a handle on piloting while at college in 1962 but, at $15 an hour, it was too expensive. Years later, he'd picked up more rudiments by sitting upfront when flying in Gulfstream jets, watching the captain. Now he asked his pilot to obtain an instructor's licence and show him the ropes.
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Ford hadn't been high on George Lucas's list of candidates to play Han Solo. But three or four days before the final casting decisions, Ford was asked to read the part of Han with the actresses up for the part of Princess Leia. When Lucas called Ford to ask him to read, Ford was working at the home of Sally Kellerman. When Ford recieved the call, he left Sally's house so fast he left all his tools and his overalls behind. Kellerman still has them on display today. To Harrison's disbelief, Lucas gave him the part.
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There were, of course, those who believed Ford couldn't cut it away from the Han Solo and Indiana Jones characters. He proved them wrong instantly with Peter Weir's Witness. Here he played Philadelphia cop John Book who must protect a young Amish boy who's the only witness to a mob murder. Problematically for Book, he must enter the boy's other-worldly community, all the while waiting for the killers to come.
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The 2001 edition of the Guinness Book of Records listed Ford as the richest actor alive: his reported salary for the 2002 flop K-19: The Widowmaker was $25 million. The 27 movies that he has starred in have grossed a combined box office of more than $3.3 billion. However, since then he has been overtaken by Eddie Murphy and Tom Hanks as the biggest movie star, and Mel Gibson is now the world's richest living actor.
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The Empire Strikes Back rejuvanated Ford's career. Han Solo had a much more important part in this film, and Ford was pleased with his performance after the shooting. Empire was just as successful as its predecessor, despite the chaotic production.
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