Having starred in at least 56 Hollywood films, and made over six billion dollars with his acting talents, Harrison Ford has made a name for himself as one of the industry’s most sought-after leading men.
Even in his early days in the business, Ford, 76, hand his hands full with high-profile gigs. And while he seemed to have it all: fame, family and fortune, things took a turn for the star after his marriage to second wife Melissa Mathison started to crumble.
“Ford could possibly never imagine that his career would explode in the way that it did. Even if he had been confident that he would’ve been one of Hollywood’s most famous actors someday, there’s no way he could’ve fathomed what it would be like to bring in as much money as he did,” says attorney Danielle Mayoras in REELZ’s new docuseries, Harrison Ford: Fortune Fight.
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“The Fords had a merit that other Hollywood stars seemed to envy: from the outside looking in it looked like they had the perfect balance between work and family life,” recalls attorney and author Andy Mayoras.
Ford and Mathison looked in love as ever when spotted out at star-studded events. Together they raised sons Ben Ford, 51, and Willard Ford, 49, and in those early years, the four seemed like the ideal American family.
“Harrison Ford is really this private guy. He’s this big movie star of course, but his thing was he wanted the family life to be nice, and as normal as it could possibly be. So he did his best to shield his kids from the Hollywood limelight while trying to live a normal life,” says film critic Greg Russell.
After 17 years of marriage, problems began to emerge between him Mathison. While he was already well-known by the time he married her, he never expected her to try to stall his career.
“Behind closed doors, there were problems building in their relationship. I mean Harrison’s wife had said she only wanted him to do one movie a year, which probably didn’t sit well with him, and he had said in the past that he felt more valued on movie sets than he did at home, so he had this constant struggle: ‘Do I wanna be a dad and a husband or do I wanna be a big Hollywood movie star?’” says radio personality Shelly Menaker.
Harrison Ford: Fortune Fight airs Thursday, February 14 at 9 ET / PT on REELZ.
