(1894-1973) an Academy Award winning motion picture director, was born in Portland in an area now part of Cape Elizabeth. His family moved back to Portland where he grew up on Munjoy Hill.
Ford was born John Martin Feeney to a poor Irish family, changing his name to Ford in 1923 when he was in Hollywood appearing as an actor and then directing his own films.
Sculpture of Film Director John Ford in Portland
According to Matthew Jude Barker in an on-line article about the Maine Irish Heritage Trail,
Jack Feeney, who earned the nickname “Bull” while playing football at Portland High School, where he graduated in 1914, followed his brother Frank Feeney to Hollywood after high school. Frank had become a successful director, producer, and actor and had changed his name to Francis Ford.
Francis put his brother Jack to work as an assistant and handyman, anything and everything, at $12 a week.
John Ford’s statue in Portland was dedicated in 1998, near the site of his family’s home before he was born.
Additional resources
Barker, Matthew Jude. “Maine Irish Heritage Trail, Portland Site Number 26.” http://www.maineirishheritagetrail.org/john-ford-statue_026.shtml (accessed December 6, 2012)
Bogdanovich, Peter. John Ford. Berkeley, Ca. University of California Press. 1968.
Ford, Dan. Pappy: The Life of John Ford. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Prentice Hall. 1979.
McBride, Joseph and Michael Wilmington. John Ford. New York. Da Capo Press. 1975.