Early life, family, educational background
American Chef, Benjamin Cooper Ford was born on 22 September 1966 in Los Angeles, California, USA, making him a Virgo. He has a younger brother named Willard Ford, who was born on 14 May 1969, and a half-brother named Malcolm Ford born on 3 October 1987, and a half-sister named Georgia Ford born on 30 June 1990 from their father’s second marriage. Additionally, there is an adopted brother, Liam Ford, born on 1 January 2001 from Harrison’s third marriage. When Ben was only 13 years and Willard was 10, their parents divorced due to their father, Harrison’s unfaithfulness to their mother, Mary.
When Ben was young, he initially thought he would be a professional baseball player, before finding out that a profession in culinary was his true calling, which sadly was partly realized following a year in Europe and several injuries, rendering him unable to pursue a career in sports. So Ben attended the California Culinary Academy, to utilise what his mother had taught him, and nourish it into a deeper understanding.
#tbt to a friendly #cookoff w pops for @foodandwine mag on stands–June issue's #FathersDay Chicken Wars #grilling pic.twitter.com/znlodiNsJD
— Chef Ben Ford (@ChefBenFord) May 12, 2016
Family’s personal life
Mary Marquardt
American Chef Mary Marquardt was born in 1945 in the US; she is only familiar to the public through her relationship with actor Harrison Ford, so not much is known about her background or personal life. After matriculating from high school, she studied Culinary Arts at Ripon College in Wisconsin, where Harrison was studying Philosophy at the time. The actor and the cheerleader met while he was performing in “The Threepenny Opera”, quickly fell in love and began dating. After graduating, she pursued her dream to become a professional chef and worked in restaurants. In later years, Ben and Mary worked together at Ford Filling Station at The Marriott in Los Angeles.
Mary and Harrison married on 18 June 1964, and although his acting career was not taking off, she remained supportive of his dreams and even encouraged him to spend some time in Los Angeles and apply for radio voice-over jobs. He didn’t land any, but was signed to Columbia Pictures. Mary gave birth to Ben in 1966 and to Willard three years later. During their early lives, Harrison was still struggling to become a successful actor, so Mary financially supported the family; Harrison eventually took up a carpeting job on the side, to help bring in some extra cash.
Once Harrison’s acting talent was recognized, he surged in popularity, but also became involved in multiple affairs. Due to his infidelity, their marriage fell apart after 15 years, and their divorce was finalized in 1979. There were many assumptions as to what exactly led to their divorce, but the main report is that Mary found Harrison in bed with another woman; although her identity has never been revealed, many believe the mystery woman was screenwriter and television personality, Melissa Mathison, who was best known for working on films such as “Black Stallion” and “E.T. The Extra-terrestrial.” Seeing as the two married a few years later in 1983, this speculation appears quite probable.
Mary was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in the early 2000s, and she has especially thanked Ben for all of his support throughout her battle with the condition. She has also expressed how happy she is that although her condition has caused her to no longer be able to cook, Ben is carrying on that part of her legacy. Since 2015, there have been rumors circling continuously, claiming that Mary had lost her battle with her disease, and passed away. However, she is still very much alive, and her sons help her as much as they can. She’s a very private person and doesn’t share the details of her personal life, but it seems that she’s never remarried.
Willard Ford
Ben’s younger brother, Willard Ford had no desire to be in the spotlight. He was born on 14 May 1969 in the US, making him a Taurus. He co-owns Ford & Ching, Ludwig Clothing Company, and a boxing gym located in Los Angeles called Strong Sports Gym. In 1993, he welcomed his son, Eliel to the world along with his wife.
Malcolm Ford
Ben’s younger half-brother from his father’s second marriage, Malcolm Ford, was born on 3 October 1987 in the US, making him a Libra. He attended school in Jackson Hole, Wyoming with his sister, Georgia.
Malcolm took his parents’ divorce quite badly, and turned to drugs during his teenage years until he eventually attended rehab. While recovering from his addiction, Malcolm turned to music as a healthy way to express his emotions. In 2008, college dropout Malcolm was in New York when he met high schooler Jack Byrne – son of actress Ellen Barkin and actor Gabriel Byrne – and the two formed a friendship around their love of blues music, marijuana, and Call of Duty. Jack taught Malcolm to play the guitar in exchange for weed, and they formed a band, The Dough Rollers, and pursued their passion professionally, eventually along with singer Julia Tepper who joined the duo. They have supported artists such as Queen of the Stone Age, Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, and Billy Idol.
Georgia Ford
Ben’s younger half-sister Georgia Ford was born on 30 June 1990, making her a Cancerian. After suffering from several seizures in her childhood, Harrison took her to NYU Medical Center where she was diagnosed by Dr. Orrin Devinsky with Epilepsy, and put on the correct treatment plan. Georgia is following in her father’s footsteps, and working on building an acting career. In 2013, she appeared in “American Milkshake,” a comedy film that flopped so she didn’t gain much popularity from that movie. Two years later, she appeared in the mystery thriller entitled “A True Story”, which was also a huge flop despite the cast consisting of Felicity Jones, James Franco, and Jonah Hill. The last time she appeared in a project was in 2016, and hasn’t been in anything since, so Georgia may have given up on her dream of acting.
Who is Harrison Ford?
American actor Harrison Ford was born on 13 July 1942, in Chicago, Illinois, US, meaning that he’s a Cancerian.
Harrison attended Ripon College where he majored in Philosophy; in his senior year of college, he took up drama classes in an attempt to overcome his shyness, but soon found a passion for the art form, and became more invested in pursuing it for a living. Harrison married his first wife, Mary Marquardt in 1964 – his career was struggling for several years, making Mary the breadwinner of the family of four for a while until Harrison got his big break as Han Solo in the original “Star Wars” trilogy films. Although this was a positive step for his career, his marriage to Mary was suffering. Harrison’s new-found fame turned him into a lady’s man, and he couldn’t resist the temptation, so cheated on his wife with numerous other women, including his “Star Wars” co-star Carrie Fisher, despite their large age gap – Harrison was 40 years old at the time, and Carrie was only 19. The news of Harrison and Carrie’s affair only became known four decades after the fact, when Carrie published her memoir entitled “The Princess Diarist,” in which she shared that her relationship with Harrison took place while he was still married and lasted for three months. His divorce from Mary was finalized in 1979.
https://www.facebook.com/FOX10Phoenix/posts/pfbid01SwdKgADtjVrXWrDQL5ZSWoE1cYfnXaYUVa5C2sur2LrWkUENeAd9Qf3eMNcRCRpl
He married his second wife, screenwriter and television personality Melissa Mathison, on 14 March 1983 following a brief romance; they were married for 18 years until they separated in August 2001, and their divorce was finalized on 6 January 2004 – the pair have two children together, Malcolm and Georgia Ford. According to their divorce settlement, Harrison paid child support until Malcolm and Georgia’s 21st birthdays, and agreed to give Melissa half of the royalties he earned even after their divorce from the projects he worked on while they were married, such as “Witness and The Fugitive,” and two “Indiana Jones” movies. Sadly, on 4 November 2015, Melissa passed away from Neuroendocrine Cancer.
Harrison married his third wife, American actress Calista Kay Flockhart – best-known for her roles in “Ally McBeal,” “Supergirl,” and “Brothers & Sisters” – on 15 June 2010. The pair met on 20 January 2002 at the Golden Globe Awards and started dating soon after. Harrison and Calista became engaged on Valentine’s Day in 2009. In 2011, they adopted a newborn boy together and named him Liam Flockhart Ford; making Harrison a father to five children. In an interview, he said that he enjoys spending his weekends with his family, ‘Whatever Calista and Liam want to do. We’ll take a couple of hours on Sunday morning to go motorcycle riding or go for a hike. I just made a birdhouse with my son.’
Career
Ben grew up with the tantalizing smells of his mother’s food whenever she would cook at home, and he helped her produce delicious dishes as soon as he could. Inspired by Mary, Ben chose to pursue a culinary career, and earned his apron in Berkeley at the famous Chez Panisse. He then went back to Los Angeles where he put his new skills in cooking with French techniques into practice, when he worked at Eberhard Mueller’s Opus as a Sous Chef. Afterward, he went to work at Eclipse, The Farm of Beverly Hills, and Campanile before he opened his high-end California-Mediterranean restaurant, Chadwick, in Beverly Hills. His hard work earned him a lot of acclaim and positive reviews, but the restaurant still closed.
Ben opened the Ford’s Filling Station gastropubs – in fact, they were the first gastropubs in America – located at LAX Terminal 5 (also known as the Delta terminal), L.A. Live, The Marriott, and in Los Angeles from 2006, until some of them closed down circa 2014, but Ford’s Filling Station can still be found in Culver City, California. His next foodie adventure was opening another Los Angeles-based restaurant, Bull & Butterfly, which follows the concept of bringing community, food and culture to the modern LA lifestyle. In 2022, he was seen at the Miami Food and Wine Festival at the South Beach.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUBHBFDMzaH/
On 6 May 2014, he released his first cookbook on grilling, smoking, and roasting, “Taming the Feast: Ben Ford’s Field Guide to Adventurous Cooking.” Amazon describes the book as, ‘The guide to cooking with fire and feeding a crowd, restaurateur Ben Ford gives step-by-step instructions with photos and illustrations so that you can grill, smoke, or roast the whole beast outdoors — or prepare a ‘tamed’ version of the feast in your home kitchen.’ It has earned a rating of 4.5 stars from consumers who have purchased the book through Amazon. Soon after the release, Ben had a book signing at Williams Sonoma in Santa Monica, which he advertised on his Instagram.
He has appeared on several cooking shows, including, “Jaime Oliver’s Food Revolution,” “Martha Stewart,” “Iron Chef America,” “After Hours with Daniel Boulud,” and “Supper Club with Tom Bergeron” just to name a few. Ben is also a member of the American Chef Corps as a Culinary Ambassador for the US; he has represented his country in Canada, the Republic of Georgia, Hong Kong, Turkey, and Uraguay. He has participated in the Dole California Cook-Off as a celebrity head judge, partnered with Dole Packaged Food for a few years already.
Personal life
According to his Twitter bio, Ben describes himself as, a ‘Husband, Father, Chef, Author, Adventurer, Craftsman, Historian, Alchemist celebrating head 2 tail & root 2 flower.’ Ben is married to Emily Tomerlin, who was born in Texas and is reportedly also in the culinary industry. They have two sons; their eldest child, Ethan was born in 2000, but Waylon’s exact age is unknown publicly, but he’s younger than Ethan.
According to The Baltimore Sun, they are raising their children with the knowledge of how to grow food in the garden, and cook entire meals in the kitchen. On his website – which has since been taken down – Ben shared that he and Emily, ‘encouraged their two sons to put their hands in the soil early on, as it fosters an understanding of the fragility of life, and shows them the connection with food.’ Ben has a lot of respect for animals, farmers and ranchers, and is making sure that his children adopt that belief as well.
In March 2015, Harrison crashed his plane on a golf course in Venice, California, and was hosspitalised to have his injuries taken care of. Although he was initially reported to be in critical condition, Ben tweeted, ‘Dad is OK! Battered, but OK.’ Despite his parents’ past, Ben obviously still loves and gets along with both of his parents. He often posts photos of or with his dad,and tags them with, ‘#elderford’ – in one post, he referred to Harrison as ‘a legend.’
https://www.facebook.com/chefbenford/photos/a.242114254966/10150809402059967
Appearance
Ben stands at 6ft 5ins (195cm) tall, weighs about 200lbs (91kg), and has light brown hair, and green-grey eyes,
Net worth and salary
As of November 2022, Ben’s net worth is estimated at $1.5 million, thanks to his hard work as a chef, restauranter, author and television personality. His net worth may seem impressive at first glance, but it is nothing compared to his father’s estimated $300 million net worth or even his stepmother, Calista Flockhart’s estimated $30 million net worth.
