"My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over. Our Constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule," Gerald Ford made the announcement after becoming the 38th President of the United States in 1974. As noted, "He was the only President who was never elected as either Vice President or President. He became President after the resignation of Richard Nixon over the Watergate scandal under the process decreed by the 25th Amendment to the Constitution."
Between 1981 and 1987, Gerald's 3rd son, Steven Ford could be seen on the popular daytime soap opera, 'The Young and the Restless'. Steve Ford told 'United Press International' at the time, "I know this is my big break. This is a great stepping stone, a real chance to learn. There are some very talented people here. A lot of people attach a mystique to the fact that I'm the son of a former President. They expect something different of me, so I try to keep a low profile. It's something I’ll have to live with all my life. And I don’t mind.
"I'm very proud of my father, of his years in the House of Representatives and of the decisions made in the White House. He did a great job. I finally got an agent who was willing to present me as Steve Ford, an actor, not Steve Ford, the President's son. I went out on a couple of jobs and they never knew that Dad had a good government job at one time. It was nice to get a few lines here and there and do it the right way."
"This series ('The Young and the Restless') is a tremendous education for me. The speed and pressures of doing 70 to 80 pages of script a day is training of the best kind. We often spend 10 or 12 hours on the set rehearsing and taping. Then I spend 2 or 3 hours every night with the script. It's hard work. Daytime TV is a good starting place. Where else can you work 60, 70 or 80 one-hour shows a year?
"My best friend on the show, Doug Davidson, who plays Paul, taught me a lot. And director Wes Kenny changed everything on the show, made us number one with his encouragement. Wes loosened me up. I understand Andy better, I’m easier with him." Steve Ford also told John Goudas of 'King Features Syndicate', "I like the idea of using raw emotions, digging them out. I’m beginning to get the hang of it. I try to create a few distinctive characteristics for Andy, the character I play, and the writers and directors don't object to my ideas. Andy and I don't have much in common, so I can't rely on just being myself."
Steve maintained, "When you're part of the First Family, your life tends to get played out in front of the whole nation. Politics is a lot like acting. You have to be on all the time. I campaigned for 5 months and made the same speech, did the same spiel. It takes a good actor to sound excited every time. I relate campaigning to being an actor in a show that's had a long run. I don't want to be involved in a 24-hour-a-day job. Campaigning for Dad was as close as I got. I'll leave politics to my brother Jack."
As the son of a former President, "I think it can work in a positive way – might get you in a few doors you might not get into. But in the long run, I don't think it sells many tickets. The publicity doesn't hurt me or 'The Young and the Restless'. It might even help. But I wasn’t hired for that reason. In this business if you can't handle your share of the load, you are quickly killed off in a daytime show. I have a basic 4-year contract for the show with CBS. The network has an option every 3 months and can write the character out of the show whenever they like."
Before 'The Young and the Restless', "I was recognized because of Dad's accomplishments and I hadn't done a thing. I'd been given this free celebrityhood. It's frustrating to have people shake your hand and you feel they're looking at an image of your Dad, not you. So now when I meet a little old lady in the grocery store who asks, 'Is Andy going to marry Jill?' or 'Is Jill going to stop seeing John?', the recognition is something I've done, not Dad. It's a lot different. I get stopped all the the time."
Melody Thomas Scott mentioned, "He's really just a cowboy at heart (Steve rode horses on the professional rodeo circuit). He's not at all Hollywood. But when I found out he was Steven Ford, it was hard not to think of him as Jerry Ford's son. After a while I got used to it, and now (back in 1981) I think it's just a hoot."
Melody Thomas Scott mentioned, "He's really just a cowboy at heart (Steve rode horses on the professional rodeo circuit). He's not at all Hollywood. But when I found out he was Steven Ford, it was hard not to think of him as Jerry Ford's son. After a while I got used to it, and now (back in 1981) I think it's just a hoot."
Steve Ford made his first film in 1979, 'Cattle Annie and Little Britches'. It took 6 weeks to shoot in Durango, Mexico. Afterward, he told Jeff Wilson of 'The Milwaukee Journal', "I could really relate to it (acting). Acting is very similar to what I did while my Dad was in the White House. I had to respond in set ways. When you are the son of a President, you do a lot of acting. I feel it prepared me for what I'm headed into now (which was acting). I thoroughly enjoyed making the film.
"Nobody's objected to my acting. With an actor in the White House, it might be a start in politics. (Burt) Lancaster and (Rod) Steiger taught me a lot. Burt seemed to re-create the same performance in every scene. Steiger relied on the moment and varied each scene. It was fun to see the 2 different schools of acting with positive results.
"After that enjoyable experience I began acting in workshops around Los Angeles. I got an agent, too. I wanted to get work to develop myself, starting at the bottom – as I should – and working my way up." Of the 1984 Lee Majors' TV movie, 'The Cowboy and the Ballerina', "I’m used to getting in on-camera and connecting, doing it all at once – the soap way. But I go out there, and it's start and stop, start and stop. By late afternoon I'm supposed to match what I began in the morning. I was stagnant."
"Nobody's objected to my acting. With an actor in the White House, it might be a start in politics. (Burt) Lancaster and (Rod) Steiger taught me a lot. Burt seemed to re-create the same performance in every scene. Steiger relied on the moment and varied each scene. It was fun to see the 2 different schools of acting with positive results.
"After that enjoyable experience I began acting in workshops around Los Angeles. I got an agent, too. I wanted to get work to develop myself, starting at the bottom – as I should – and working my way up." Of the 1984 Lee Majors' TV movie, 'The Cowboy and the Ballerina', "I’m used to getting in on-camera and connecting, doing it all at once – the soap way. But I go out there, and it's start and stop, start and stop. By late afternoon I'm supposed to match what I began in the morning. I was stagnant."
