Glenn Ford

To most people born after 1960, this ruggedly handsome actor was best known as the Man of Steel's adoptive dad in the 1978 Superman movie. But by that year, Ford — who had spent most of his career playing military men or gunslingers — already had 40 years of films under his belt. Born in Canada but raised in California, he started out in theater but began landing movie roles in the '30s and '40s, including five films opposite bombshell Rita Hayworth. Although he did not endure as well as other stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age, he made his biggest impression in the '50s in a string of strong but sensitive roles: a dedicated teacher attempting to reach his thuggish students in Blackboard Jungle, a widowed father looking for love in The Courtship of Eddie's Father, and a goofy captain facing culture clashes in Japan in The Teahouse of the August Moon. A workaholic who appeared in at least one project (often four or five) a year from 1940 to 1980 (except for a three-year hiatus when he was a Marine in World War II), his career ended in the '90s after he suffered a series of strokes. Off screen, he was married four times, notably a 16-year union to tap-dance legend Eleanor Powell.