Our guy was born Samuel Jones in Bolton, Lancashire, England on February 12, 1898. At the age of three he was placed in a foundling home by an aunt. At the age of 7, along with 300 other children, he was shipped to the Toronto branch of the home. In the space of 4 years, little Sam lived in 17 different foster homes before striking out on his own. He landed in Manitoba and got work with a vaudeville troupe called The Winnipeg Kiddies. At the age of 16 Sam struck out again, but not alone this time. A pal, Wally Ford, was along and they hopped freight trains to see what life could offer them in the States. Along the way, the pal was crushed to death by a boxcar and young Sam took his friend’s name.
Years of trouping in the boondocks paid off in 1918 with a role in Booth Tarkington’s Seventeen in Chicago and a move to the Big Apple with the show. Most of Wally’s Broadway shows in the 1920s were of the 4 weeks rehearsal for a couple of night’s run variety with the exception of a stint in Abie’s Irish Rose. In 1922 Martha Haworth became Mrs. Ford and they remained married for the rest of his days with a family of one daughter, Patricia, and two grandsons. 1937 saw a great Broadway success for Wally as he created the role of George in John Steinbeck’s adaption of his own Of Mice and Men, staged by George S. Kaufman. Young Broderick Crawford was the unfortunate Lenny.
