John Ford (February 1, 1894 - August 31, 1973) has been regarded as one of the most accomplished American film directors. Ford won four Academy Awards for Best Director. His style of film-making has been tremendously influential, leading many colleagues to name him one of the greatest directors of all time and some, notably Ingmar Bergman and Orson Welles, as the greatest. His films have influenced directors as diverse as Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Sam Peckinpah, and Sergio Leone, as well as countless others.
