Harrison Ford recalls exec telling him he had ‘no future in the business’

Harrison Ford is remembering the studio head who thought he’d never make it in Hollywood. 

The Star Wars alum, 83, recently reflected on his very first onscreen appearance in the 1966 film Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round as part of a game with Variety. 

“I was under contract to Columbia Pictures at the time for $150 a week, and all the respect that that implies,” Ford recalled. “I was called into the office of the head of the new talent program and he told me that I had no future in the business, which was okay.”

The individual, who Ford did not name, had a few suggestions for how to better improve his chances, though. 

“He wanted me to change my name. He thought that Harrison Ford was too pretentious a name for a young man, and then he asked me to get my hair cut like Elvis Presley,” Ford said. “That I didn’t go along with.”

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Ford, naturally, “didn’t last that long” at the gig. He added, “I lasted about a year and a half of a seven-year contract.” 

The executive ended up eating his words when he and Ford eventually crossed paths again. “I met him later across a crowded room,” Ford said. “He had sent me a card on which he had written, ‘I missed my guess.’ And I looked around and couldn’t remember which one he was but then he nodded at me and smiled and I thought, ‘Oh, yeah, I know you.’” 

Ford previously claimed in a 2023 episode of the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast that Columbia Pictures executive Jerry Tokofsky was the person who suggested that he change his name and look. 

“He was about four years older than me, he always called me boy,” he recalled of the filmmaker. When asked if he ever actually came up with an alternate name, Ford deadpanned, “Yeah, Jerry Tokofsky.” 

He continued, “I did come back the next day. I was not only supposed to come back with a name, but I was supposed to be there earlier than my naming conference to get a haircut. And I’d been given a picture of Elvis Presley to take with me to the studio barber.” 

Ford confirmed that he “didn’t get the haircut,” but did return with another name. “I said, ‘My new name is Kurt Affair,’” he said. “It’s an Irish-German name.”  

He also explained that Tokofsky notified him that he was going to suggest the company terminate his contract and give him “two weeks pay” because his wife at the time, Mary Marquardt, was pregnant.  

“I said, ‘No, that’s fine. Goodbye,’” Ford recalled “And I was out. That was it.” 

When asked by O’Brien why he didn’t take the cash, Ford replied, “…That was stupid, wasn’t it?” 

Watch Harrison reflect on the moment — and share anecdotes from the Star Wars Holiday Special, Blade Runner, and more – in the video above.