Ford: 'I was told I would never make it'

Harrison Ford has revealed that he was told he would never make it as an actor during his first film.

During an interview with US chatshow host Barbara Walters, he said his role as a bellboy in 1966 movie Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round had failed to impress a vice president at Columbia Pictures.

He said: "He told me that he'd seen the dailies and that I was never gonna make it in the business. He said, 'Kid, when Tony Curtis had his first part in a movie, he delivered a bag of groceries, you took one look at that guy and you knew that was a movie star.'

"And smart-ass that I was, and am, I leaned across the desk and I said, 'I thought you were supposed to think it was a grocery delivery boy.'"

He was subsequently thrown out of the VP's office and the studio attempted to break his contract. However, he said he was glad of the experience because it had taught him an "independence of mind".

The 65-year-old also told Walters that he was unconcerned that he had never won an Academy Award, saying: "You know, the, the Oscar represents the respect of your peers. But I respect my peers, the people I work with and, and I'd rather earn their respect on the set day by day - that means more to me than an award."