Glenn Ford was a Canadian

To those who know Glenn Ford, the headline isn't a surprise. To a lot of others, including me, I was surprised to find Ford was born in Sainte-Christine, Quebec, Canada. Ford died Wednesday at the age of 90.

Ford had a luminous career. He starred in "The Big Heat," "The Blackboard Jungle,", and "The Teahouse of the August Moon." Ford also had a solid on-screen partnership with Rita Hayworth, starting with "Gilda" in 1946.

He was also known as the father in the original movie "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" that sparked the TV series. Ford starred in the movie with Shirley Jones and a 9-year-old Ron Howard as Eddie.

Realizing that Ford was Canadian reminds me of a story about trivia. I was playing on a team in a bar when the question came up, "Where was William Shatner born?"

We did all know that Shatner is Canadian, but where in Canada was a good question. We got a chance to think about it for awhile. As the Canadian expert, the team looked to me. I wasn't sure, but I thought about it. I said that I think he was born in Montreal.

They seemed puzzled. Shatner was Jewish, they said (which I knew). How could he be from Montreal? They reluctantly trusted me and got rewarded when the correct answer was given as Montreal.

You wouldn't think Shatner was from Montreal and Ford was from Sainte-Christine in Quebec. Yes, Quebec is French-dominant. But anglophones are born and raised in Quebec. Some of them turn out to be actors.