View source for Leo Ford

{{short description|American pornographic actor (1957–1991)}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Leo Ford
|image = Leo Ford.jpg
|caption = 
|birth_name = Leo John Hilgeford
|birth_date = {{birth date|1957|7|05}}
|birth_place = [[Dayton, Ohio]], U.S.
|death_date    = {{Death date and age|1991|7|17|1957|3|05}}
|death_place   = [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
|partner = [[Divine (performer)|Divine]], Craig Markle
|alma_mater  = 
|television = 
|awards = 
|occupation = {{hlist|[[Pornographic film actor|Pornographic actor]]|model}}
|yearsactive = 
|parents = 
|children = 
}}
'''Leo Ford''' (born '''Leo John Hilgeford'''; July 5, 1957 – July 17, 1991) was an American [[pornographic actor]] who appeared in [[List of performers in gay porn films#L|gay pornographic films]] and [[Bisexuality|bisexual]] [[pornographic movies]] and [[gay pornographic magazines|magazines]] in the 1980s.<ref>''Autopornography: a memoir of life in the lust lane'' (1997), [[Scott O'Hara]], Routledge, {{ISBN|0-7890-0144-6}}, {{ISBN|978-0-7890-0144-3}}.</ref><ref>''Acts of intervention: performance, gay culture, and [[AIDS]]: Unnatural acts : theorizing the performative'' (1998), David Román, Indiana University Press, {{ISBN|0-253-21168-9}}, {{ISBN|978-0-253-21168-2}}.</ref><ref name="BTL">{{cite book|last=Escoffier|first=Jeffrey|title=Bigger Than Life|url=https://archive.org/details/biggerthanlifehi00esco|url-access=limited|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia|year=2009|isbn=978-0-7867-2010-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/biggerthanlifehi00esco/page/n173 165]}}</ref> He was born in [[Dayton, Ohio]].

==Career==
In 1989, Ford was crowned King of the Beaux Arts Ball in New York City. His Queen was Melissa Slade.<ref>[http://www.beauxartssociety.org/19356.html Beaux Arts Society] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102192849/http://beauxartssociety.org/19356.html |date=2014-01-02 }}</ref>

Ford paired with David Alan Reis aka ''"Lance"'' in ''Leo & Lance'' and ''Blonds Do It Best'', Leo and Lance directed by William Higgins; Blonds Do It Best directed by Richard Morgan.<ref name="BTL"/> In his starring role for the film ''Games'', directed by Steve Scott, Ford played a medal-winning swimmer in the [[Gay Games]] competition, with [[Al Parker]] playing a photographer assigned to take professional portraits of the athlete. In a scene that foreshadowed what happened to Ford in real life, his character had a severe motorcycle accident that left him hospitalized and in a [[coma]].

Ford died in 1991 two days after a motorcycle accident, from a major brain trauma, after being hit by a car while riding his motorcycle near [[Sunset Boulevard]]. His partner of 6 years, Craig Markle, survived with minor injuries.

==Personal life==
Ford had a short-lived relationship with cult actor [[Divine (performer)|Divine]].<ref>''Not simply Divine: beneath the make-up, above the heels and behind the scenes with a cult superstar'' (1994), Bernard Jay, Simon and Schuster, {{ISBN|0-671-88467-0}}, {{ISBN|978-0-671-88467-3}}.</ref> The two travelled together and he made appearances at clubs in which Divine was contracted to perform. In late 1985, Ford began a relationship with Craig Markle. Ford and Markle lived together in Los Angeles and Hawaii, where they raised tropical birds and ran a tour and recreation business called "Pacific Paradise Tours".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0285747/trivia/ | title=Leo Ford - Trivia | website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>

==Selected videography==
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===Gay===
*''Best of Leo Ford
*''Blondes Do It Best'' (1986)
*''Colossal Cocks 5''
*''Flashbacks'' (J. Brian) (1980)
*''Games'' (1983)
*''Leo & Lance'' (1983)
*''New York City Pro'' (1982)
*''A Night at Alfies''
*''Sailor in the Wild'' (1983)
*''Sex in the Great Outdoors'' (1980–1984)
*''Spokes'' (1983)
*''Stiff Sentence'' (1986)
*''Style'' (1982)
*''William Higgins Class Reunion'' (1983)
*''Summer Of Scott Noll''  (1981)
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===Bisexual===
*''Best Bi Far #1''
*''Passion by Fire: The Big Switch 2''
*''True Crimes of Passion''
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==See also==
{{Portal|LGBTQ}}
* [[List of pornographic movie studios#Homosexual pornography|List of pornographic movie studios]]
* [[List of male performers in gay porn films]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|id=0285747|name=Leo Ford}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Leo}}
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:American male pornographic film actors]]
[[Category:LGBTQ pornographic film actors]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ male actors]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Ohio]]
[[Category:Motorcycle road incident deaths]]
[[Category:Male actors from Dayton, Ohio]]
[[Category:Pornographic film actors from Ohio]]
[[Category:Road incident deaths in California]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]