Early life

Ford grew up in the Walworth area of south London. He dropped out of school at the age of fifteen and took on various jobs, ending with two years of National Service in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps.

Studies and training

Francois Truffaut cast Ford as one of the firemen in his Fahrenheit 451. Ford next auditioned for and was granted a place at the East 15 Acting School. For three years he studied drama in all its forms: Shakespeare, Chekhov, restoration, commedia dell'arte, pantomime, music, dance, fencing, Stanislavski and improvisation. One of his tutors there at that time was the then unknown Mike Leigh.

Acting career

Ford appeared in Exorcist: The Beginning and, much earlier, as 'Roosta' in the original radio version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, along with a small speaking role in the British gangster film The Long Good Friday.

Ford played Clifford Harding in G.F. Newman's Law & Order in 1978, then had a brief role in the film An American Werewolf in London, where he plays the taxi driver who says the line, "It puts you in mind of the days of the old demon barber of Fleet Street, doesn't it?" in response to the recent wave of murders around London. He has also proved himself a comic actor. He was involved in the Armando Iannucci production Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, playing a boxing promoter called Terry Norton; and he worked again with Iannucci playing the 'East End Thug' in The Armando Iannucci Shows. He later appeared as a priest in every episode of Snuff Box. In 2015, he played former Thotch band manager 'Big' Basil Steel in Brian Pern: 45 Years of Prog & Roll.

In 1998, Ford narrated and appeared in the Guy Ritchie-directed crime comedy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and, in 2000, he appeared in his most memorable role as crime boss 'Brick Top' in Ritchie's film Snatch.

Ford was featured in the 2010 music video "For He's a Jolly Good Felon" by Welsh rockers Lostprophets.

2011 saw him starring as crime boss 'Carter' in the British film noir Jack Falls alongside his Lock, Stock co-stars Jason Flemyng and Dexter Fletcher, while in 2014, he was cast in the British crime thriller Two Days in the Smoke alongside fellow Lock, Stock actor Stephen Marcus.

In 2013 Ford had a guest role in the Norwegian-American TV show Lilyhammer as Crime family boss 'Uncle Terry'.

Writer

In 2006, Ford published his novel Thin Ice. He said the book "evolved from a collection of anecdotes and actors’ tales."

In music

Ford's voice is featured in the dubstep song "Cockney Thug" by Rusko, "Crunch" by Flux Pavilion and Datsik, "Damien" by Modestep & Funtcase, the death metal song "A Child Is Missing" from the Illdisposed album The Prestige and the hip-hop song "Sinister" by Aesop Rock, Vast Aire and Yeshua from the 2001 Centrifugal Phorce compilation Euphony.

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2015	Skin Traffik	Paul Hamilton	Released
2013	The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared	Pim
	Two Days in the Smoke	Jack	post-production
2012	The Sweeney	Harry
	Cockneys vs Zombies	Ray Macguire
	Airborne	Max
	Strippers vs Werewolves	Harry
2011	Lethal	Simon	post-production
	Jack Falls	Carter
2010	Mission London	Sibling
	The Ballad of Mulla and Mullins	Johnson	Short Film
2009	Dead Man Running	Sol
2008	NightDragon	Hansen
2004	Exorcist: The Beginning	Jefferies
2002	The Great Dome Robbery	Narrator
2000	Snatch	Brick Top
	Furry Story	Fredglob (voice)
1998	Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels	Alan/Narrator
1992	Chaplin	Warder
1991	Buddy's Song	Phil
1981	Venom	Peters
	An American Werewolf in London	Taxi Driver
1980	The Long Good Friday	Jack
1977	The Squeeze	Taff

Television

Year	TV Show	Role	Notes
2015	Toast of London	Alan the Fear Therapist	1 episode: "Over the Moon"
2014	Toast of London	Alan the Homeopath	1 episode: "Fool in Love"
	Pod Prikritie	Himself	episode 9
2013	Lilyhammer	Terence
	Toast of London	Mick Carriage	1 episode: Vanity Project
2011	Casualty	Norman Danvers	1 episode: Partners
2010	Hotel Trubble	Delgado	1 episode: Hello Dolly
2009	My Almost Famous Family	Terry	2 episodes: Beat Surrender / The Girl Is Mine
	Doctors	George Swade	1 episode: Mr Jelly
	The Legend of Dick & Dom	King of Kong	1 episode: Rock Hard
2008	Hotel Babylon	Terry McCaffrey	1 episode: Episode No.3.5
	Casualty	Tony Tillings	1 episode: Thicker Than Water
2007	The Real Outlaws	Himself - Presenter
2006	The Bill	Davey Rolfe	1 episode: 470
	Jane Hall	Dougie Stringer	1 episode: Episode No.1.1
	Snuff Box	Rick - Priest	1 episode: Rich's Mother
2004	Passer By	Publican	TV
	Keen Eddie	Longfellow	1 episode: Sticky Fingers
	The Bill	George Dooley	1 episode: 188
2003	Waking the Dead	Jack Ely	2 episodes: Walking on Water: Part 1 / Walking on Water: Part 2
	William and Mary	Taxi Driver	1 episode: Episode No.1.1
2001	The Armando Iannucci Shows	East End Thug	4 episodes
2000	Hero to Zero	Ron Warley	TV series
1998	Mosley	Prison Officer	1 episode: Beyond the Pale
	An Unsuitable Job for a Woman	City Receptionist	1 episode
1997	The Bill	Jimmy Robson	1 episode: Joker
	The Knock	Robbie Reynolds	1 episode: Episode No.3.7
1996	London Bridge	Ron	Episode No.1.15
	No Bananas	Bernie Silver	2 episodes: Sitzkreig / The Wedding
	Madson	Adrian	1 episode: Episode No.1.2
1994	The Bill	Eric	1 episodes: Ducking and Diving
	Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge	Terry Norton	1 episode: Episode No.1.5
	Little Napoleons	Gerald Nowell	1 episode: The Big Interview
	Class Act	Geoff the Builder	2 episodes: Episode No.1.2 / Episode No.1.3
	Murder Most Horrid	First villain	1 episode: Smashing Bird
	Minder	Bennett	1 episode: Bring Me the Head of Arthur Daley
	Love Hurts	Punter	1 episode: The Parent Trap
1993	The Upper Hand	Barman	Minder
1992	The Bill	Maydell	1 episode: On the Record, Off the Record
	The Darling Buds of May	Danvers	1 episode: Oh! To Be in England: Part 1
1991	The New Statesman	Police Inspector	1 episode: Keeping Mum
1990	The Bill	Frank Litton	1 episode: Old Wounds
	Grange Hill	Mr. Ratcliffe	3 episodes: Episode No.12.2 / Episode No.13.19 / Episode No.13.20
1989	The Bill	Harry	1 episode: Just for the Crack
	Birds of a Feather	Prison Officer	2 episodes: Substitute / Sailing
1988	Bergerac	Sammy Kline	1 episode: Private Fight
1987	Rockliffe's Babies	Tommy	1 episode: It's All Happening
1986	C.A.T.S. Eyes	Taxi Driver	1 episode: Tranmere Dan and Tokyo Joe
	Running Scared	Ron Martin	unknown episodes
	The Best Years of Your Life	Father	TV
1985	The Bill	Tony Kemp	1 episode: Home Beat
	Summer Season	Harold	1 episode: Rachel and the Roarettes
1983	Keep It in the Family	Van driver	1 episode: A Touch of the Orient
1982	BBC2 Playhouse	Actor	1 episode: Jake's End
1981-1982	The Chinese Detective	Jack Arthur Bross	2 episodes: Release / Oblomov
1981	Maybury	Mr. Clegg	1 episode: Maisie and Mac
	Smuggler	Giles Sawney	2 episodes: The Respectable Traitor: Part 1 / The Respectable Traitor: Part 2
1980	Strangers	Johnny James	1 episode: Clowns Don't Cry
	Play for Today	Mr. Chancer	2 episodes: The Adventures of Frank: Everybody's Fiddling Something / The Adventures of Frank: Seeds of Ice
1979	Play for Today	Police sergeant	1 episode: Waterloo Sunset
1978	Armchair Thriller	Bill	1 episode: The Limbo Connection: Part 1
	Law & Order	Clifford Harding	3 episodes: A Detective's Tale / A Villain's Tale / A Brief's Tale
1976	Softly, Softly: Task Force	Micky Dixon	1 episode: Say It with Flowers
1974-1975	Romany Jones	Ken	5 episodes
1973	Softly, Softly: Task Force	Tommy Buckley	1 episode: Slip of the Tongue

[ Source: Wikipedia ]