Glenn Ford among stars who'll enter Kanab's 'Walk of Fame'

With his rugged good looks and his great love of horses, Glenn Ford — who died last year at age 90 — was a natural for the Westerns that were so popular during the heyday of his acting career.

And many of those Westerns were shot in Kanab, including "The "Desperadoes" in 1943 and "The Long Ride Home" in 1967.

While filming "The Long Ride Home," Ford told the Deseret News that he was happy to be in Kanab because he believed "movies must be done on location wherever possible. The public has become too smart and too wise. They know when you're faking a scene."

Although he was in virtually every film genre, Ford said, "Westerns are among my favorites. I like to ride. Have done a lot of riding ever since I was down in Kanab to make a movie 26 years ago. I say if you can't ride a horse you have no business doing a Western."

In honor of Ford's work in Kanab and his body of work in Westerns, Ford will be among the inductees to Kanab's "Little Hollywood Walk of Fame" at this year's Western Legends Round-Up, to be held next Thursday through the following Saturday.

The festival, which is the largest event in Kane County, is designed to "develop, promote and preserve the heritage and culture of the area," says Steve Mower, this year's executive director. "More than 200 movies were filmed here, mostly Westerns."

On hand to accept the Walk of Fame plaque in his father's honor, as well as one for himself, will be Peter Ford, an actor in his own right, who appeared in "The Long Ride Home," "Smith!" and other Westerns and TV shows with his father.

Other 2007 Walk of Fame honorees to be on hand for the induction ceremonies are:

• Denny Miller, a star of "Wagon Train," a top-rated Western back in the days when there were 26 different Western series on TV, as well as numerous other movies and TV shows. Most recently he has been seen as the Brawny Paper Towel Giant and the Gorton's fisherman in TV commercials.

• Peter Brown, Deputy Johnny McKay in the TV series "Lawman" and Texas Ranger Chad Cooper in "Laredo," among other roles.

• Ed Faulkner, who worked in Kanab on a variety of productions, including the TV shows "Gunsmoke," "Have Gun, Will Travel," "Laramie," "Rawhide" and "The Virginian."

• Neil Summers, a "hometown Little Hollywood Hero," who came to Kanab to perform in movies such as "Ride in the Whirlwind," "Duel at Diablo" and "The Plainsman," and liked it so much he moved his family and settled there. More recently, Summers has appeared in the movie "Holes," as well as "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," and he is the author of several books on Westerns.