LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – If you’ve seen movies like Platoon or Born on the Fourth of July, then you might know the name Corkey Ford, who recently died after a battle with cancer.
Born and raised in Lincoln, Ford was an actor with a movie and TV career spanning back to the 1980’s. He went to school at Lincoln High School before attending Kearney State, now the University of Nebraska-Kearney, where he was picked up by the young Americans, an organization dedicated to developing the performing artists.
After meeting film director Oliver Stone, he was cast in Platoon and later in Born on the Fourth of July, also making appearances on TV in episodes of M*A*S*H and The Twilight Zone, among other series.
Ford then took a break from film after that to care for his 10-year-old daughter, Shaena Ford, in Lincoln. Now an adult, Shaena said she’s grateful she got the time with him.
“For him to give it up for me, I felt very blessed and loved,” Shaena said. “I said, ‘why don’t you go back?’ And he says ‘this is where I’m supposed to be, is where I’m from is Lincoln.”
But Shaena said Corkey never fully gave up acting, taking on a few more movie roles from 2015 to 2020 and getting involved with plays at the Lincoln Community Playhouse and even the Lied Center.
She adds Corkey also spent a lot of time at the Malone Center, helping put on local events and working with kids.
“He was always in the community, always helping children,” Shaena said. “Helping them learn how to act and what to do, breathing exercises. He taught classes for free there. He was huge in trying to teach other kids to follow their dreams.”
Shaena said she wants people to remember Corkey as someone who loved his community and was a good person. Her and Corkey’s grandkids now carry on his legacy.
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