Glenn Ford buried with the ashes of his beloved dachshund dog Bismarck

Glenn Ford was a celebrated American/Canadian actor. He lived a long life, dying at the age of 90. He married many times but what interests me more than anything else is that he loved dogs. Having watched the video of his life by Jerry Skinner on YouTube to the end I noticed that at the very end of the video Mr Skinner states that Glenn Ford is buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in the city of Santa Monica, California, USA with his dog.

I presume this was the last dog that he lived with; a dachshund, who he named Bismarck. Bismarck was a present from Maria Schell. She gave him the dog after Ford’s close friend William Holden died in 1981. At the time he was going through a tough time because of the loss of his best friend.

As a Facebook post states, Bismarck became his pride and joy. He said that Bismarck helped him grieve, “Thank God for little Bismarck, who stayed with me all night. He understands and puts his head on my lap when I cry as though he understands. I’m frightened. Is this the way my life is going to and up, in deep sadness?”

 
Ford’s wishes were that Bismarck be cremated and the ashes buried with him. Ford died in 2006 and the ashes of Bismarck are duly buried with him at Woodlawn Cemetery. I’ll presume that he kept Bismarck’s ashes at his home for comfort. A lot of people do that including me. I don’t know when Bismarck died but a considerable time before Ford’s death. I intend to have my cats’ ashes scattered with mine after my passing.

One last point: he was a damned good actor and starred in many excellent films.