Harrison Ford, famous for films such as the Indiana Jones series and the Star Wars Trilogy, turns 70 today. The Daily Shift’s Denise O’Donoghue reveals 30 facts about the much loved Hollywood veteran.

1. In 1997 (age 55) Harrison Ford got his ear pierced. He left a note for the lady who pierced it for him:

“To Tavora. You made a hole in me. Harrison Ford.”

2. He is 12 years younger than Sean Connery, who played the role of his father in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.

3. He’s part Irish! The good ones always are.

4. He has an 800-acre ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

5. He built it himself!

6. Before he became an actor he was a master carpenter.

7. He was one of the top cabinet-makers in LA and was in high demand.

8. He’s one of only 50 people barred from entering Tibet as the Chinese officials didn’t like a Disney film his second wife wrote.

9. The same ex-wife wrote the screenplay for E.T.: The Extraterrestrial.

10. He’s known to be very sarcastic with a dry sense of humour.

11. He is a pilot and regularly flies between Wyoming and New York.

12. In 2000 he rescued a 20-year-old woman in his helicopter from Table Mountain.

13. In 2001 the Guinness Book of Records named him as the richest male actor.

14. In 2003 he got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

15. He got the scar on his chin in a car accident in 1968.

16. He has described Han Solo as “the great rapscallion of the universe”.

17. He was the only one of the three leads in the Star Wars trilogy to never sign a contract.

18. Indiana Jones is his favourite character that he has played and the one he is most proud of.

19. He was once Hollywood’s best paid actor.

20. He joined a talent agency in 1999 following the box-office failure of Random Hearts.

21. He is opposed to the war in Iraq and is very active in his support of environmental issues.

22. Gregory Peck and Gary Cooper are his two favourite actors.

23. High Noon and To Kill A Mockingbird are two of his favourite films.

24. Christopher Walken was the first choice to play Han Solo.

25. Tom Selleck was the first choice to play Indiana Jones.

26. He has an Aviat Huskey.

27. He’s friends with Bill Clinton.

28. After being hired by George Lucas to build cabinets, Lucas cast him in American Graffiti.

29. He was people Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive 1998.

30. For some unfathomable reason, Harrison Ford has never won an Oscar. Not one. Not even an honourary one. The situation must be rectified soon.

Happy 70th Birthday Indy Harrison Ford. Thanks for all the films!

By Denise O’Donoghue