In 1989, Ford was crowned King of the Beaux Arts Ball in New York City. His Queen was Melissa Slade.[4]
Ford paired with David Alan Reis aka "Lance" in Leo & Lance and Blonds Do It Best, Leo and Lance directed by William Higgins; Blonds Do It Best directed by Richard Morgan.[3] In his starring role for the film Games, directed by Steve Scott, Ford played a medal-winning swimmer in the Gay Games competition, with Al Parker playing a photographer assigned to take professional portraits of the athlete. In a scene that foreshadowed what happened to Ford in real life, his character had a severe motorcycle accident that left him hospitalized and in a coma.
Personal life
Ford had a short-lived relationship with cult actor Divine.[5] The two travelled together and he made appearances at clubs in which Divine was contracted to perform. In late 1985, Ford began a relationship with Craig Markle. Ford and Markle lived together in Los Angeles and Hawaii, where they raised tropical birds and ran a tour and recreation business called "Pacific Paradise Tours".[6] In July 1991, Ford was hit by a car while riding a motorcycle with Markle. He died shortly after from his injuries. After Ford's death Markle ran a travel agency and oversaw Ford's collection of pictures from his career until his own death in 1994.[7]
^Acts of intervention: performance, gay culture, and AIDS: Unnatural acts : theorizing the performative (1998), David Román, Indiana University Press, ISBN0-253-21168-9, ISBN978-0-253-21168-2.
^Not simply Divine: beneath the make-up, above the heels and behind the scenes with a cult superstar (1994), Bernard Jay, Simon and Schuster, ISBN0-671-88467-0, ISBN978-0-671-88467-3.
