Faith Ford Biography

Faith Ford (born September 14, 1964) is an American television and film actress, known for having played the roles of Corky Sherwood on Murphy Brown and Hope Fairfield-Shanowski on Hope & Faith.

Early life

Ford was born as Alexis Ford in Alexandria, Louisiana, the younger daughter of Pat, a schoolteacher, and Charles Ford, an insurance agent. Ford lived in nearby Pineville and began acting while attending Pineville High School. She moved to New York City at the age of 17 and began to model and find commercial work.

Career

In 1983, Ford gained her first television role on ABC's One Life to Live; her first major role was on the NBC soap opera Another World, where she played Julia Shearer (a role previously played by Kyra Sedgwick) for several years.

Ford was let go by the producers and soon moved to Hollywood, where she gained a regular role on the short-lived sitcom, The Popcorn Kid, a five-episode appearance on thirtysomething and later her role on Murphy Brown. After a ten-year run, the series ended, and Ford immediately pursued other TV endeavors. In 1998, she executive produced her own short-lived sitcom Maggie Winters. Ford also appeared on The Norm Show with Norm Macdonald, Laurie Metcalf and Artie Lange from 1999 to 2001. She also began to focus on additional TV movies at this time.

Ford was married to Robert Nottingham from 1989 until 1996 and has been married to personal trainer/screenwriter Campion Murphy since 1998. Ford's sister, Devon O'Day, hosts country radio programs, owns a media company, and is an author. Ford and Murphy co-produced an original short film, entitled Citation of Merit, which appeared in numerous film festivals across the U.S.

Ford starred with Kelly Ripa in Hope & Faith as Hope Shanowski, a homemaker who lives a peaceful life until her sister, an actress and Hollywood star, moves to live with her and complicates her life in a variety of wild and surreal situations, where she managed a catering business; the sitcom lasted three seasons. The show was pulled from the ABC lineup in May 2006 after a decline in ratings following a switch from Fridays to Tuesdays.

In 2004, she published her own cookbook, Cooking with Faith, and credited her mother and two grandmothers for having taught her how to cook. Ford played the mother of a family whose husband had died in Disney's film The Pacifier, which was released in early 2005. In 2007, she appeared in the sitcom, Carpoolers.

At the moment, she currently hosts and stars in Mind Body Balance, a web series on MSN. In June 2009, she spoke about her series and the future of digital programming at the Digital Content NewFront.

In 2011, Ford appeared in the teen film Prom made by Walt Disney. Ford played the role of Kitty Prescott, the mother of main character Nova Prescott, played by Aimee Teegarden.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	You Talkin' to Me?	Dana Archer
1993	For Goodness Sake		Short film
1994	North	Donna Nelson
1998	Sometimes They Come Back... for More	Dr. Jennifer Wells	Video
2003	Beethoven's 5th	Julie Dempsey	Video
2005	'	Julie Plummer
2011	Sorority Wars	Kitty Prescott
2011	Escapee	Det. Alison Jensen

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	One Life to Live	Muffy Critchlow	TV series
1983	Another World	Julia Shearer	1 episode
1984	Another World	Julia Shearer	1 episode
1985	Hardcastle and McCormick	Tina Cutler	Episode: "The Career Breaker"
1986	Webster	Terry Berman	Episode: "Almost Home"
1986	Scarecrow and Mrs. King	Tina Cutler	Episode: "All the World's a Stage"
1986	Cagney & Lacey	Karen Price	Episode: "Rites of Passage"
1987	The Popcorn Kid	Lynn Holly Brickhouse	6 episodes
1987	If It's Tuesday, It Still Must Be Belgium	Kalin Brewster	TV movie
1987-1988	thirtysomething	Janine	5 episodes
1988-1998	Murphy Brown	Corky Sherwood	121 episodes Nominated"?American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1990, 1996) Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress " Series, Miniseries or Television Film (1991-1992) Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1989-1992, 1994) Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
1990	Murder, She Wrote	Sunny Albertson	Episode: "Good-Bye Charlie"
1993	Poisoned by Love: The Kern County Murders	Joyce Catlin	TV movie
1993	'	Iris / Ruth	Episode: "The Third Option"
1996	'	Susan Kaye	TV movie
1996	Her Desperate Choice	Jody Murdock	TV movie
1996	Night Visitors	Kelly Wells	TV movie
1998-1999	Maggie Winters	Maggie Winters	16 episodes
1999-2001	'	Shelly Kilmartin	32 episodes
2000	Family Guy	Various	2 episodes
2002	Mom's on Strike	Pam Harris	TV movie
2003-2006	Hope & Faith	Hope Shanowski	74 episodes
2007-2008	Carpoolers	Leila Brooker	13 episodes
2008	Criminal Minds	Vanessa Hill	Episode: "Normal"
2008	'	Susan Flowers	TV movie
2009	'	Ann	TV movie
2009	My Name Is Earl	Rachel McGann	Episode: "Got the Babysitter Pregnant"
2009	Sorority Wars	Summer	TV movie
2011	Field of Vision	Jody McFarland	TV movie
2011	Trading Christmas	Emily	TV movie

Awards

Nominations

• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - Emmy Awards 1989 (Murphy Brown)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - Emmy Awards 1990 (Murphy Brown)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - Emmy Awards 1991 (Murphy Brown)
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV - Golden Globe Awards 1991 (Murphy Brown)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - Emmy Awards 1992 (Murphy Brown)
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV - Golden Globe Awards 1992 (Murphy Brown)
• Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series - Emmy Awards 1994 (Murphy Brown)
• Funniest Supporting Female Performer in a TV Series - American Comedy Awards 1996 (Murphy Brown)
• Favorite Star of a New Series - TV Guide Awards 1999 (Maggie Winters)
• Broadcaster(s) of the Year - TV Land Awards 2008 (Murphy Brown)