He dropped out of Manhattan's public school system after the eighth grade.
"[4] A 1943 newspaper article traced the origin of Ford's nickname to a speech he made at New York's Republican Club in the 1910s.
The speaker who preceded Ford was future President Warren G. Harding, then a member of the U.S. Senate.
"[4] Ford became a panelist on a comedy quiz show called Stop Me If You've Heard This One, which ran from October 1939 to March 1940.
Shortly after that show ended Ford was inspired to create the similar but far more successful Can You Top This?, which co-starred friends and colleagues Joe Laurie, Jr. and Harry Hershfield.