John Ford

1972 portrait by Richard Avedon, via Debushka.

Director of Stagecoach, The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley, The Quiet Man, The Long Gray Line, Mister Roberts, The Searchers, The Horse Soldiers, The Alamo, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, How The West Was Won...

From the Wikipedia entry: "From the early Thirties onwards, he always wore dark glasses and a patch over his left eye, which was only partly to protect his poor eyesight. He was an inveterate pipe-smoker and while he was shooting he would chew on a linen handkerchief—each morning his wife would give him a dozen fresh handkerchiefs, but by the end of a day's filming the corners of all of them would be chewed to shreds. He always had music played on the set and would routinely break for tea (Earl Grey) at mid-afternoon every day during filming. He discouraged chatter and disliked bad language on set; its use—especially in front of a woman—would typically result in the offender being thrown off the production. He rarely drank during the making of a film, but when a production wrapped he would often lock himself in his study, wrapped only in a sheet, and go on a solitary drinking binge for several days, followed by routine contrition and a vow never to drink again."