Shortly after moving to New York, she married another actor, David Ford, whose surname she kept although the marriage ended after nine months. She later married John Meston (July 30, 1914 – March 24, 1979) an American radio and television Writer best known for co-creating (with Norman Macdonnell), the long-running radio/TV series, Gunsmoke. Ford's third and current husband is Scott Wolkoff (born May 27, 1947), some two decades her junior.

Born as Harriet Elizabeth Dingeldein in McKeesport, Pennsylvania in 1927, she and her brother were raised by relatives after being abandoned, first by their mother and then later, by their father. After graduating from high school in 1945, she began her career as a model and Actress in New York, where her modeling credits included stints as the Jantzen Bathing Suit Girl, the Camay Bride, and the Parliament Cigarette Girl, and her acting credits included appearances as a regular on The Jackie Gleason Show and The Jimmy Durante Show.

While on a modeling photo shoot in Bogotá, Colombia, Ford was introduced to the renowned matador Luis Miguel Dominguín and watched him fight in the ring. Soon after, Ford left New York for Mexico to train as a Bullfighter. In 1954, Warner Bros made a documentary short about her training, Beauty and the Bull.