John Wayne
Born Marion Robert Morrison on
May 26, 1907
in Winterset, IA
Died
June 11, 1979
of cancer in UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, CA
John Wayne was larger than life. An unabashed conservative. Two-fisted. Macho. He was also a superb craftsman who worked with some of the landmark directors of the 20th century, including John Ford, Howard Hawks, William Wellman and Don Siegel. Though he died in 1979 at age 72, his legacy looms large. Wayne's popularity today could make many a living actor jealous. In Harris polls that ask Americans to name their top leading man, the Duke has notched a Top 10 spot for more than a decade. His cowboy-hatted likeness has sold Coors Light, refrigerator magnets, alarm clocks and organic beef jerky — and revolvers, ammunition cartridges and beaver-fur hats. Wayne's screen portrayals of men of duty, honor and courage, coupled with his own off-camera personal true grit, endeared him to nearly three generations of Americans. He started as a $35-a-week prop department flunky in 1926 and grew, over the decades, into America's most enduring film superstar. Over the years, Wayne played many types of roles, including comedy and romantic lead to many of Hollywood's most beautiful women. But the characterization that would ultimately immortalize him was that of a man doing his duty — whether in military uniform, civvies or dust-encrusted western wear. Some of his most famous films include "The Alamo" (1960), "True Grit" (1969), "El Dorado" (1966) and "How the West Was Won" (1962). In 2008, Wayne's alma mater, the University of Southern California, offered a three-day scholarly examination of the Duke titled "John Wayne: Actor, Star, Icon, Trojan." "When you have a conversation with people about John Wayne, the feeling is, 'Ah, well, he wasn't that much of an actor,' " said USC film professor Rick Jewell at the time. "But if you have really seen most of his work, you know that is far from the case. He was an extraordinary actor." "The icon has overtaken the actor in many people's eyes, I think," said film historian Leonard Maltin. "So it's high time the actor was reevaluated. There is nothing stupider than saying he was playing himself because I don't know what the real himself was like, but from what I gathered it wasn't that guy we saw on screen." In Orange County, where Wayne made his home in Newport Beach, the relationship between the Duke and his fans was as tight as that of cowboy and horse. "They had an icon there," said James S. Olson, who co-authored the biography "John Wayne: American." "The image he projected hearkened back to an era where black and white and good and evil were clear." Still, by 2007, the year that marked what would have been Wayne's 100th birthday, Newport Beach had wiped away most of his fingerprints. The tennis club Wayne built: renamed. The affiliated Dukes team: now called the Breakers. The Orange County airport remains the grizzled leading man's namesake — although one county supervisor toyed with rechristening it The O.C. Airport when the 2003-2007 prime-time television soap outstripped the leading man in hipness.
|
Related stars
|
|
Points of interest
Academy Awards
| Year | Category | Work | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Best Actor | Sands of Iwo Jima | Nomination |
| 1960 | Best Picture | The Alamo | Nomination |
| 1969 | Best Actor | True Grit | Win |
Permalink
|
Delicious
|
Digg
|
Facebook
|
Twitter
|
Enjoy more stories like this for 
12 thoughts about John Wayne
His quite frequent costar Maureen O' Hara should be linked.
Just wanted to say that he portrayed a US Marine Corps Sergent so good that when I was a young recruit at San Diego all the boots got to go see his movie. Everything about that movie was 100% Marine. I see the film about once every couple of years or so and still get a lump in my throat. He wasn't just good, he was great.
I met John Wayne when I was 16 years old. I actually was in the movie he was starring in and directing "The Green Beret". The movie was being filmed at Fort Benning in Columbus Georgia in 1967. I was on vaction in Phenix City Alabama and saw a newspaper announcement asking for extras to be in the movie. My friends and I boarded a bus and the next thing I knew we were almost eye to eye with John Wayne and David Janssen who was in the movie too. Anyway, I remember John Wayne had a machine gun in his hand and a helicopter was flying overhead trying to get a look at the production site and was interfering sound wise with the scene, Wayne bellowed out "Get General Wright on the Phone, he said we would have peace and quiet over hear" he pretended to be shooting at the Helicopter as well. I was actually in three scenes in the crowd. As indicated in the Celebrity Almanac I published in 2006, John wayne was born on May 26, 1907. Look under celebrity birth dates at www.celebrityalmanac.com. John Wayne was bigger than life!
Unfortunately I never did meet the Duke but, I knew two people who had and their stories made me love the Duke even more. A grammer school girlfriend's father often played a Mexican bandit in movies and did so on one with John Wayne. There was a parade and John Wayne was the Grand Marshall. My friend could not wait to meet John as her father was very close to him. Well, she wound up ill with the mumps and could not go. She was very heart broken. Well, while home sick the day of the parade, she gets a knock at the door, her mother answers and says it is for her. John Wayne went out of his way to drive to her house and meet her in person. How great can that be! He was a person that did not let his fame blurr his heart.
Another friend was the Manager of the San Gabriel Auditorium. He knew the Duke and often went to his home to have a beer and look at movies in John's personal movie house. He told me that John was the most down-to-earth person he ever had the pleasure to know.
When I was a very young child, my parents rented a little house in Winterset, Ia (mid 60s)..several years later the house was rededicated as the John Wayne birthplace and Mr. Wayne made an appearance. Dad made sure I got to meet him and tell him about living in the house!
All my life even as a small child I knew John Wayne. When Movies were playing I could hear his voice and then I would go and watch HIM and ADMIRE everything he DID just like my brothers and even my FATHER were DOING and I thought even many times to myself? WHO IS
THIS COWBOY?
There is no one like JOHN WAYNE ♥
In 1945, my father, along with his friends would ditch school and work as extras in the movie studios. Being asian (Korean), they would get parts playing the enemy Japanese soldiers. On the set of Back to Bataan, my father played one of two soldiers pulling the ropes to hang the school principal. My father fondly remembers playing touch football with John Wayne between takes and him being an all-around good guy with all the extras.
the last drive-in movie I went too with my Dad was , Big Jake. All my life I have loved his films as my Dad did. His love of country and Patriotism helped shape my beliefs also. He was truly bigger than life and at the same time what every man could be and wanted to be.
The last picture John Wayne made was the Shootist, How befitting this was, as I saw it a drive-in theather in Buena Park,CA. in 1979. a short time later, the "Duke " passed away, and the drive-in was closed the same year. A great true American , a great actor, and good human being. May his legacy live on forever!!!
My father who was a bacholer and ran arround the Newport Beach area, met the Duke on several ocassions and partied with him, his wife and other friends!
P.S. my father and mother were in the car with my girlfriend & me, they were sitting in the back seat!
i love john wayne
John Wayne was America, he portrayed what America stands for.....FREEDOM. I grew up watching him in his movies. What he did for our country no other can or has. He was the American symbol for all to see and revere. John Wayne...American. His films taught many on courage, bravery, and service to one's country.
That is not a question of Does John Wayne deserve this star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame...He deserves the entire Hollywood Walk of Fame....He would be considered a founding FATHER of Hollywood...
Share a thought about John Wayne
Did you ever meet John Wayne? Share your memory.
Which other stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame have connections to John Wayne?
Are other places in the world important to John Wayne?
Does John Wayne deserve this star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?