Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a
popular icon
A pop icon is a celebrity, character, or object whose exposure in popular culture is regarded as constituting a defining characteristic of a given society or era. The usage of the term is largely subjective since there are no definitively object ...
through his starring roles in films made during
Hollywood's Golden Age, especially in Western and war movies. His career flourished from the
silent era of the 1920s through the
American New Wave
The New Hollywood, also known as American New Wave or Hollywood Renaissance, was a movement in American film history from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, when a new generation of young filmmakers came to prominence.
They influenced the types o ...
, as he appeared in a total of 179 film and television productions. He was among the top box-office draws for three decades,
and he appeared with many other important Hollywood stars of his era. In 1999, the
American Film Institute selected Wayne as one of the
greatest male stars of classic American cinema.
Wayne was born in
Winterset, Iowa
Winterset is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Iowa. The population was 5,353 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census.
Winterset is part of the Des Moines metropolitan area. It is the birthplace of actor John Way ...
, but grew up in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
. After losing his
football scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Stat ...
to the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
from a
bodysurfing
Bodysurfing is the art and sport of riding a wave without the assistance of any buoyant device such as a surfboard or bodyboard. Bodysurfers often equip themselves with a pair of swimfins that aid propulsion and help the bodysurfer catch, ride an ...
accident, he began working for the
Fox Film Corporation
The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film C ...
. He appeared mostly in small parts, but his first leading role came in
Raoul Walsh's Western ''
The Big Trail
''The Big Trail'' is a 1930 American pre-Code Western early widescreen film shot on location across the American West starring 23-year-old John Wayne in his first leading role and directed by Raoul Walsh.
In 2006, the United States Libra ...
'' (1930), an early widescreen film epic that was a box-office failure. He played leading roles in numerous during the 1930s, most of them also Westerns, without becoming a major name.
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
's ''
Stagecoach'' (1939) made Wayne a mainstream star, and he starred in 142 motion pictures altogether. According to one biographer, "John Wayne personified for millions the nation's frontier heritage."
Wayne's other roles in Westerns include a cattleman driving his herd on the
Chisholm Trail in ''
Red River'' (1948), a
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
veteran whose niece is abducted by a tribe of
Comanches in ''
The Searchers
''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American Technicolor VistaVision epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas-Native American wars, and stars John W ...
'' (1956), a troubled rancher competing with a lawyer (
James Stewart) for a woman's hand in ''
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
''The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'' () is a 1962 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and James Stewart. The screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck was adapted from a 1953 short story written by ...
'' (1962), and a
cantankerous one-eyed marshal in ''
True Grit
True Grit may refer to:
Fiction
* ''True Grit'' (novel), a 1968 novel by Charles Portis
** ''True Grit'' (1969 film), a film adaptation by Henry Hathaway, starring John Wayne
** ''True Grit'' (2010 film), a film adaptation by the Coen Brothers, ...
'' (1969), for which he received the
Academy Award for Best Actor. He is also remembered for his roles in ''
The Quiet Man
''The Quiet Man'' is a 1952 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by John Ford. It stars John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond and Victor McLaglen. The screenplay by Frank S. Nugent was based on a 1933 ''Saturday Ev ...
'' (1952) with
Maureen O'Hara, ''
Rio Bravo'' (1959) with
Dean Martin, and ''
The Longest Day'' (1962). In his final screen performance, he starred as an aging gunfighter battling cancer in ''
The Shootist
''The Shootist'' is a 1976 American Western film directed by Don Siegel and based on Glendon Swarthout's 1975 novel of the same name.Swarthout, Glendon (1975). ''The Shootist'', New York, New York: Doubleday. It is John Wayne's final film ro ...
'' (1976). He made his last public appearance at the
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
ceremony on April 9, 1979, and died of stomach cancer two months later. He was posthumously awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...
, the highest civilian honor of the United States.
Early life
![John Wayne birthplace](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/John_Wayne_birthplace.jpg)
Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison on May 26, 1907, at 224 South Second Street in
Winterset, Iowa
Winterset is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Iowa. The population was 5,353 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census.
Winterset is part of the Des Moines metropolitan area. It is the birthplace of actor John Way ...
. The local paper, ''Winterset Madisonian'', reported on page 4 of the edition of May 30, 1907, that Wayne weighed 13 lb (around 6 kg) at birth. Wayne claimed his middle name was soon changed from Robert to Michael when his parents decided to name their next son Robert, but extensive research has found no such legal change although it might have been changed informally or the documention may have been lost. Wayne's legal name apparently remained Marion Robert Morrison his entire life although to this day his original name is almost always referred to as Marion Michael Morrison.
Wayne's father, Clyde Leonard Morrison (1884–1937), was the son of American Civil War veteran Marion Mitchell Morrison (1845–1915). Wayne's mother, the former Mary "Molly" Alberta Brown (1885–1970), was from
Lancaster County, Nebraska
Lancaster County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 322,608, making it the second-most populous county in Nebraska. Its county seat is Lincoln, the state capital. The count ...
. Wayne had
Scottish,
Scotch-Irish,
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
, and
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
ancestry. His great-great-grandfather Robert Morrison (b. 1782) left
County Antrim
County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...
, Ireland, with his mother, arriving in New York in 1799 and eventually settling in
Adams County, Ohio
Adams County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,477. Its county seat is West Union. The county is named after John Adams, the second President of the United States.
Geography
According to the ...
. The Morrisons were originally from the Isle of Lewis in the
Outer Hebrides, Scotland. He was raised Presbyterian.
Wayne's family moved to
Palmdale, California, and then in 1916 to
Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''.
It may refer to:
Places Australia
* Glendale, New South Wales
** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre
*Glendale, Queensland, ...
at 404 Isabel Street, where his father worked as a pharmacist. He attended
Glendale Union High School, where he performed well in both sports and academics. Wayne was part of his high school's football team and its debating team. He was also the president of the Latin Society and contributed to the school's newspaper sports column.
A local fireman at the station on his route to school in Glendale started calling him "Little Duke" because he never went anywhere without his huge
Airedale Terrier
The Airedale Terrier (often shortened to "Airedale"), also called Bingley Terrier and Waterside Terrier, is a dog breed of the terrier type that originated in the valley (''dale'') of the River Aire, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. It ...
, Duke.
[Munn, Michael (2003). ''John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth''. London: Robson Books. p. 7. .] He preferred "Duke" to "Marion", and the nickname stuck. Wayne attended Wilson Middle School in Glendale. As a teen, he worked in an ice-cream shop for a man who
shod horses for Hollywood studios. He was also active as a member of the
Order of DeMolay
DeMolay International is an international fraternal organization for young men ages 12 to 21. It was founded in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1919 and named for Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar. DeMolay was incorpora ...
. He played football for the 1924 league champion
Glendale High School team.
Wayne applied to the
U.S. Naval Academy, but was not accepted due to poor grades. Instead, he attended the
University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
(USC), majoring in
pre-law
In the United States, pre-law refers to any course of study taken by an undergraduate in preparation for study at a law school.
The American Bar Association requires law schools to admit only students with an accredited Bachelor's Degree or it ...
. He was a member of the
Trojan Knights
The Trojan Knights are an American service and spirit organization associated specifically with the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. The organization is officially dedicated to "Brotherhood, Service, & Spirit" and its ...
and
Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more t ...
fraternities.
Wayne, who stood tall, also played on the
USC football team under coach
Howard Jones. A broken collarbone injury curtailed his athletic career; Wayne later noted that he was too terrified of Jones' reaction to reveal the actual cause of his injury, a
bodysurfing
Bodysurfing is the art and sport of riding a wave without the assistance of any buoyant device such as a surfboard or bodyboard. Bodysurfers often equip themselves with a pair of swimfins that aid propulsion and help the bodysurfer catch, ride an ...
accident.
He lost his athletic scholarship, and without funds, had to leave the university.
[Shephard, Richard]
Biography
. JWayne.com. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
Career
Early works and first lead role
As a favor to coach Jones, who had given silent Western film star
Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin Mix (born Thomas Hezikiah Mix; January 6, 1880 – October 12, 1940) was an American film actor and the star of many early Western films between 1909 and 1935. He appeared in 291 films, all but nine of which were silent films. He w ...
tickets to USC games, director
John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
and Mix hired Wayne as a prop boy and extra.
[ Wayne later credited his walk, talk, and persona to his acquaintance with ]Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which l ...
, who was good friends with Tom Mix. Wayne soon moved to bit parts, establishing a longtime friendship with the director who provided most of those roles, John Ford. Early in this period, he had a minor, uncredited role as a guard in the 1926 film ''Bardelys the Magnificent
''Bardelys the Magnificent'' is a 1926 American silent romantic film directed by King Vidor and starring John Gilbert and Eleanor Boardman. The film is based on the 1906 novel of the same title by Rafael Sabatini. It was the second film of the ...
''. Wayne also appeared with his USC teammates playing football in '' Brown of Harvard'' (1926), '' The Dropkick'' (1927), and ''Salute
A salute is usually a formal hand gesture or other action used to display respect in military situations. Salutes are primarily associated with the military and law enforcement, but many civilian organizations, such as Girl Guides, Boy Sco ...
'' (1929) and Columbia's ''Maker of Men
''Maker of Men'' is a 1931 American pre-Code sports melodrama film directed by Edward Sedgwick and written by Howard J. Green and Edward Sedgwick. Produced by Columbia Pictures Corporation, the film stars Jack Holt, Richard Cromwell, and ...
'' (filmed in 1930, released in 1931).
While working for Fox Film Corporation
The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film C ...
in bit roles, Wayne was given on-screen credit as "Duke Morrison" only once, in '' Words and Music'' (1929). Director Raoul Walsh saw him moving studio furniture while working as a prop boy and cast him in his first starring role in ''The Big Trail
''The Big Trail'' is a 1930 American pre-Code Western early widescreen film shot on location across the American West starring 23-year-old John Wayne in his first leading role and directed by Raoul Walsh.
In 2006, the United States Libra ...
'' (1930). For his screen name, Walsh suggested "Anthony Wayne", after Revolutionary War General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. Fox Studios chief Winfield Sheehan
Winfield R. Sheehan (September 24, 1883 – July 25, 1945) was a film company executive. He was responsible for much of Fox Film Corporation's output during the 1920s and 1930s.
As studio head, he won an Academy Award for Best Picture for the film ...
rejected it as sounding "too Italian". Walsh then suggested "John Wayne". Sheehan agreed, and the name was set. Wayne was not even present for the discussion. His pay was raised to $105 a week.
''The Big Trail'' was to be the first big-budget outdoor spectacle of the sound era, made at a then-staggering cost over $2 million (over $32.8 million equivalent in 2021), using hundreds of extras and wide vistas of the American Southwest
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...
, still largely unpopulated at the time. To take advantage of the breathtaking scenery, it was filmed in two versions, a standard 35 mm version and another in the new 70 mm Grandeur film
70mm Grandeur film, also called Fox Grandeur or Grandeur 70, is a 70mm widescreen film format developed by William Fox through his Fox Film and Fox-Case corporations and used commercially on a small but successful scale in 1929–30.
Filmography
...
process, using an innovative camera and lenses. Many in the audience who saw it in Grandeur stood and cheered, but only a handful of theaters were equipped to show the film in its widescreen process, and the effort was largely wasted at the time. The film was considered a huge box-office flop at the time, but came to be highly regarded by modern critics.
Subsequent films, breakthrough, and war years
After the commercial failure of ''The Big Trail'', Wayne was relegated to small roles in A pictures, including Columbia's '' The Deceiver'' (1931), in which he played a corpse. He appeared in the serial ''The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight ...
'' (1933), an updated version of the Alexandre Dumas novel in which the protagonists were soldiers in the French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...
in then-contemporary North Africa. He played the lead, with his name over the title, in many low-budget Poverty Row
Poverty Row is a slang term used to refer to Hollywood films produced from the 1920s to the 1950s by small (and mostly short-lived) B movie studios. Although many of them were based on (or near) today's Gower Street in Hollywood, the term did ...
Westerns, mostly at Monogram Pictures and serials for Mascot Pictures Corporation
Mascot Pictures Corporation was an American film company of the 1920s and 1930s best known for producing and distributing film serials and Western (genre), B-westerns. Mascot was formed in 1927 by film producer Nat Levine. In 1936 it merged wit ...
. By Wayne's own estimation, he appeared in about 80 of these horse opera
A horse opera, hoss opera, oat opera or oater is a Western movie or television series that is clichéd or formulaic, in the manner of a soap opera.
The term, which was originally coined by silent film-era Western star William S. Hart, is used v ...
s from 1930 to 1939. In ''Riders of Destiny
''Riders of Destiny'' is a 1933 pre-Code Western musical film starring 26-year-old John Wayne as Singin' Sandy Saunders, the screen's second singing cowboy (the first being Ken Maynard in the 1929 film '' The Wagon Master''). It was the fi ...
'' (1933), he became one of the first singing cowboys of film, albeit via dubbing. Wayne also appeared in some of the '' Three Mesquiteers'' Westerns, whose title was a play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
on the Dumas classic. He was mentored by stuntmen in riding and other Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
skills. Stuntman Yakima Canutt
Enos Edward "Yakima" Canutt (November 29, 1895 – May 24, 1986) was an American champion rodeo rider, actor, stuntman, and action director. He developed many stunts for films and the techniques and technology to protect stuntmen in performing t ...
and Wayne developed and perfected stunts and onscreen fisticuffs techniques that are still in use. One of the main innovations with which Wayne is credited in these early Poverty Row Westerns is allowing the good guys to fight as convincingly as the bad guys, by not always making them fight clean. Wayne claimed, "Before I came along, it was standard practice that the hero must always fight clean. The heavy was allowed to hit the hero in the head with a chair or throw a kerosene lamp at him or kick him in the stomach, but the hero could only knock the villain down politely and then wait until he rose. I changed all that. I threw chairs and lamps. I fought hard and I fought dirty. I fought to win."
Wayne's second breakthrough role came with John Ford's '' Stagecoach'' (1939). Because of Wayne's B-movie status and track record in low-budget Westerns throughout the 1930s, Ford had difficulty getting financing for what was to be an A-budget film. After rejection by all the major studios, Ford struck a deal with independent producer Walter Wanger
Walter Wanger (born Walter Feuchtwanger; July 11, 1894 – November 18, 1968) was an American film producer active from the 1910s, his career concluding with the turbulent production of '' Cleopatra,'' his last film, in 1963. He began at Para ...
in which Claire Trevor
Claire Trevor ( Wemlinger; March 8, 1910April 8, 2000) was an American actress. She appeared in 65 feature films from 1933 to 1982, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Key Largo'' (1948), and received nomina ...
—a much bigger star at the time—received top billing. ''Stagecoach'' was a huge critical and financial success, and Wayne became a mainstream star. Cast member Louise Platt
Louise Platt (August 3, 1915 – September 6, 2003) was an American theater, film, and TV actress.
Early years
Platt was born in Stamford, Connecticut, and grew up in Annapolis, Maryland. Her father was a dental surgeon in the Navy.
Career ...
credited Ford as saying at the time that Wayne would become the biggest star ever because of his appeal as the archetypal "everyman".[Letter, Louise Platt to Ned Scott Archive, July 7, 2002](_blank)
pp. 40:
America's entry into World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
resulted in a deluge of support for the war effort from all sectors of society, and Hollywood was no exception. Wayne was exempted from service due to his age (34 at the time of Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...
) and family status (classified as 3-A – family deferment). Wayne repeatedly wrote to John Ford saying he wanted to enlist, on one occasion inquiring whether he could get into Ford's military unit. Wayne did not attempt to prevent his reclassification as 1-A (draft eligible), but Republic Studios
Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...
was emphatically resistant to losing him, since he was their only A-list actor under contract. Herbert J. Yates
Herbert John Yates (August 24, 1880 – February 3, 1966) was the founder and president of Republic Pictures, who had western stars John Wayne, Gene Autry, and Roy Rogers under contract. Between the years 1935 and 1959, Republic, under Yates' l ...
, president of Republic, threatened Wayne with a lawsuit if he walked away from his contract, and Republic Pictures intervened in the Selective Service process, requesting Wayne's further deferment.
U.S. National Archives records indicate that Wayne, in fact, did make an application to serve in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), precursor to the modern CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
, and had been accepted within the U.S. Army's allotted billet to the OSS. William J. Donovan
William Joseph "Wild Bill" Donovan (January 1, 1883 – February 8, 1959) was an American soldier, lawyer, intelligence officer and diplomat, best known for serving as the head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the precursor to the Bur ...
, OSS commander, wrote Wayne a letter informing him of his acceptance into the Field Photographic Unit as a special forces commando, but the letter went to his estranged wife Josephine's home. She never told him about it. Wayne toured U.S. bases and hospitals in the South Pacific for three months in 1943 and 1944, with the USO
The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
. During this trip, he carried out a request from Donovan to assess whether General Douglas MacArthur, commander of the South West Pacific Area
South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the ...
, or his staff were hindering the work of the OSS. Donovan later issued Wayne an OSS Certificate of Service to memorialize Wayne's contribution to the OSS mission.
By many accounts, his failure to serve in the military later became the most painful part of his life. His widow later suggested that his patriotism in later decades sprang from guilt, writing: "He would become a 'superpatriot' for the rest of his life trying to atone for staying home."
Wayne's first color film was '' Shepherd of the Hills'' (1941), in which he co-starred with his longtime friend Harry Carey Harry Carey may refer to:
*Harry Carey (actor) (1878–1947), American actor
* Harry Carey Jr. (1921–2012), American actor
* Harry Carey (footballer) (1916–1991), Australian rules footballer
See also
* Henry Carey (disambiguation)
* Harry Car ...
. The following year, he appeared in his only film directed by Cecil B. DeMille
Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...
, the Technicolor
Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades.
Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
epic ''Reap the Wild Wind
''Reap the Wild Wind'' is a 1942 American adventure film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Ray Milland, John Wayne, and Paulette Goddard, with a supporting cast featuring Raymond Massey, Robert Preston, Lynne Overman, Sus ...
'' (1942), in which he co-starred with Ray Milland and Paulette Goddard
Paulette Goddard (born Marion Levy; June 3, 1910 – April 23, 1990) was an American actress notable for her film career in the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Born in Manhattan and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, Goddard initially began her career ...
; it was one of the rare times he played a character with questionable values.
Like most Hollywood stars of his era, Wayne appeared as a guest on radio programs, such as: ''The Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committ ...
Show'' and ''The Louella Parsons
Louella Parsons (born Louella Rose Oettinger; August 6, 1881 – December 9, 1972) was an American movie columnist and a screenwriter. She was retained by William Randolph Hearst because she had championed Hearst's mistress Marion Davies and s ...
Show''. He made a number of appearances in dramatic roles, mainly recreations for radio of his own film roles, on such programs as ''Screen Directors Playhouse
''Screen Directors Playhouse'' (sometimes written as ''Screen Directors' Playhouse'') is an American radio and television anthology series which brought leading Hollywood actors to the NBC microphones beginning in 1949. The radio program broadcas ...
'' and ''Lux Radio Theatre
''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...
''. For six months in 1942, Wayne starred in his own radio adventure series, ''Three Sheets to the Wind'', produced by film director Tay Garnett
William Taylor "Tay" Garnett (June 13, 1894 – October 3, 1977) was an American film director and writer.
Biography Early life
Born in Los Angeles, Garnett attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served as a naval aviator in Wo ...
. In the series, an international spy/detective show, Wayne played Dan O'Brien, a detective who used alcoholism as a mask for his investigatory endeavors. The show was intended by Garnett to be a pilot of sorts for a film version, though the motion picture never came to fruition. No episodes of the series featuring Wayne seem to have survived, though a demonstration episode with Brian Donlevy
Waldo Brian Donlevy (February 9, 1901 – April 6, 1972) was an American actor, noted for playing dangerous tough guys from the 1930s to the 1960s. He usually appeared in supporting roles. Among his best-known films are '' Beau Geste'' (19 ...
in the leading role does exist. Wayne, not Donlevy, played the role throughout the series' run on NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
.
Director Robert Rossen
Robert Rossen (March 16, 1908 – February 18, 1966) was an American screenwriter, film director, and producer whose film career spanned almost three decades.
His 1949 film '' All the King's Men'' won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor and Be ...
offered the starring role in ''All the King's Men
''All the King's Men'' is a 1946 novel by Robert Penn Warren. The novel tells the story of charismatic populist governor Willie Stark and his political machinations in the Depression-era Deep South. It was inspired by the real-life story of U ...
'' (1949) to Wayne, but he refused, believing the script to be un-American in many ways. Broderick Crawford, who was eventually cast in the role, won the 1949 Oscar for best male actor, ironically beating out Wayne, who had been nominated for '' Sands of Iwo Jima'' (1949).
1950s
He lost the leading role of Jimmy Ringo in ''The Gunfighter
''The Gunfighter'' is a 1950 American Western film directed by Henry King and starring Gregory Peck, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell and Karl Malden. It was written by screenwriters William Bowers and William Sellers, with an uncredited rewr ...
'' (1950) to Gregory Peck due to his refusal to work for Columbia Pictures because its chief, Harry Cohn, had mistreated him years before when he was a young contract player. Cohn had bought the project for Wayne, but Wayne's grudge was too deep, and Cohn sold the script to Twentieth Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
, which cast Peck in the role Wayne badly wanted, but for which he refused to bend.
Batjac
Batjac Productions is an independent film production company co-founded by John Wayne in 1952 as a vehicle for Wayne to both produce and star in movies. The first Batjac production was ''Big Jim McLain'' released by Warner Bros. in 1952, and its ...
, the production company co-founded by Wayne in 1952, was named after the fictional shipping company Batjak in ''Wake of the Red Witch
''Wake of the Red Witch'' is a 1948 American adventure film directed by Edward Ludwig, produced by Edmund Grainger and starring John Wayne, Gail Russell, Gig Young, Adele Mara and Luther Adler. It is based upon the 1946 novel of the same name wri ...
'' (1948), a film based on the novel by Garland Roark. (A spelling error by Wayne's secretary was allowed to stand, accounting for the variation.) Batjac (and its predecessor, Wayne-Fellows Productions) was the arm through which Wayne produced many films for himself and other stars. Its best-known non-Wayne productions were '' Seven Men From Now'' (1956), which started the classic collaboration between director Budd Boetticher and star Randolph Scott, and ''Gun the Man Down
''Gun the Man Down'' is a 1956 Western film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring James Arness and Angie Dickinson in her first leading role. The film was produced by Robert E. Morrison for his brother John Wayne's company Batjac Producti ...
'' (1956) with contract player James Arness
James Arness (born James King Aurness; May 26, 1923 – June 3, 2011) was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon for 20 years in the CBS television series ''Gunsmoke''. Arness has the distinction of having played the ...
as an outlaw.
One of Wayne's most popular roles was in '' The High and the Mighty'' (1954), directed by William Wellman
William Augustus Wellman (February 29, 1896 – December 9, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and military pilot. He was known for his work in crime, adventure, and action genre films, often focusing on a ...
, and based on a novel by Ernest K. Gann
Ernest Kellogg Gann (October 13, 1910 – December 19, 1991) was an American aviator, author, sailor, and conservationist. He is best known for his novels and memoirs about early aviation and nautical adventures. Some of his more famous aviation ...
. His portrayal of a heroic copilot won widespread acclaim. Wayne also portrayed aviators in ''Flying Tigers
The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States ...
'' (1942), ''Flying Leathernecks
''Flying Leathernecks'' is a 1951 American Technicolor action war film directed by Nicholas Ray, produced by Edmund Grainger, (who had produced ''Sands of Iwo Jima'') and starring John Wayne and Robert Ryan. The movie details the exploits an ...
'' (1951), '' Island in the Sky'' (1953), ''The Wings of Eagles
''The Wings of Eagles'' is a 1957 American Metrocolor film starring John Wayne, Dan Dailey and Maureen O'Hara, based on the life of Frank "Spig" Wead and the history of U.S. Naval aviation from its inception through World War II. The film is ...
'' (1957), and '' Jet Pilot'' (1957).
He appeared in nearly two dozen of John Ford's films over 20 years, including ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
''She Wore a Yellow Ribbon'' is a 1949 American Technicolor Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne. It is the second film in Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy", along with '' Fort Apache'' (1948) and '' Rio Grande'' (1950). With a b ...
'' (1949), ''The Quiet Man
''The Quiet Man'' is a 1952 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by John Ford. It stars John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond and Victor McLaglen. The screenplay by Frank S. Nugent was based on a 1933 ''Saturday Ev ...
'' (1952), ''The Wings of Eagles
''The Wings of Eagles'' is a 1957 American Metrocolor film starring John Wayne, Dan Dailey and Maureen O'Hara, based on the life of Frank "Spig" Wead and the history of U.S. Naval aviation from its inception through World War II. The film is ...
'' (1957), etc. The first movie in which he called someone "Pilgrim", Ford's ''The Searchers'' (1956), is often considered to contain Wayne's finest and most complex performance.
On May 14, 1958, Hal Kanter
Hal Kanter (December 18, 1918 – November 6, 2011) was a writer, producer and director, principally for comedy actors such as Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and Elvis Presley (in '' Loving You'' and ''Blue Hawaii''), for both feature films and televis ...
's ''I Married a Woman
''I Married a Woman'' is a 1958 American comedy film made in 1956, directed by Hal Kanter, written by Goodman Ace and starring George Gobel, Diana Dors and Adolphe Menjou. The picture was produced by Gobel's company Gomalco Productions. ''I Mar ...
'' starring George Gobel
George Leslie Goebel (May 20, 1919 – February 24, 1991) was an American humorist, actor, and comedian. He was best known as the star of his own weekly comedy variety television series, ''The George Gobel Show'', broadcasting from 1954 to 195 ...
and Diana Dors
Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer.
Dors came to public notice as a blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. Dors was p ...
had its Los Angeles opening. In it, Wayne had a cameo as himself. On October 2, John Huston's ''The Barbarian and the Geisha
''The Barbarian and the Geisha'' (working titles ''The Townsend Harris Story'' and ''The Barbarian'') is a 1958 American adventure drama film directed by John Huston and starring John Wayne. The film was shot primarily on location in Japan.
Town ...
'', in which Wayne played the lead and clashed with his director all the way, had its New York opening.
Howard Hawks's ''Rio Bravo'' premiered on March 18, 1959. In it, Wayne plays the lead with a supporting cast including Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson
Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...
, Angie Dickinson
Angeline Dickinson (née Brown; born September 30, 1931) is an American actress. She began her career on television, appearing in many anthology series during the 1950s, before gaining her breakthrough role in ''Gun the Man Down'' (1956) wit ...
, Walter Brennan
Walter Andrew Brennan (July 25, 1894 – September 21, 1974) was an American actor and singer. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in '' Come and Get It'' (1936), ''Kentucky'' (1938), and '' The Westerner ...
and Ward Bond. John Ford's ''The Horse Soldiers
''The Horse Soldiers'' is a 1959 American adventure war western film set during the American Civil War directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, William Holden and Constance Towers. The screenplay by John Lee Mahin and Martin Rackin w ...
'' had its world premiere in Shreveport, Louisiana on June 18. Set during the Civil War, Wayne shares the lead with William Holden
William Holden (born William Franklin Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor, and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film ''Stalag 17'' (1953) ...
.
Wayne notoriously portrayed Genghis Khan in '' The Conqueror'' (1956), which was panned by critics.
1960s
In 1960, Wayne directed and produced '' The Alamo'' portraying Davy Crockett, with Richard Widmark
Richard Weedt Widmark (December 26, 1914March 24, 2008) was an American film, stage, and television actor and producer.
He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the villainous Tommy Udo in his debut film, ''Kiss of Death'' (1947) ...
as Jim Bowie
James Bowie ( ) ( – March 6, 1836) was a 19th-century American pioneer, slave smuggler and trader, and soldier who played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution. He was among the Americans who died at the Battle of the Alamo. Stories of h ...
. Wayne was nominated for an Oscar as the producer in the Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
category. That year Wayne also played the lead in Henry Hathaway
Henry Hathaway (March 13, 1898 – February 11, 1985) was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring Randolph Scott and John Wayne. He directed Gary Cooper in seven films.
Backgrou ...
's ''North to Alaska
''North to Alaska'' is a 1960 comedic Western/Northern film directed by Henry Hathaway and John Wayne (uncredited). The picture stars Wayne along with Stewart Granger, Ernie Kovacs, Fabian, and Capucine. The script is based on the 1939 play ' ...
'' also starring Stewart Granger and Ernie Kovacs
Ernest Edward Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was a Hungarian-American comedian, actor, and writer.
Kovacs's visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years aft ...
. In 1961, Wayne shared the lead with Stuart Whitman
Stuart Maxwell Whitman (February 1, 1928 – March 16, 2020) was an American actor, known for his lengthy career in film and television. Whitman was born in San Francisco and raised in New York until the age of 12, when his family relocated to ...
in Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz ( ; born Manó Kaminer; since 1905 Mihály Kertész; hu, Kertész Mihály; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed cla ...
's ''The Comancheros''.
On May 23, 1962, Wayne starred in John Ford's ''The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'' with James Stewart. May 29 marked the premiere of Howard Hawks's ''Hatari!
''Hatari!'' (, Swahili for "Danger!") is a 1962 American adventure romantic comedy film starring John Wayne as the leader of a group of professional game catchers in Africa.McCarthy, Todd. ''Howard Hawks: the grey fox of Hollywood'', New York, G ...
'', shot on location in Africa with Wayne playing the lead capturing wild animals from the beds of trucks; all the scenes with animals in the film are real. On October 4, ''The Longest Day'' started its theatrical run, with Wayne memorably acting with an ensemble cast. Although the other top-level actors in the film accepted a token payment of only $10,000 each to play their roles, making the all-star cast feasible for the budget, Wayne was paid a quarter of a million dollars due to an earlier dispute with producer Darryl F. Zanuck
Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...
.
On February 20, 1963, Wayne acted in a segment of ''How the West Was Won'' directed by John Ford. On June 12, Wayne played the lead in his final John Ford film, ''Donovan's Reef
''Donovan's Reef'' is a 1963 American adventure comedy film starring John Wayne and Lee Marvin. It was directed by John Ford and filmed in Kauai, Hawaii, but is set in French Polynesia.
The supporting cast features Elizabeth Allen, Jack War ...
'', co-starring Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin (born Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr.; February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Alt ...
. On November 13, another film starring Wayne premiered, Andrew V. McLaglen
Andrew Victor McLaglen (July 28, 1920 – August 30, 2014) was a British-born American film and television director, known for
Westerns and adventure films, often starring John Wayne or James Stewart.
According to one obituary "His career ...
's ''McLintock!
:''See also McClintock (disambiguation)''
''McLintock!'' is a 1963 American Western comedy film, starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. The film co-stars Wayne's son Patrick Wayne, Stefanie Powers, Jack Kru ...
'', once again opposite Maureen O'Hara.
In 1964, Wayne played the leading role in Henry Hathaway's ''Circus World'' with Claudia Cardinale
Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She has starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and 1970s, acting in Italian, French, and English.
Born and raised in La Goulette, a ...
and Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...
.
On February 15, 1965, Wayne played the brief cameo role of a centurion in George Stevens
George Cooper Stevens (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer.Obituary '' Variety'', March 12, 1975, page 79. Films he produced were nominated for the Academy Award for ...
's ''The Greatest Story Ever Told
''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' is a 1965 American epic film produced and directed by George Stevens. It is a retelling of the Biblical account about Jesus of Nazareth, from the Nativity through to the Ascension. Along with the ensemble cast ...
''. On April 6, he shared the screen with Kirk Douglas and Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal (born Patsy Louise Neal, January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. A major star of the 1950s and 1960s, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two ...
in Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger ( , ; 5 December 1905 – 23 April 1986) was an Austrian-American theatre and film director, film producer, and actor.
He directed more than 35 feature films in a five-decade career after leaving the theatre. He first gai ...
's ''In Harm's Way
''In Harm's Way'' is a 1965 American epic war film produced and directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas and Patricia Neal, with a supporting cast featuring Henry Fonda in a lengthy cameo, Tom Tryon, Paula Prentiss, Stanle ...
''. On June 13, he acted in Henry Hathaway's ''The Sons of Katie Elder
''The Sons of Katie Elder'' is a 1965 American Western (genre), Western film in Panavision, directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne and Dean Martin. It was filmed principally in Mexico.
Plot
The four adult sons of Katie Elder – Jo ...
'' with Dean Martin.
In 1966, Wayne appeared in a cameo role for Melville Shavelson
Melville Shavelson (April 1, 1917 – August 8, 2007) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. He was President of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAw) from 1969 to 1971, 1979 to 1981, and 1985 to 1987.
Biog ...
's ''Cast a Giant Shadow
''Cast a Giant Shadow'' is a 1966 big-budget action film based on the life of Colonel Mickey Marcus, and stars Kirk Douglas, Senta Berger, Yul Brynner, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra and Angie Dickinson. Melville Shavelson adapted, produced and dire ...
'' starring Kirk Douglas.
On May 24, 1967, Wayne played the lead in Burt Kennedy
Burton Raphael Kennedy (September 3, 1922 – February 15, 2001) was an American screenwriter and director known mainly for directing Westerns. Budd Boetticher called him "the best Western writer ever."
Biography
Kennedy was born in 1922 i ...
's '' The War Wagon'' with Kirk Douglas as the second lead. His second movie that year, Howard Hawks's ''El Dorado'', a highly successful partial remake of ''Rio Bravo'' with Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum (August 6, 1917 – July 1, 1997) was an American actor. He rose to prominence with an Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor for ''The Story of G.I. Joe'' (1945), followed by his starring in ...
playing Dean Martin's original role, premiered on June 7.
In 1968, Wayne co-directed with Ray Kellogg
Edgar Ray Kellogg (November 15, 1905 – July 5, 1976) was an American special effects artist and film director from Iowa.
Career
During World War II, Kellogg was a US Navy Lieutenant with the O.S.S. Field Photographing Branch where he beca ...
''The Green Berets
The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army.
The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal mis ...
.'' the only major film made during the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
in support of the war. Wayne wanted to make this movie because at that time Hollywood had little interest in making movies about the Vietnam War. During the filming of ''The Green Berets'', the Degar
Montagnard () is an umbrella term for the various indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The French term () signifies a mountain dweller, and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, they a ...
or Montagnard people of Vietnam's Central Highlands, fierce fighters against communism, bestowed on Wayne a brass bracelet that he wore in the film and all subsequent films. Also that year, Wayne played the lead in Andrew V. McLaglen's ''Hellfighters'', a film about the crews who put out oil rig fires. Katharine Ross
Katharine Juliet Ross (born January 29, 1940) is an American film, stage, and television actress. Her accolades include one Academy Award nomination, one BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. A native of Los Angeles, Ross spent most of her ...
played a supporting role.
On June 13, 1969, Henry Hathaway's ''True Grit
True Grit may refer to:
Fiction
* ''True Grit'' (novel), a 1968 novel by Charles Portis
** ''True Grit'' (1969 film), a film adaptation by Henry Hathaway, starring John Wayne
** ''True Grit'' (2010 film), a film adaptation by the Coen Brothers, ...
'' premiered. For his role as Rooster Cogburn, Wayne won the Best Actor Oscar at the Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
. In November of that year another film starring Wayne was released, Andrew V. McLaglen's '' The Undefeated'' with Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Golde ...
.
1970s: later career
On June 24, 1970, Andrew V. McLaglen's ''Chisum
''Chisum'' is a 1970 American Western film directed by Andrew McLaglen, starring John Wayne in the titular role, and adapted for the screen by Andrew J. Fenady from his short story "Chisum and the Lincoln County War." The supporting cast featu ...
'' started to play in cinemas. Wayne took the role of the owner of a cattle ranch, who finds out that a businessman is trying to own neighboring land illegally. On September 16, Howard Hawks' ''Rio Lobo
Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil.
Rio or Río may also refer to:
Geography Brazil
* Rio de Janeiro
* Rio do Sul, a ...
'' premiered. Wayne played Col. Cord McNally, who confronts Confederate soldiers who stole a shipment of gold at the end of the Civil War. This was another remake of '' Rio Bravo'' albeit without a second lead the box office calibre of Dean Martin or Robert Mitchum.
In June 1971, George Sherman's ''Big Jake
''Big Jake'' is a 1971 American Technicolor Western film starring John Wayne, Richard Boone and Maureen O'Hara. The picture was the final film for George Sherman in a directing career of more than 30 years. It grossed $7.5 million in t ...
'' made its debut. Wayne played the role of an estranged father who must track down a gang who kidnapped his grandson. The film was a critically acclaimed hit.
In 1972, Wayne starred in Mark Rydell
Mark Rydell (born Mortimer H. Rydell; March 23, 1929) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has directed several Academy Award-nominated films including '' The Fox'' (1967), '' The Reivers'' (1969), ''Cinderella Liberty'' (1973) ...
's ''The Cowboys
''The Cowboys'' is a 1972 American Western film starring John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, and Bruce Dern, and featuring Colleen Dewhurst and Slim Pickens. It was the feature film debut of Robert Carradine. Based on the 1971 novel of the same name ...
.'' Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', who did not particularly care for the film, wrote: "Wayne is, of course, marvelously indestructible, and he has become an almost perfect father figure". The same year, he was selected in the last round of the NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...
by the Atlanta Falcons for his past football experience, though the pick was disallowed by league officials as he was 64 years old at the time.
On February 7, 1973, Burt Kennedy's ''The Train Robbers
''The Train Robbers'' is a 1973 American Western film written and directed by Burt Kennedy and starring John Wayne, Ann-Margret, Rod Taylor, Ben Johnson, and Ricardo Montalban. Filming took place in Sierra de Órganos National Park in the to ...
'' opened; Wayne appeared alongside Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret Olsson (born April 28, 1941) is a Swedish–American actress, singer, and dancer. As an actress and singer, she is credited as Ann-Margret.
She is known for her roles in '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), '' ...
, Rod Taylor and Ben Johnson Ben, Benjamin or Benny Johnson may refer to:
In sports Association football
* Ben Johnson (footballer, born 2000), English footballer
* Ben Johnson (soccer) (born 1977), American soccer player
Other codes of football
*Ben Johnson (Australian foot ...
. On June 27, Andrew V. McLaglen's ''Cahill U.S. Marshal
''Cahill U.S. Marshal'' is a 1973 American Western film in Technicolor starring John Wayne as a driven lawman in a black hat. The film was directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and filmed on location in Durango, Mexico. The supporting cast features G ...
'' premiered, with Wayne, George Kennedy and Gary Grimes, a box office failure.
In 1974, Wayne took on the role of the eponymous detective in John Sturges
John Eliot Sturges (; January 3, 1910 – August 18, 1992) was an American film director. His films include ''Bad Day at Black Rock'' (1955), '' Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'' (1957), '' The Magnificent Seven'' (1960), '' The Great Escape'' (19 ...
's crime drama ''McQ
''McQ'' is a 1974 American Panavision neo-noir crime action film directed by John Sturges and starring John Wayne. It costars Eddie Albert, Diana Muldaur, and Al Lettieri, and features Colleen Dewhurst, Clu Gulager, David Huddleston, Julian Chri ...
''.
On March 25, 1975, Douglas Hickox
Douglas Arthur Hickox (10 January 1929 – 25 July 1988) was an English film and television director. Biography
Hickox was born in London, where he was educated at Emanuel School. He started in the film industry at age 17, working at Pinewood ...
's ''Brannigan'' premiered. In it, Wayne played a Chicago police lieutenant named Jim Brannigan on the hunt for an organized-crime leader. On October 17, '' Rooster Cogburn'' started its theatrical run; Wayne reprised his role as U.S. Marshal
The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...
Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn with strong elements of the plot of '' The African Queen'' along with Katharine Hepburn as his leading lady.
In 1976, Wayne starred in Don Siegel
Donald Siegel ( ; October 26, 1912 – April 20, 1991) was an American film and television director and producer.
Siegel was described by ''The New York Times'' as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut ...
's ''The Shootist
''The Shootist'' is a 1976 American Western film directed by Don Siegel and based on Glendon Swarthout's 1975 novel of the same name.Swarthout, Glendon (1975). ''The Shootist'', New York, New York: Doubleday. It is John Wayne's final film ro ...
'', also starring Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard
Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...
and James Stewart. It was Wayne's final cinematic role, whose main character, J. B. Books, was dying of cancer, to which Wayne himself succumbed three years later. It contains numerous plot similarities to ''The Gunfighter
''The Gunfighter'' is a 1950 American Western film directed by Henry King and starring Gregory Peck, Helen Westcott, Millard Mitchell and Karl Malden. It was written by screenwriters William Bowers and William Sellers, with an uncredited rewr ...
'' of nearly 30 years before, a role which Wayne had wanted, but turned down. Upon its theatrical release, it grossed $13,406,138 domestically. About $6 million were earned as US theatrical rentals. The film received positive reviews. It was named one of the Ten Best Films of 1976 by the National Board of Review. Film critic Roger Ebert of the ''Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
'' ranked ''The Shootist'' number 10 on his list of the 10 best films of 1976. The film was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA film award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cere ...
, and a Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers:
* The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO
* The Writers Gu ...
award.
Death
Although he enrolled in a cancer vaccine study in an attempt to ward off the disease, Wayne died of stomach cancer on June 11, 1979, at the UCLA Medical Center
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (also commonly referred to as ''UCLA Medical Center'', "RRMC" or "Ronald Reagan") is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United ...
. He was buried in the Pacific View Memorial Park
Pacific View Memorial Park is a cemetery located in the Corona del Mar neighborhood of Newport Beach, in Orange County, California. It first opened in 1958, and is known as the final resting place of Academy Award winning actor John Wayne and bas ...
Cemetery in Corona del Mar, Newport Beach
Corona del Mar (Spanish for "Crown of the Sea") is a seaside neighborhood in the city of Newport Beach, California. It generally consists of all the land on the seaward face of the San Joaquin Hills south of Avocado Avenue to the city limits, as ...
. According to his son Patrick and his grandson Matthew Muñoz, who was a priest in the California Diocese of Orange, Wayne converted to Roman Catholicism shortly before his death. He requested that his tombstone read "''Feo, Fuerte y Formal''", a Spanish epitaph Wayne described as meaning "ugly, strong, and dignified". His grave, which was unmarked for 20 years, has been marked since 1999 with the quotation:
Political views
Throughout most of his life, Wayne was a vocally prominent conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
in Hollywood, supporting anti-communist positions.Jim Beaver
James Norman Beaver Jr. (born August 12, 1950) is an American actor, writer, and film historian. He is most familiar to worldwide audiences as Bobby Singer in ''Supernatural''. He also played Whitney Ellsworth on the HBO Western drama series ...
, "John Wayne". ''Films in Review'', Volume 28, Number 5, May 1977, pp. 265–284. However, he voted for Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
in the 1936 presidential election and expressed admiration for Roosevelt's successor, fellow Democratic President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
, despite having supported Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey
Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...
in 1948. He took part in creating the conservative Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals
The Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals (MPAPAI, also MPA) was an American organization of high-profile, politically conservative members of the Hollywood film industry. It was formed in 1944 for the stated purpose of d ...
in February 1944 before being elected its president in 1949. An ardent anti-communist and vocal supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committee, he made '' Big Jim McLain'' (1952) with himself as a HUAC investigator to demonstrate his support for the cause of anti-communism. His personal views found expression as a proactive inside enforcer of the "Black List
Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...
", denying employment and undermining careers of many actors and writers who had expressed their personal political beliefs earlier in life. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
is alleged to have said that Wayne should be assassinated for his frequently espoused anti-communist politics, despite being a fan of his movies. Wayne was a supporter of Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Wayne supported Vice President Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
in the presidential election of 1960, but expressed his vision of patriotism when John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
won the election: "I didn't vote for him, but he's my president, and I hope he does a good job." He used his star power to support conservative causes, including rallying support for the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
by producing, co-directing, and starring in the financially successful film ''The Green Berets
The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army.
The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal mis ...
'' (1968). In 1960, he joined the anti-communist John Birch Society
The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ide ...
, but quit after the organization denounced fluoridation
Water fluoridation is the controlled adjustment of fluoride to a public water supply solely to reduce tooth decay. Fluoridated water contains fluoride at a level that is effective for preventing cavities; this can occur naturally or by addin ...
of water supplies as a communist plot. In 1964, Wayne was a staunch supporter of Barry Goldwater, and actively campaigned for him.
Due to his status as the highest-profile Republican star in Hollywood, wealthy Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
Republican Party backers asked Wayne to run for national office in 1968, like his friend and fellow actor Senator George Murphy
George Lloyd Murphy (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American dancer, actor, and politician. Murphy was a song-and-dance leading man in many big-budget Hollywood musicals from 1930 to 1952. He was the president of the Screen Actors Guild fro ...
. He declined, joking that he did not believe the public would seriously consider an actor in the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
. Instead, he supported his friend Ronald Reagan's campaigns for Governor of California in 1966 and 1970. He was asked to be the running mate for Democratic Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
Governor George Wallace, who had been nominated for president by the American Independent Party
The American Independent Party (AIP) is a far-right political party in the United States that was established in 1967. The AIP is best known for its nomination of former Democratic Governor George Wallace of Alabama, who carried five states in t ...
, in his 1968 campaign, but he immediately rejected the offer and actively campaigned for Richard Nixon; Wayne addressed the 1968 Republican National Convention
The 1968 Republican National Convention was held at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Dade County, Florida, from August 5 to August 8, 1968, to select the party's nominee in the general election. It nominated former Vice Preside ...
on its opening day.
Wayne openly differed with many conservatives over the issue of returning the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...
, as he supported the Panama Canal Treaty
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cost ...
in the mid-1970s; while Republican leaders such as Reagan, Jesse Helms, and Strom Thurmond had wanted the U.S. to retain full control of the canal, Wayne and fellow conservative William F. Buckley
William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...
believed that the Panamanians had the right to the canal and sided with President Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
. Wayne was a close friend of Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos Herrera
Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera (February 13, 1929 – July 31, 1981) was the Commander of the Panamanian National Guard and military leader of Panama from 1968 to his death in 1981. Torrijos was never officially the president of Panama, ...
, and Wayne's first wife Josephine was a native of Panama. His support of the treaty brought him hate mail for the first time in his life.
In 1973 actor Marlon Brando refused an Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
he had won, due to "the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry"; Brando did not attend the award ceremony but asked Native American civil rights
Native American civil rights are the civil rights of Native Americans in the United States. Native Americans are citizens of their respective Native nations as well as the United States, and those nations are characterized under United State ...
activist Sacheen Littlefeather
Marie Louise Cruz (November 14, 1946 – October 2, 2022), better known as Sacheen Littlefeather, was an American actress, model, and activist on behalf of Native American civil rights.
Littlefeather represented Marlon Brando at the 45th Aca ...
to attend and deliver a refusal speech in the event that he won. Wayne, who has been described as "serial slaughterer of Native Americans on-screen and self-professed white supremacist off it", was in the wings, and was so angry about her presence there that Littlefeather said "he was coming towards me to forcibly take me off the stage, and he had to be restrained by six security men to prevent him from doing so." However, an investigation in 2022 found that this is unlikely to have happened, and Littlefeather had no way of witnessing this take place.
Left-wing activist Abbie Hoffman paid tribute to Wayne's singularity, saying, "I like Wayne's wholeness, his style. As for his politics, well—I suppose even cavemen felt a little admiration for the dinosaurs that were trying to gobble them up."
1971 ''Playboy'' interview
In May 1971, ''Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
'' magazine published an interview with Wayne, in which he expressed his support for the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
, and made headlines for his opinions about social issues and race relations in the United States:
In the same ''Playboy'' interview, Wayne calls the two lead characters in ''Midnight Cowboy
''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film, based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. The film was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with notable smaller ...
'' "fags" for the alleged "love of those two men". He also responded to questions about whether social programs
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...
were good for the country:
In February 2019, the ''Playboy'' interview resurfaced, which resulted in calls for John Wayne Airport to be renamed. John Wayne's son, Ethan, defended him, stating, "It would be an injustice to judge someone based on an interview that's being used out of context." The calls for changing the airport's name back to Orange County Airport were renewed during the George Floyd protests
The George Floyd protests were a series of protests and civil unrest against police brutality and racism that began in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020, and largely took place during 2020. The civil unrest and protests began as part of internat ...
in June 2020.
In October 2019 USC student activists called for the removal of an exhibit dedicated to Wayne, citing the interview. In July 2020, it was announced that the exhibit would be removed.
Personal life
Wayne was married three times and divorced twice. His three wives included one of Spanish American
Spanish Americans ( es, españoles estadounidenses, ''hispanoestadounidenses'', or ''hispanonorteamericanos'') are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European American group in th ...
descent, Josephine Alicia Saenz, and two from Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
, Esperanza Baur
Esperanza Baur Díaz (born Esperanza Díaz Ceballos; July 17, 1920 – March 10, 1961) was a Mexican actress, and was the second wife of John Wayne.
Biography
Born Esperanza Díaz Ceballos, nicknamed "Chata", she appeared in a small number of ...
and Pilar Pallete
Pilar Pallete (born 3 September 1928) is a Peruvian actress and the widow of American actor John Wayne.
Biography
Pallete was born as the daughter of a Peruvian senator in the Paita Port (northern Peru). She married and divorced professional bi ...
. He had four children with Josephine: Michael Wayne
Michael Anthony Morrison (November 23, 1934 – April 2, 2003), better known by his stage name Michael Wayne, was an American film producer and actor. He was the eldest son of actor John Wayne and his first wife, Josephine Saenz.
Biography
B ...
(November 23, 1934April 2, 2003), Mary Antonia "Toni" Wayne LaCava (February 25, 1936December 6, 2000), Patrick Wayne
Patrick John Morrison (born July 15, 1939), better known by his stage name Patrick Wayne, is an American actor. He is the second son of movie star John Wayne and his first wife, Josephine Alicia Saenz. He made over 40 films, including eleven w ...
(born July 15, 1939), and Melinda Wayne Munoz December 3, 1940April 13, 2022). He had three more children with Pilar: Aissa Wayne (born March 31, 1956), John Ethan Wayne (born February 22, 1962), and Marisa Wayne (born February 22, 1966).
Several of Wayne's children entered the film and television industry. Son Ethan was billed as John Ethan Wayne in a few films, and played one of the leads in the 1990s update of the '' Adam-12'' television series. Ethan has also appeared on the History Channel
History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
show ''Pawn Stars
''Pawn Stars'' is an American reality television series shown on History and produced by Leftfield Pictures. The series is filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicles the daily activities at the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, a 24 ...
'' to help authenticate merchandise supposedly related to his father's career. Granddaughter Jennifer Wayne, daughter of Aissa, is a member of the country music group Runaway June
Runaway June is an American country music group consisting of Stevie Woodward (lead vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica, autoharp), Jennifer Wayne (guitar, vocals), and Natalie Stovall (guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin, vocals). Wayne co-founded the g ...
.
In 1973, Wayne was encouraged by Pilar, an avid tennis player, to build the John Wayne Tennis Club in Newport Beach, California. In 1995, the club was sold to Ken Stuart, former general manager, and became the Palisades Tennis Club. In ''The Quiet Man'' (1952), Wayne tells Michaeleen "Óge" Flynn (portrayed by Barry Fitzgerald) that he is six feet "four and a half" (194 cm), an assertion corroborated by Pilar's book ''John Wayne: My Life With the Duke''.
His divorce from Esperanza Baur, a Mexican former actress, was stormy. She believed that Wayne and co-star Gail Russell
Gail Russell (born Betty Gale Russell; September 21, 1924 – August 26, 1961) was an American film and television actress.
Early years
Gail Russell was born to George and Gladys (Barnet) Russell in Chicago and then moved to the Los Angeles ...
were having an affair, a claim that both Wayne and Russell denied. The night the film ''Angel and the Badman
''Angel and the Badman'' is a 1947 American Western film written and directed by James Edward Grant and starring John Wayne, Gail Russell, Harry Carey and Bruce Cabot. The film is about an injured gunfighter who is nursed back to health by a ...
'' (1947) wrapped, the usual party was held for cast and crew, and Wayne came home very late. Esperanza was in a drunken rage by the time he arrived, and she attempted to shoot him as he walked through the front door.
Wayne had several high-profile affairs, including one with Merle Oberon
Merle Oberon (born Estelle Merle O'Brien Thompson; 19 February 191123 November 1979) was a British actress who began her film career in British films as Anne Boleyn in ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933). After her success in ''The Scarle ...
that lasted from 1938 to 1947. After his separation from Pilar, in 1973, Wayne became romantically involved and lived with his former secretary Pat Stacy (1941–1995) until his death in 1979. Stacy published a book about her life with him in 1983, titled ''Duke: A Love Story''.
Wayne's hair began to thin in the 1940s, and he had begun to wear a hairpiece by the end of the decade. He was occasionally seen in public without the hairpiece (such as, according to ''Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
'', at Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...
's funeral). During an appearance at Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, Wayne was asked by a student, "Is it true that your toupée is real hair?" He responded: "Well sir, that's real hair. Not mine, but real hair."
A close friend, California Congressman Alphonzo E. Bell Jr., wrote of Wayne: "Duke's personality and sense of humor were very close to what the general public saw on the big screen. It is perhaps best shown in these words he had engraved on a plaque: 'Each of us is a mixture of some good and some not so good qualities. In considering one's fellow man, it's important to remember the good things. ... We should refrain from making judgments just because a fella happens to be a dirty, rotten S.O.B.'"
Wayne was fond of literature, his favorite authors being Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Agatha Christie. His favorite books were ''David Copperfield
''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...
'', and Conan Doyle's historical novels
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ...
''The White Company
''The White Company'' is a historical adventure by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, set during the Hundred Years' War. The story is set in England, France and Spain, in the years 1366 and 1367, against the background of the campaign of Edward ...
'' and '' Sir Nigel''.
He used the same 1873 Colt Single Action Army revolver in many of the Westerns in which he appeared.
Wayne biographer Michael Munn chronicled Wayne's drinking habits. According to Sam O'Steen
Samuel Alexander O'Steen (November 6, 1923 – October 11, 2000) was an American film editor and director. He had an extended, notable collaboration with the director Mike Nichols, with whom he edited 12 films between 1966 and 1994. Among the fi ...
's memoir, ''Cut to the Chase'', studio directors knew to shoot Wayne's scenes before noon, because by afternoon, he "was a mean drunk". He had been a chain smoker of cigarettes since young adulthood and was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1964. He underwent successful surgery to remove his entire left lung and two ribs. Despite efforts by his business associates to prevent him from going public with his illness for fear that it would cost him work, Wayne announced he had cancer and called on the public to get preventive examinations. Five years later, Wayne was declared cancer-free. Wayne has been credited with coining the term "the Big C" as a euphemism for cancer.
He was a Freemason, a Master Mason in Marion McDaniel Lodge No. 56 F&AM, in Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
. He became a 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason and later joined the Al Malaikah Shrine Temple in Los Angeles. He became a member of the York Rite
The York Rite, sometimes referred to as the American Rite, is one of several Rites of Freemasonry. It is named for, but not practiced in York, Yorkshire, England. A Rite is a series of progressive degrees that are conferred by various Masonic ...
. During the early 1960s, Wayne traveled often to Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
, and he purchased the island of Taborcillo off that nation's Pacific coast. It was sold by his estate at his death.
Wayne's yacht, the ''Wild Goose'', was one of his favorite possessions. He kept it docked in Newport Beach Harbor, and it was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 2011.
Acting style
In 1974, film critic Charles Champlin wrote of Wayne: "Wayne is a motion picture actor, first, last and always, who defined as powerfully as anyone else what that means. From the lean and intense early days, in those low-cost dusters which still play on morning television, Wayne has had a presence which got through the lenses and shutters and onto the film undiminished." John Ford
John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
said of him: "He's not something out of a book, governed by acting rules. He portrays John Wayne, a rugged American guy. He's not one of those method actors, like they send out here from drama schools in New York. He's real, perfectly natural." Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American theatre director, actor and acting teacher. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931 ...
observed that Wayne was similar to fellow actors Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...
and Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...
, who "try not to act but be themselves".
Wayne thought of himself as a reactor rather than an actor, and felt that the difference between good and bad acting was in acting and reacting. He explained this difference: "In a bad picture, you see them acting all over the place. In a good picture, they react in a logical way to a situation they're in, so the audience can identify with the actors." When asked about his approach to acting, Wayne commented: "I read dramatic lines undramatically and react to situations normally. This is not as simple as it sounds. I've spent a major portion of my life trying to do it well and I am not past learning it yet." Much like many actors of his generation, Wayne disliked method acting
Method acting, informally known as The Method, is a range of training and rehearsal techniques, as formulated by a number of different theatre practitioners, that seeks to encourage sincere and expressive performances through identifying with, u ...
, and once said of them: "Let those actors who picked their noses get all the dialogue, just give me the close-up of reaction."
Howard Hawks, who directed him in five films, felt that after losing one of his lungs, Wayne became a much better actor. Hawks explained: "Because of the lung Wayne lost, he reads his lines differently. He pauses in the strangest places simply because he hasn't got the breath he used to have. This device is terribly effective, because you keep your eyes on him and wait for him to finish, because you don't know what's coming next." Raoul Walsh noted: "Wayne underacts, and it's mighty effective, not because he tries to underact–it's a hard thing to do if you try–but because he can't overact."
Despite his popularity at the box office, Wayne was often criticized for playing the same type of character during most of his career. In a 1969 interview with Roger Ebert, Wayne remarked: "Of course, they give me that John Wayne stuff so much, claim I always play the same role. Seems like nobody remembers how different the fellows were in ''The Quiet Man
''The Quiet Man'' is a 1952 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by John Ford. It stars John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond and Victor McLaglen. The screenplay by Frank S. Nugent was based on a 1933 ''Saturday Ev ...
'' or '' Iwo Jima,'' or ''Yellow Ribbon
The yellow ribbon is used for various purposes. It may be worn on a person, placed on a vehicle, around a tree, or for a neck tie.
History and etymology
Early Puritan history
The song/poem ''"She wore a yellow ribbon"'' has appeared in variou ...
,'' where I was 35 playing a man of 65. To stay a star, you have to bring along some of your own personality. Thousands of good actors can carry a scene, but a star has to carry the scene and still, without intruding, allow some of his character into it."
Legacy
Awards, celebrations, and landmarks
Wayne's enduring status as an iconic American was formally recognized by the U.S. government in the form of the two highest civilian decorations. On his 72nd birthday on May 26, 1979, Wayne was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal
The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...
. Hollywood figures and American leaders from across the political spectrum, including Maureen O'Hara, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Mike Frankovich
Mitchell John "M. J." Frankovich (September 29, 1909 – January 1, 1992), best known as Mike Frankovich, was an American football player turned film actor and producer. Frankovich was the adopted son of actor Joe E. Brown and his wife, Kathry ...
, Katharine Hepburn, General and Mrs. Omar Bradley
Omar Nelson Bradley (February 12, 1893April 8, 1981) was a senior officer of the United States Army during and after World War II, rising to the rank of General of the Army. Bradley was the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and over ...
, Gregory Peck, Robert Stack
Robert Stack (born Charles Langford Modini Stack; January 13, 1919 – May 14, 2003) was an American actor. Known for his deep voice and commanding presence, he appeared in over forty feature films. He starred in the highly successful ABC tele ...
, James Arness
James Arness (born James King Aurness; May 26, 1923 – June 3, 2011) was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon for 20 years in the CBS television series ''Gunsmoke''. Arness has the distinction of having played the ...
, and Kirk Douglas, testified to Congress in support of the award. Robert Aldrich, president of the Directors Guild of America
The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...
, made a particularly notable statement:
Wayne was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...
on June 9, 1980, by President Jimmy Carter. He had attended Carter's inaugural ball in 1977 "as a member of the loyal opposition
Loyal opposition in terms of politics, refers to specific political concepts that are related to the opposition parties of a particular political system. In many Westminster-style parliamentary systems of government, the loyal opposition indicate ...
", as he described it. In 1998, he was awarded the Naval Heritage Award by the US Navy Memorial Foundation for his support of the Navy and military during his film career. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Wayne 13th among the Greatest Male Screen Legends of classic Hollywood cinema.
Various public locations are named in honor of Wayne, including the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California
Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...
, where a bronze equestrian statue of him stands at the entrance; the John Wayne Marina for which Wayne bequeathed the land, near Sequim, Washington
Sequim ( ) is a city in Clallam County, Washington, United States. It is located along the Dungeness River near the base of the Olympic Mountains. The 2010 census counted a population of 6,606.
Sequim lies within the rain shadow of the Olympic ...
; John Wayne Elementary School (P.S. 380 John Wayne Elementary School (P.S. 380), is an elementary school, located at 370 Marcy Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Dedicated in honor of John Wayne on October 28, 1982, "John Wayne Elementary School Day".
John Wayne's seven children attended ...
) in Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York, which boasts a mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
mural commission by New York artist Knox Martin
Knox Martin (February 12, 1923 – May 15, 2022) was an American painter, sculptor, and muralist.
Born in Barranquilla, Colombia, he studied at the Art Students League of New York from 1946 until 1950. He was one of the leading members of the ...
entitled "John Wayne and the American Frontier"; and over a named the "John Wayne Pioneer Trail" in Washington's Iron Horse State Park
Iron Horse State Park, part of the Washington State Park System, is a state park located in the Cascade Mountains and Yakima River Valley, between Cedar Falls on the west and the Columbia River on the east.
The park is contiguous with a ...
. A larger-than-life-sized bronze statue of Wayne atop a horse was erected at the corner of La Cienega Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California, at the former offices of the Great Western Savings and Loan Corporation, for which Wayne had made a number of commercials. In the city of Maricopa, Arizona
Maricopa is a city in the Gila River Valley in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. With 62,720 residents as of 2021, Maricopa is the largest incorporated municipality in Pinal County
History
Maricopa has had three locations over the years: ...
, part of Arizona State Route 347
State Route 347 (SR 347), also known as John Wayne Parkway, is a long, north–south state highway in central Arizona. The route begins at SR 84 and heads north. It passes through Maricopa, meeting SR 238. The route ends at an interchang ...
is named John Wayne Parkway, which runs through the center of town.
In 2006, friends of Wayne and his former Arizona business partner, Louis Johnson, inaugurated the "Louie and the Duke Classics" events benefiting the John Wayne Cancer Foundation and the American Cancer Society.[Olson, Jim. ]
"Louie and the Duke Classics 2006"
. – ''Grande Living''. – October 2006. – (Adobe Acrobat *.PDF document). The weekend-long event each fall in Casa Grande, Arizona, includes a golf tournament, an auction of John Wayne memorabilia, and a team roping
Team roping also known as heading and heeling is a rodeo event that features a steer (typically a Corriente) and two mounted riders. The first roper is referred to as the "header", the person who ropes the front of the steer, usually around ...
competition.
Several celebrations took place on May 26, 2007, the centennial of Wayne's birth. A celebration at the John Wayne birthplace in Winterset, Iowa, included chuck-wagon suppers, concerts by Michael Martin Murphey
Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter best known for writing and performing Western music, country music and popular music. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs' ...
and Riders in the Sky, a Wild West Revue in the style of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, and a Cowboy Symposium with Wayne's costars, producers, and costumers. Wayne's films ran repetitively at the local theater. Ground was broken for the new John Wayne Birthplace Museum and Learning Center at a ceremony consisting of over 30 of Wayne's family members, including Melinda Wayne Muñoz, Aissa, Ethan, and Marisa Wayne. Later that year, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver
Maria Owings Shriver (born November 6, 1955)
is an American journalist, author, a member of the Kennedy family, former First Lady of California, and the founder of the nonprofit organization The Women's Alzheimer's Movement. She was married to ...
inducted Wayne into the California Hall of Fame, located at the California Museum
The California Museum is the state history museum of California, located in its capital city of Sacramento. It is dedicated to Californian history and the stories of California. The museum is home to the California Hall of Fame and has more t ...
in Sacramento
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
.
In 2016, Republican assemblyman Matthew Harper
Matthew Harper (June 27, 1974) served as the 59th Mayor of Huntington Beach, California (2013-2014). Harper was elected to three terms to the Huntington Beach Union High School District Board of Trustees (1998-2010), one term to the Huntington B ...
proposed marking May 26 as "John Wayne Day" in California. This resolution was struck down by a vote of 35 to 20, due to Wayne's views on race and his support of controversial organizations such as the John Birch Society
The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ide ...
and the House Un-American Activities Committee.
American icon
Wayne rose beyond the typical recognition for a famous actor to that of an enduring icon who symbolized and communicated American values and ideals. Using the power of communication through silent films and radio, Wayne was instrumental in creating a national culture from disparate areas of the US, and made the creation of a national hero possible. By the middle of his career, Wayne had developed a larger-than-life image, and as his career progressed, he selected roles that would not compromise his off-screen image. Wayne embodied the icon of strong American masculinity and rugged individualism in both his films and his life. At a party in 1957, Wayne confronted actor Kirk Douglas about the latter's decision to play the role of Vincent van Gogh
Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...
in the film ''Lust for Life'', saying: "Christ, Kirk, how can you play a part like that? There's so goddamn few of us left. We got to play strong, tough characters. Not these weak queers." However, actor Marlon Brando was notably critical of Wayne's public persona and of the cultural insensitivity of Wayne's characters, arguing on ''The Dick Cavett Show
''The Dick Cavett Show'' was the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including:
* ABC daytime, (March 4, 1968–January 24, 1969) originally titled ''This Morning''
* ABC prime time, Tuesdays, We ...
'' that, "We mericanslike to see ourselves as perhaps John Wayne sees us. That we are a country that stands for freedom, for rightness, for justice," before adding that "it just simply doesn't apply."
Wayne's rise to being the quintessential movie war hero began to take shape four years after World War II, when ''Sands of Iwo Jima'' (1949) was released. His footprints at Grauman's Chinese theater in Hollywood were laid in concrete that contained sand from Iwo Jima. His status grew so large and legendary that when Japanese Emperor Hirohito
Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...
visited the United States in 1975, he asked to meet John Wayne, the symbolic representation of his country's former enemy. Likewise when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
visited the United States in 1959, he made two requests: to visit Disneyland and meet Wayne.
In the ''Motion Picture Herald'' Top Ten Money-Making Western Stars poll, Wayne was listed in 1936 and 1939. He appeared in the similar ''Box Office'' poll in 1939 and 1940. While these two polls are really an indication only of the popularity of series stars, Wayne also appeared in the Top Ten Money Makers Poll of all films from 1949 to 1957 and 1958 to 1974, taking first place in 1950, 1951, 1954, and 1971. With a total of 25 years on the list, Wayne has more appearances than any other star, surpassing Clint Eastwood (21) who is in second place.
Wayne is the only actor to appear in every edition of the annual Harris Poll
The Harris Poll (legal name: Harris Insights and Analytics) is an American market research and analytics company that has been tracking the sentiment, behaviors and motivations of American adults since 1963. In addition to the traditional consulti ...
of Most Popular Film Actors, and the only actor to appear on the list after his death. Wayne was in the top 10 in this poll for 19 consecutive years, starting in 1994, 15 years after his death.
Mylène Demongeot declared in a 2015 filmed interview: "Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper (born Frank James Cooper; May 7, 1901May 13, 1961) was an American actor known for his strong, quiet screen persona and understated acting style. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice and had a further three nominations, ...
was sublime, there I have to say, now he, was part of the stars, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant
Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one o ...
, John Wayne, those great Americans who I've met really were unbelievable guys, there aren't any like them anymore."
John Wayne Cancer Foundation
The John Wayne Cancer Foundation was founded in 1985 in honor of John Wayne, after his family granted the use of his name (and limited funding) for the continued fight against cancer. The foundation's mission is to "bring courage, strength, and grit to the fight against cancer". The foundation provides funds for innovative programs that improve cancer patient care, including research, education, awareness, and support.
Dispute with Duke University
Newport Beach, California-based John Wayne Enterprises, a business operated by Wayne's heirs, sells products, including Kentucky straight Bourbon Bourbon may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash
* Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels
* Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit
* A beer produced by Bras ...
, bearing the "Duke" brand and using Wayne's picture. When the company tried to trademark the image appearing on one of the bottles, Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, filed a notice of opposition. According to court documents, Duke has tried three times since 2005 to stop the company from trademarking the name. The company sought a declaration permitting registration of their trademark. The company's complaint filed in federal court said the university did "not own the word 'Duke' in all contexts for all purposes." The university's official position was not to object provided Wayne's image appeared with the name. On September 30, 2014, Orange County, California
Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...
federal judge David Carter dismissed the company's suit, deciding the plaintiffs had chosen the wrong jurisdiction.
Filmography
Between 1926 and 1977, Wayne appeared in over 170 films. According to Quigley Polling, which has taken place every year since 1932 to find the top box-office stars, John Wayne was named the top money maker (as of 2005).
Missed roles
* Wayne turned down the lead role in the 1952 film '' High Noon'' because he felt the film's story was an allegory against blacklisting, which he actively supported. In a 1971 interview, Wayne said he considered ''High Noon'' "the most un-American thing I've ever seen in my whole life", and that he would "never regret having helped run screenwriter Carl Foreman
Carl Foreman, CBE (July 23, 1914 – June 26, 1984) was an American screenwriter and film producer who wrote the award-winning films ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' and ''High Noon'', among others. He was one of the screenwriters who were black ...
ho was later blacklistedout of the country".[
* An urban legend has it that in 1955, Wayne turned down the role of Matt Dillon in the long-running television series '' Gunsmoke'' and recommended James Arness, instead. While he did suggest Arness for the part and introduced him in a prologue to the first episode, no film star of Wayne's stature would have considered a television role at the time.
* ]Terry Southern
Terry Southern (May 1, 1924 – October 29, 1995) was an American novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and university lecturer, noted for his distinctive satirical style. Part of the Paris postwar literary movement in the 1950s and a companion to ...
's biographer Lee Hill wrote that the role of Major T. J. "King" Kong in ''Dr. Strangelove
''Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'', known simply and more commonly as ''Dr. Strangelove'', is a 1964 black comedy film that satirizes the Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and t ...
'' (1964) was originally written with Wayne in mind, and that Stanley Kubrick offered him the part after Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...
injured his ankle during filming; he immediately turned it down.[Lee Hill, ''A Grand Guy: The Life and Art of Terry Southern'' (Bloomsbury, 2001), pp.118–119] While Sellers went on to play three other roles in the film, Slim Pickens
Louis Burton Lindley Jr. (June 29, 1919 – December 8, 1983), better known by his stage name Slim Pickens, was an American actor and rodeo performer. Starting off in the rodeo, Pickens transitioned to acting and appeared in dozens of movies and ...
played Kong.
* In 1966, Wayne accepted the role of Major Reisman in ''The Dirty Dozen
''The Dirty Dozen'' is a 1967 American war film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee Marvin with an ensemble supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy ...
'' (1967), and asked Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 ...
for some script changes, but eventually withdrew from the project to make ''The Green Berets''. He was replaced by Lee Marvin
Lee Marvin (born Lamont Waltman Marvin Jr.; February 19, 1924August 29, 1987) was an American film and television actor. Known for his bass voice and premature white hair, he is best remembered for playing hardboiled "tough guy" characters. Alt ...
.
* Though Wayne actively campaigned for the title role in ''Dirty Harry
''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American neo-noir action thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department (SFP ...
'' (1971), Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
decided that at 63 he was too old, and cast the 41-year-old Clint Eastwood.
* Director Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian.
One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist until he was hired to work on ...
and screenwriter Larry McMurtry
Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas. pitched a film in 1971 called ''Streets of Laredo'' that would co-star Wayne along with James Stewart and Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics.
Born and ra ...
. They conceived it as a Western that would bring the final curtain down on Hollywood Westerns. Stewart and Fonda both agreed to appear in it, but after long consideration, Wayne turned it down, citing his feeling that his character was more underdeveloped and uninteresting than those of his co-stars, which was largely based on John Ford's recommendation after perusing the script. The project was shelved for some 20 years, until McMurtry rewrote and expanded the original screenplay co-written with Bogdanovich to make the novel and subsequent TV miniseries ''Lonesome Dove
''Lonesome Dove'' is a 1985 Western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the ''Lonesome Dove'' series, but the third installment in the series chronologically.
The story revolves around the relationships b ...
'', with Tommy Lee Jones
Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' The ...
in Wayne's role and Robert Duvall
Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...
playing the part originally written for Stewart in the extremely popular miniseries.
* Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks (born Melvin James Kaminsky; June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodies. He began ...
offered Wayne the role of the Waco Kid (eventually played by Gene Wilder
Jerome Silberman (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016), known professionally as Gene Wilder, was an American actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker. He is known mainly for his comedic roles, but also for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Won ...
) in '' Blazing Saddles'' (1974). After reading the script, Wayne declined, fearing the dialogue was "too dirty" for his family-friendly image, but told Brooks that he would be "first in line" to see the movie.
* Steven Spielberg offered both Wayne and Charlton Heston the role of Major General Joseph Stilwell
Joseph Warren "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell (March 19, 1883 – October 12, 1946) was a United States Army general who served in the China Burma India Theater during World War II. An early American popular hero of the war for leading a column walking o ...
in the film '' 1941'' with Wayne also considered for a cameo in it. After reading the script, Wayne decided not to participate due to ill health, but also urged Spielberg not to pursue the project. Both Wayne and Heston felt the film was unpatriotic. Spielberg recalled, " aynewas really curious and so I sent him the script. He called me the next day and said he felt it was a very un-American movie, and I shouldn't waste my time making it. He said, 'You know, that was an important war, and you're making fun of a war that cost thousands of lives at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...
. Don't joke about World War II'."
Awards and nominations
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
Golden Globe Awards
Grammy Awards
Brass Balls Award
In 1973, ''The Harvard Lampoon
''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Overview
The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...
'', a satirical paper run by Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
students, invited Wayne to receive The Brass Balls Award, created in his "honor", after calling him "the biggest fraud in history". Wayne accepted the invitation as a chance to promote the recently released film ''McQ'', and a Fort Devens
Fort Devens is a United States Army Reserve military installation in the towns of Ayer and Shirley, in Middlesex County and Harvard in Worcester County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Due to extensive environmental contamination it was li ...
Army convoy offered to drive him into Harvard Square on an armored personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world.
Ac ...
. The ceremony was held on January 15, 1974, at the Harvard Square Theater and the award was officially presented in honor of Wayne's "outstanding machismo and penchant for punching people". Although the convoy was met with protests by members of the American Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a Native American grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues of poverty, discrimination, and police br ...
and others, some of whom threw snowballs, Wayne received a standing ovation from the audience when he walked onto the stage. An internal investigation was launched into the Army's involvement in the day.
Additional awards and honors
*1970, Received the DeMolay Legion of Honor
*1970, Received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...
*1973, Awarded the Gold Medal from the National Football Foundation
*1974, Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers in the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
*1979, Received the Congressional Gold Medal
The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...
*1980, Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merit ...
, the nation's highest civilian honor, by President Jimmy Carter
*1986, Inducted into the DeMolay Hall of Fame
See also
* Hall of Great Western Performers
* List of film director and actor collaborations
* List of famous amateur chess players
* List of Freemasons
This "List of Freemasons" page provides links to alphabetized lists of notable Freemasons. Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation which exists in a number of forms worldwide. Throughout history some members of the fraternity have made no secre ...
* National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
* Red Scare
References
Footnotes
Citations
Sources
*
Further reading
*
*
* Calder, Jenni (1979), ''John Wayne - Man and Myth of the West'', in Bold, Christine (ed.), ''Cencrastus
''Cencrastus'' was a magazine devoted to Scottish and international literature, arts and affairs, founded after the Referendum of 1979 by students, mainly of Scottish literature at Edinburgh University, and with support from Cairns Craig, then a ...
'' No. 1, Autumn 1979, pp. 13 – 16
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* Jensen, Richard (2012). ''When the Legend Became Fact – The True Life of John Wayne''. Nashville: Raymond Street Publishers, 2012.
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External links
*
John Wayne Cancer Foundation
John Wayne Cancer Institute
FBI file on John Wayne
Birthplace of John Wayne official website
*
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"On the Set of The Alamo"
Behind-the-scenes footage from the production of the film, from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image
*
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