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John Wayne Biography

Alt Text John Wayne was a legendary Hollywood actor who played a key role in establishing and popularizing the western genre in American cinema. Originally from Iowa and named Marion Mitchell Morrison, he started working in films as a scenery mover to put himself through college. His 6' 4" build, good looks, and Midwestern ease got him noticed on the lot and cast in the first epic western film in 1930. Over the years, John Wayne carved out a niche for himself, taking on roles as cowboys, soldiers, and other patriotic figures that transformed him into a role model of the American ideals of manhood, honor and courage.

Despite all of John Wayne's on-screen military service, he never served in the armed forces. He was, however, a staunch supporter of World War II troops and the Vietnam War. His conservative values made him an outspoken partisan for President Richard Nixon, among others.

John Wayne starred in over 150 films in his lifetime and was one of the first hugely successful actors to emerge from the post-silent film era. His distinctive drawl, cool swagger and seemingly effortless talent were his trademark, and he is remembered as an icon of American pop culture and the silver screen.

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INTERESTING FACTS

  • John Wayne was nicknamed Duke after his Airedale Terrier, which accompanied him everywhere as a child.
  • As a small child, John Wayne would often run away from home and hop freight trains.
  • Several tools and supplies used by the military are nicknamed after John Wayne because of their strength and resilience such as: the P-38 can-opener, paper towels, and C-Ration crackers.
  • John Wayne, co-star George "Gabby" Hayes, and stuntman Yakima Canutt played in numerous films together and were often referred to as the Lone Star Stock Company.
  • John Wayne never served in the U.S. military, but participated in USO trips to the frontlines during World War II and became a staunch supporter of the Vietnam War.
  • As a youth, John Wayne took part time jobs as a paper and delivery boy in order to supplement his father's income and provide school clothing for himself and his brother.
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AWARDS & HONORS

  • Western Heritage Award (1961, 1962, 1963, 1970)
  • Golden Globe's Henrietta Award for World Film Favorite Male (1963)
  • Cecil B. DeMille Award (1966)
  • Academy Award for Best Actor in "True Grit" (1969)
  • Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actor in "True Grit" (1970)
  • People's Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actor (1975, 1976, 1977, 1978)
  • Congressional Gold Medal (1980)
  • Presidential Medal of Freedom (1980)
  • Inducted into the California Hall of Fame (2007)
  • Star on the Walk of Fame
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NOTABLE FILMS

  • Words and Music (credited as Duke Morrison) (1929)
  • The Big Trail (1930)
  • Range Feud (1931)
  • Ride Him Cowboy (1932)
  • The Telegraph Trail (1933)
  • The Three Musketeers (1933)
  • Blue Steel (1934)
  • The Oregon Trail (1936)
  • Stagecoach (1939)
  • Seven Sinners (1940)
  • The Shepherd of the Hills (1941)
  • The Spoilers (1942)
  • Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
  • Fort Apache (1948)
  • Red River (1948)
  • She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
  • Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
  • Rio Grande (1950)
  • The Quiet Man (1952)
  • Hondo (1953)
  • The High and the Mighty (1954)
  • The Searchers (1956)
  • The Wings of Eagles (1957)
  • The Alamo (1960)
  • The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
  • El Dorado (1967)
  • The Green Berets (1968)
  • True Grit (1969)
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SELECTED JOHN WAYNE BIOGRAPHIES

  • "Duke: The Life and Times of John Wayne" by Donald Shepherd, Robert Slatzer with David Grayson (1985)
  • "John Wayne: American" by Randy W. Roberts (1995)
  • "Duke: The Life and Image of John Wayne" by Ronald L. Davis (1998)
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John Wayne Timeline

  • 1907
      • Born Marion Robert Morrison on May 26th in Winterset, Iowa to Clyde and Molly. The family moves to Earlham, Iowa three years later where they buy a drugstore.
  • 1912
      • His middle name is changed to Mitchell after his brother is born in December and named Robert. As an adult, Wayne sometimes used Michael as his middle name.
  • 1913
      • His father abandons the failing drugstore business and moves to Lancaster, California to take up farming. The rest of the family moves to Lancaster the following year, where Wayne enrolls at the Lancaster Grammar School.
  • 1916
      • The family moves to Glendale, California, where Wayne enrolls at Doran Elementary School. He later attends Glendale Union High School where he plays on the football team, works as a prop handler for the theatre department, serves as president of his senior class, and ultimately graduates with honors.
  • 1925
      • Enrolls at the University of Southern California as a pre-law student on a football scholarship, joining the Sigma Chi fraternity, and taking a side job with the phone company. Just before the end of the season, he fractures his ankle and is sidelined from playing football.
  • 1926
      • Meets and falls in love with Josephine Saenz, the Texas born daughter of a Panamanian Consul whose parents were born in Spain, just as his parents' marriage is ending in divorce.
      During the summer, he takes a job on the Fox Film lot as part of a "swing gang", handling props and occasionally appearing as an extra as in films such as "Brown of Harvard" (uncredited), and "Bardelys the Magnificent".
  • 1927
      • After injuring himself in a bodysurfing accident, he fails to make the football team, loses his scholarship, and is forced to drop out of school a few weeks into the first semester of his junior year. He returns to working at Fox Films where he meets director John Ford on the set of "Mother Machree".
  • 1929
      • Catches the eye of director Raoul Walsh on the Fox lot and is cast as the lead in the first epic western sound film "The Big Trail" the following year. Walsh, with the input of studio head Winfield Sheehan, changes Marion Morrison's name to John Wayne. Over the next two years, he stars in a few low budget films under a Fox contract before signing with Columbia Pictures in 1931.
  • 1933
      • Weds Josephine Saenz on June 24th. Together they have four children - Michael (born in 1934), Toni (1935), Patrick (1938), and Melinda (1940).
  • 1940
      • Stars in "Seven Sinners" with Marlene Dietrich and they become close friends. Many people, including the tabloids, speculate on a romantic affair between the two stars.
  • 1944
      • Wayne and wife Josephine file for divorce.
  • 1947
      • Stars in the film "Angel and the Badman", serving as an independent producer under a partnership he has formed with former RKO writer-producer Robert Fellows.
  • 1948
      • Asked to serve as president of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, an organization he has been a member of for several years.
  • 1954
      • After separating from his second wife in 1952 and going through a difficult and very public divorce, he weds Pilar Palette Weldy, the daughter of a Peruvian senator, on November 1st. Together they have three children - Aissa (born in 1956), John Ethan (1962), and Marisa (1966).
  • 1960
      • Produces and stars in "The Alamo", a film heavily promoted as appealing to the public's sense of patriotism.
  • 1964
      • Diagnosed with lung cancer; undergoes surgery to remove a lung.
  • 1968
      • Addresses the Republican National Convention in support of Richard Nixon's presidential campaign in August.
  • 1969
      • Wins an Academy Award for Best Actor in the western "True Grit".
  • 1978
      • Undergoes open-heart surgery.
  • 1979
      • Wayne is admitted to the hospital for gall bladder surgery on January 12th, at which time it is discovered that his stomach is cancerous and will need to be removed.
      Attends the Academy Awards ceremony on April 9th to present the award for best picture. This is his last public appearance.
      Succumbs to cancer on June 11 at the age of 72.
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