John Wayne's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Dateline: Hollywood John Wayne The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour John Wayne

Main Movie Roles 1987 - House II: The Second Story 1980 - Fist of Fear, Touch of Death 1976 - The Shootist 1975 - Rooster Cogburn 1975 - Brannigan 1974 - McQ 1973 - Cahill U.S. Marshal 1972 - The Cowboys 1971 - Big Jake 1970 - Rio Lobo 1969 - The Undefeated 1969 - True Grit 1968 - Hellfighters 1968 - Skidoo 1968 - The Green Berets 1967 - The War Wagon 1966 - El Dorado 1966 - Cast a Giant Shadow 1965 - The Greatest Story Ever Told 1965 - In Harm's Way 1965 - The Sons of Katie Elder 1964 - Circus World 1963 - McLintock! 1963 - Donovan's Reef 1962 - The Longest Day 1962 - How the West Was Won 1962 - Hatari! 1962 - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance 1961 - The Comancheros 1960 - The Alamo 1960 - North to Alaska 1959 - The Horse Soldiers 1959 - Rio Bravo 1957 - The Wings of Eagles 1957 - Legend of the Lost 1956 - The Conqueror 1956 - The Searchers 1955 - Blood Alley 1954 - The High and the Mighty 1953 - Hondo 1952 - The Quiet Man 1951 - Flying Leathernecks 1950 - Rio Grande 1949 - The Fighting Kentuckian 1949 - Sands Of Iwo Jima 1949 - She Wore a Yellow Ribbon 1948 - Fort Apache 1948 - Red River 1946 - Without Reservations 1945 - They Were Expendable 1944 - Tall in the Saddle 1943 - In Old Oklahoma 1942 - The Spoilers 1942 - Reunion in France 1942 - Flying Tigers 1941 - A Man Betrayed 1941 - The Shepherd of the Hills 1940 - Seven Sinners 1939 - Stagecoach 1939 - Allegheny Uprising 1936 - Winds of the Wasteland 1935 - Paradise Canyon 1935 - Texas Terror 1934 - The Trail Beyond 1934 - The Star Packer 1934 - The Lucky Texan 1934 - Randy Rides Alone 1934 - West of the Divide 1933 - Riders of Destiny 1933 - Baby Face 1933 - Sagebrush Trail 1932 - The Shadow of the Eagle 1930 - The Big Trail

BIOGRAPHY:

John Wayne (born Marion Morrison) was the son of pharmacist Clyde Morrison and his wife Mary. Clyde developed a lung condition that required him to move his family from Iowa to the warmer climate of southern California, where they tried ranching in the Mojave Desert. Until the ranch failed, Marion and his younger brother Robert E. Morrison swam in an irrigation ditch and rode a horse to school. When the ranch failed, the family moved to Glendale, California, where Marion delivered medicines for his father, sold newspapers and had an Airedale dog named "Duke" (the source of his own nickname). He did well at school both academically and in football. When he narrowly failed admission to Annapolis he went to USC on a football scholarship 1925-7. Tom Mix got him a summer job as a prop man in exchange for football tickets. On the set he became close friends with director John Ford (I) for whom, among others, he began doing bit parts, some billed as John Wayne (I). His first featured film was Men Without Women (1930). After more than 70 low-budget westerns and adventures, mostly routine, Wayne's career was stuck in a rut until Ford cast him in Stagecoach (1939), the movie that made him a star. He appeared in nearly 250 movies, many of epic proportions. From 1942-43 he was in a radio series, "The Three Sheets to the Wind", and in 1944 he helped found the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a right-wing political organization, later becoming its President. His conservative political stance was also reflected in The Alamo (1960), which he produced, directed and starred in. His patriotic stand was enshrined in The Green Berets (1968) which he co-directed and starred in. Over the years Wayne was beset with health problems. In September 1964 he had a cancerous left lung removed; in March 1978 there was heart valve replacement surgery; and in January 1979 his stomach was removed. He received the Best Actor nomination for Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and finally got the Oscar for his role as one-eyed Rooster Cogburn in True Grit (1969). A Congressional Gold Medal was struck in his honor in 1979. He is perhaps best remembered for his parts in Ford's cavalry trilogy - Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950).


TRIVIA:

• Following his retirement from making movies in 1976, Wayne received thousands of letters from fans who accused him of selling out by advertising insurance in television commercials. Wayne responded that the six-figure sum he was offered to star in the advertisements was too good to refuse.
• According to Michael Munn's "John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth", in 1959, Wayne was personally told by 'Nikita Khrushchev' (qv), when the Soviet Premier was visiting the United States on a goodwill tour, that 'Joseph Stalin' (qv) and China's 'Mao Zedong' (qv) had each ordered Wayne to be killed. Both dictators had considered Wayne to be a leading icon of American democracy, and thus a symbol of resistance to Communism through his active support for blacklisting in Hollywood, and they believed his death would be a major morale blow to the United States. Khrushchev told Wayne he had rescinded Stalin's order upon his predecessor's demise in March 1953, but Mao supposedly continued to demand Wayne's assassination well into the 1960s.
• Wayne publicly criticized director 'Sam Peckinpah' (qv) for his film _The Wild Bunch (1969)_ (qv), which he claimed "destroyed the myth of the Old West".
• His TV appearances in the late 1960s showed that Wayne had overcome his indifference to television. In addition to appearing on _"The Dean Martin Show" (1965)_ (qv), _"The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" (1969)_ (qv), he became a semi-regular visitor to _"Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" (1967)_ (qv), often good-naturedly spoofing his macho image and even dressing up as The Easter Bunny in a famous 1972 episode.
• Allegedly thrust his Best Actor Oscar for _True Grit (1969)_ (qv) to 'Richard Burton (I)' (qv) at the _The 42nd Annual Academy Awards (1970) (TV)_ (qv), telling the Welsh actor, "You should have this, not me."
• Upon being cast by 'Raoul Walsh' (qv) in Fox's _The Big Trail (1930)_ (qv) the studio decided his name had to be changed. Walsh said he was reading a biography on General "Mad" Anthony Wayne and suggested that name. The studio liked the last name but not the first and decided on "John Wayne" as the final rendition.
• While visiting the troops in Vietnam in June 1966, a bullet struck Wayne's bicycle. Although he was not within a hundred yards of it at the time, the newspapers reported he had narrowly escaped death at the hands of a sniper.
• Honored with an Army RAH-66 Helicopter, named "The Duke". Many people attended the naming ceremony in Washington D.C. on 12 May 1998, including his children and grandchildren, congressmen, the president of the USO Metropolitan Washington, dignitaries and many military personnel. His eldest son 'Michael Wayne (I)' (qv) said at the ceremony, "John Wayne loved his country and he loved its traditions.".