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John Wayne
Age: 72 (passed away Jun. 11th, 1979)
Height: 6' 4"
Birth Place: Winterset, Iowa, USA
Born: May. 26th, 1907
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John Wayne's Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
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:
- During his right-wing political rants in the late 1960s and early 1970s, students opposed to his political stances would often walk out of or boycott university film classes that screened his films.
- Wayne's westerns were full of action but usually not excessively violent. "Fights with too much violence are dull," claimed Wayne, insisting that the straight-shooting, two-fisted violence in his movies have been "sort of tongue-in-cheek." He described the violence in his films as "lusty and a little humorous," based on his belief that "humor nullifies violence." His conservative taste deplored the increasing latitude given to violence and sex in Hollywood. In the 1960s he launched a campaign against what he termed "Hollywood's bloodstream polluted with perversion and immoral and amoral nuances." Most of his westerns steered clear of graphic violence.
- Received the DeMolay Legion of Honor in 1970.
- _The Shootist (1976)_ (qv) is widely considered the best final film by any major star, rivaled only by 'Clark Gable' (qv)'s role in _The Misfits (1961)_ (qv) and 'Henry Fonda' (qv)'s role in _On Golden Pond (1981)_ (qv).
- In 1920, lived at 404 N. Isabel Street, Glendale, California, according to U.S. Census.
- Pictured on a 37¢ USA commemorative stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series, issued 9 September 2004. The first-day ceremonies were held at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
- Announced his intention to campaign for Senator 'Barry Goldwater' (qv) in the 1964 presidential election after Goldwater had voted against the Civil Rights Act. However, Wayne was unable to do so when he was diagnosed with lung cancer in August of that year, and forced to undergo major surgery in the next month.
- His father died of a heart attack in March 1937.
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