Matinee Classics - John Wayne Biography & Filmography

John Wayne ACTOR

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JOHN WAYNE BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

John Wayne is an American and worldwide film icon, famous for his distinctive voice, stature (6’ 4”), and his walk. He has been named by the American Film Institute (AFI) as 13th among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time.

John Wayne, named Marion Mitchell Morrison at birth, was born on May 26, 1907 in Winterset, Iowa. Of Scots-Irish descent, Wayne moved with his family to Palmdale, California and then later, in 1911, to Glendale, California.

He was given his nickname of “Duke” by a fireman at the local fire station. Accompanied on his way to school by his dog, an Airedale-Terrier mix named Duke, the fireman began calling the dog ‘Big Duke’ and John Wayne ‘Little Duke’. Since he preferred the nickname to his formal name of Marion, he kept the nickname throughout his lifetime.

He played football for his high school’s 1924 champion team, and continued to play football at the University of Southern California (USC) where he was majoring in pre-law. However, when he was injured while bodysurfing in Newport Beach, his football career ended, and he had to drop out of school when he lost his athletic scholarship.

He soon found work at the local film studios, working in the prop department, and not long after began getting bit parts in movies. It was during that time that he became lifelong friends with director John Ford, a friendship that would serve them both well during their careers.

Some of his earliest roles were playing as a football player with teammates from USC in movies like “Brown of Harvard” in 1926 and “The Drop Kick” in 1927. In another early film, “Words and Music” (1929), he was listed in the credits as ‘Duke Morrison’.

John Wayne had his first starring role in “The Big Trail” in 1930, and it was then that he was given the screen name that he would keep throughout his career. He was not consulted about the name—it was agreed upon by the movie’s director, Raoul Walsh, and the head of Fox Studios at the time, Winfield Sheehan.

“The Big Trail” was not a box office success, due to the fact that it was filmed using a new process that the majority of theaters were not capable of screening, and John Wayne was once again only given small roles in pictures like “The Deceiver” in 1931. He also appeared in an updated version of “The Three Musketeers” in 1933 (a serial film) and in many low budget films. John Wayne estimated that he had roles in around eighty of these films from 1930-1939.

From 1933 to 1936 he performed in numerous Western movies, the majority of them with Yakima Canutt and George 'Gabby' Hayes for Lone Star Productions. In some of these movies he was portrayed as “Singing Sandy” (with his voice dubbed over for the singing). Many of these movies were filmed on location in Lone Pine, California. These were very high quality 'B' Westerns, several of them utilizing the same basic cast. These highly sought after movies are extremely popular to this day. They include: “Riders of Destiny” and “Sagebrush Trail” from 1933; “Blue Steel”, “Neath Arizona Skies”, “Randy Rides Alone”, “The Lawless Frontier”, “The Lucky Texan”, “The Man from Utah”, “The Star Packer” and “West of the Divide” from 1934; “Lawless Range”, Paradise Canyon”, “Rainbow Valley”, “Texas Terror”, “The Dawn Rider”, “The Desert Trail”, “The New Frontier” and “Westward Ho!” from 1935; and “King of the Pecos” and “The Lonely Trail” from 1936.

Then, in 1939, he was cast by John Ford for the role of The Ringo Kid in “Stagecoach”. With the film’s success John Wayne became a box office star. John Wayne and John Ford worked well together, and Wayne appeared in more than twenty of Ford’s films, such as “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” in 1949, “The Quiet Man” in 1952, and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” in 1962.

Although generally thought of as a Western star, John Wayne also played other roles exceedingly well. One of his best was as First Officer Dan Roman in “The High and the Mighty” in 1954, directed by William Wellman. He also played the role of an aviator in other movies, like “Flying Tigers” in 1942, “Flying Leathernecks” in 1951, and “The Wings of Eagles” in 1957.

Considered by many to be his best performance, his portrayal of Ethan Edwards in 1956’s “The Searchers” was rated by Premiere Magazine in 2006 to be the 87th greatest performance in film history. However, John Wayne won his only Academy Award for Best Actor for his role of Rooster Cogburn in the 1969 film “True Grit”. Upon receiving his award he quipped, “If I had known this, I would've put that patch on thirty-five years ago”, referring to the eye patch he wore for the role.

During his career, John Wayne purportedly played the lead role in 142 of his film appearances. He was recognized in the Motion Picture Herald Top Ten Money-making Western stars twenty-five times between 1936 and 1974. He was first place in the poll four times, in 1950, 1951, 1954, and 1971, and has appeared on the poll more than any other star.

During his career, John Wayne also portrayed a member of the United States Armed Forces several times, and is one of the most popular war movie heroes of all time. Some of these roles were as a Marine in “Sands of Iwo Jima” in 1949 (his footprints at Graumam’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood are reportedly laid in cement that contains sand from Iwo Jima), a PT boat Lieutenant in “They Were Expendable” in 1945, and as Special Forces Colonel Mike Kirby in “The Green Berets” in 1968.

Blending his roles as war hero and Western hero, John Wayne appeared in John Ford’s ‘Calvary Trilogy’, in “Fort Apache” in 1948, in “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” in 1949, and in “Rio Grande” in 1950.

John Wayne’s last film was “The Shootist” in 1976, where he portrayed the character of an aging gunfighter dying of cancer. Sadly, he would die of cancer three years later on June 11, 1979. When reviewing the script for the role, he noted that his character, J. B. Books, was supposed to shoot someone in the back. His response to that was, "I've made over 250 pictures and have never shot a guy in the back. Change it."

John Wayne played the role of a big, tough, but honest and fair, man throughout his career who symbolized American values and ideals, and throughout his life (whether you agreed with his politics or not) he remained steadfastly an American patriot.

He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on May 26, 1979 in recognition of his iconic status. Among the many stars and other notables testifying on his behalf, Robert Aldrich, president of the Directors Guild of America, said, in part, “… Because of his courage, his dignity, his integrity, and because of his talents as an actor, his strength as a leader, his warmth as a human being throughout his illustrious career, he is entitled to a unique spot in our hearts and minds. …” At the suggestion and request of his co-star in many films, and his friend, Maureen O'Hara, the medal is inscribed “John Wayne, American”. In June of 1980 John Wayne was also awarded (posthumously) the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

FILMOGRAPHY

1926 Bardelys the Magnificent

1926 Brown of Harvard

1926 The Great K & A Train Robbery

1927 Annie Laurie

1927 The Drop Kick

1928 Four Sons

1928 Hangman's House

1928 Mother Machree

1928 Noah's Ark

1929 Salute

1929 Speakeasy