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Wayne was known for his conservative ideals. He took part in creating the [[Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals]] in [[1943]], and was elected president of that organization in [[1947]]. He was an ardent [[anti-communist]], and vocal supporter of [[House Un-American Activities Committee|HUAC]] and the [[blacklist]]ing of actors and actresses who were accused of being sympathetic to or being Communists. In [[1951]] he made the controversial ''[[Big Jim McLain]]'' to show his support for the anti-communist cause. That same year he sought to have the anti-[[McCarthyism]] western allegory ''[[High Noon]]'' banned, and was instrumental in having its screenwriter, [[Carl Foreman]], blacklisted from Hollywood.
Wayne was known for his conservative ideals. He took part in creating the [[Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals]] in [[1943]], and was elected president of that organization in [[1947]]. He was an ardent [[anti-communist]], and vocal supporter of [[House Un-American Activities Committee|HUAC]] and the [[blacklist]]ing of actors and actresses who were accused of being sympathetic to or being Communists. In [[1951]] he made the controversial ''[[Big Jim McLain]]'' to show his support for the anti-communist cause. That same year he sought to have the anti-[[McCarthyism]] western allegory ''[[High Noon]]'' banned, and was instrumental in having its screenwriter, [[Carl Foreman]], blacklisted from Hollywood.


In an interview with Playboy magazine in 1971, Wayne was asked about the subject of black people making strides towards equality in education in the U.S. He stated that while he believed there was "rightful" justification for black resentment of American educational standards for blacks, he also believed in "white supremacy" until blacks were educated enough to take a more prominent role in American leadership. He stated that he did not believe in giving leadership to irresponsible persons, regardless of race. The phrasing of this remark would come back, particularly out of context, to haunt him. <ref>[[Playboy]] May, 1971</ref>
In an interview with Playboy magazine in 1971, Wayne was asked about the subject of black people making strides towards equality in education in the U.S. He stated that while he believed there was "rightful" justification for black resentment of American educational standards for blacks, he also believed in "white supremacy" until blacks were educated enough to take a more prominent role in American leadership. He stated that he did not believe in giving leadership to irresponsible persons, regardless of race. The phrasing of this remark would come back to haunt him. <ref>[[Playboy]] May, 1971</ref>


[[Batjac Productions|Batjac]], the production company co-founded by Wayne, was named after the fictional shipping company Batjak in ''The Wake of the Red Witch''. (A spelling error by Wayne's secretary was allowed to stand, accounting for the variation.)
[[Batjac Productions|Batjac]], the production company co-founded by Wayne, was named after the fictional shipping company Batjak in ''The Wake of the Red Witch''. (A spelling error by Wayne's secretary was allowed to stand, accounting for the variation.)

Revision as of 11:58, 22 February 2007

For other people named John Wayne, see John Wayne (disambiguation).
John Wayne
John Wayne in The Challenge of Ideas (1961).
Born
Marion Robert Morrison
Other namesMarion Michael Morrison; Duke
Height6`2-6`4
WebsiteWayne Enterprises

John Wayne (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), born Marion Robert Morrison (ref. Madison Co., Iowa birth certificate), popularly known as the "Duke," was an iconic, Academy Award winning, American film actor whose career began in silent movies in the 1920s. He was a major star from the 1940s to the 1970s. He is famous for his distinctive voice and walk. He featured heavily in Westerns and World War II epics, but he also made a wide range of films from various genres, biographies, romantic comedies, police dramas, and more. He epitomized a rugged individualistic masculinity, and has become an enduring American icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Wayne among the Greatest Male Stars of All Time, ranking at No. 13. A Harris Poll released in 2007 placed Wayne at No. 3 among America's favorite film stars, the only deceased star on the list and the only one who had appeared on every year's version of the poll.

Early life and college

John Wayne's birthplace in Winterset, Iowa

Born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, Iowa, but his name was changed to Marion Michael Morrison when his parents decided to name their next son Robert. His family was Presbyterian; father Clyde Leonard Morrison was of Irish and Scottish descent and the son of an American Civil War veteran while mother Mary Alberta Brown was of Scots-Irish descent. (Wayne's mother, and therefore Wayne himself, was reportedly a direct descendant of Robert I of Scotland and Henry I of France.) Wayne's family homesteaded in Palmdale, California, where Wayne rode his horse to school, and then moved to Glendale, California in 1911; it was local firemen at the firehouse that was on his way to school in Glendale who started calling him "Little Duke" because he never went anywhere without his Airedale Terrier dog, Big Duke. [1] (NOTE: Wayne's friends referred to him simply as "Duke," though his fans more often call him "the Duke.")


Duke Morrison's early life was marked by poverty; his father, a pharmacist, was a man who did not manage money well. Duke was a good and popular student. Tall from an early age, he was a star football player for Glendale High School and was recruited by the University of Southern California.[2] As a teen, Wayne worked in an ice cream shop for an individual who shoed horses for local Hollywood studios.

Wayne applied to the U.S. Naval Academy, but was not accepted. He instead attended the University of Southern California majoring in pre-law, where he was a member of the Trojan Knights and joined the Sigma Chi Fraternity. Wayne also played on the USC football team under legendary coach Howard Jones. A surfing injury curtailed his athletic career; however, Wayne would later note he was too terrified of Jones' reaction to reveal the actual cause of his injury. He lost his athletic scholarship and with no funds was unable to continue at USC.[3]

While at the university, Wayne and Ward Bond began working at a film studio recommended by their USC Coach. Western star Tom Mix got him a summer job in the prop department in exchange for football tickets, and Wayne soon moved on to bit parts, establishing a long friendship with director John Ford. During this period, Wayne appeared (albeit without credit) with his USC teammates as one of the featured football players in Ford's film Salute. That same year (1929) he received his first screen credit, as Duke Morrison, in Words and Music. He would not receive billing again for several pictures, but his next billed role would be a starring one and it would be under the name for which he now famous -- John Wayne.

Acting career, production company

John Wayne in The Searchers

After two years working as a prop man at the William Fox Studios for $35 a week, his first starring role was in the 1930 movie The Big Trail; the director of that movie, Raoul Walsh, (who "discovered" Wayne) gave him the stage name "John Wayne", after Revolutionary War general "Mad Anthony" Wayne. His pay was raised to $75 a week. He was tutored by the studio's stuntmen in riding and other western skills.[4]

The Big Trail, the first "western" epic sound motion picture, established his screen credentials, although it was a commercial failure. Nine years later, his performance in the 1939 film Stagecoach made him a star. In between, he made westerns, most notably at Monogram Pictures, and serials for Mascot Studios, including a modernized version of The Three Musketeers (1933). In this same year, Wayne had a small part in Alfred E. Green's succes de scandale Baby Face.[5]

Beginning in 1928, Wayne appeared in more than twenty of John Ford's films over the next 35 years, including Stagecoach (1939), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), The Quiet Man (1952), The Searchers (1956), The Wings of Eagles (1957), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).

According to the Internet Movie Database, Wayne played the male lead in 142 of his film appearances. One of Wayne's most praised roles was in The High and the Mighty (1954), directed by William Wellman and based on a novel by Ernest K. Gann. His portrayal of a heroic airman won widespread acclaim.

In 1949 Robert Rossen, the director of All the King's Men, offered the starring role to Wayne. Wayne refused, believing the script of the projected film to be un-American in many ways. Broderick Crawford, who eventually took the role, won the 1949 Oscar for best male actor, beating out Wayne, who had been nominated for his role in The Sands of Iwo Jima.

John Wayne won a Best Actor Oscar in True Grit (1969). Wayne was also nominated for Best Actor in Sands of Iwo Jima, and as the producer of Best Picture nominee The Alamo, one of two films he directed. The other was The Green Berets (1968), the only major film made during the Vietnam War to support the conflict.[6]

The Searchers continues to be widely regarded as perhaps Wayne's finest and most complex performance. In 2006 Premiere Magazine ran an industry poll in which his portrayal of Ethan Edwards was rated the 87th greatest performance in film history. He named his youngest son Ethan after the character.

File:TheQuietManPoster.jpg
The poster for The Quiet Man.

Wayne was known for his conservative ideals. He took part in creating the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals in 1943, and was elected president of that organization in 1947. He was an ardent anti-communist, and vocal supporter of HUAC and the blacklisting of actors and actresses who were accused of being sympathetic to or being Communists. In 1951 he made the controversial Big Jim McLain to show his support for the anti-communist cause. That same year he sought to have the anti-McCarthyism western allegory High Noon banned, and was instrumental in having its screenwriter, Carl Foreman, blacklisted from Hollywood.

In an interview with Playboy magazine in 1971, Wayne was asked about the subject of black people making strides towards equality in education in the U.S. He stated that while he believed there was "rightful" justification for black resentment of American educational standards for blacks, he also believed in "white supremacy" until blacks were educated enough to take a more prominent role in American leadership. He stated that he did not believe in giving leadership to irresponsible persons, regardless of race. The phrasing of this remark would come back to haunt him. [7]

Batjac, the production company co-founded by Wayne, was named after the fictional shipping company Batjak in The Wake of the Red Witch. (A spelling error by Wayne's secretary was allowed to stand, accounting for the variation.)

Illness

In 1964, Wayne was diagnosed with lung cancer, and underwent surgery to remove his entire left lung and two ribs. Despite rumors that the cancer was caused by filming The Conqueror in Utah where the US government had tested nuclear weapons (following which a surprising percentage of the cast and crew developed cancer), Wayne himself believed his five-pack-a-day cigarette habit was the cause.

In March 1978 Wayne underwent open-heart surgery to repair an artery damaged by a bout of pneumonia four years previously. Although he recovered, at Christmas 1978 he fell ill again, and in January of the following year underwent a nine-hour operation to remove his stomach, which was entirely cancerous.

Political Office

Due to his enormous popularity, and his status as the most famous Republican star in Hollywood, wealthy Texas backers of the Republican Party asked Wayne to run for national office in 1968 as had his friend and fellow actor, Sen. George Murphy. He declined, joking that he did not believe the public would seriously consider an actor in the White House. He did support his friend Ronald Reagan's runs for Governor of California in 1966 and 1970, however. In 1968 Wayne was also reportedly asked to be conservative Democratic governor George Wallace's running mate in the presidential election; Wayne's response made headlines: "Wayne Wallace VP? Wayne Says 'B------t!'" (Films in Review, May, 1977).

Marriage

Wayne was married three times, always to Spanish-speaking brides; to Josephine Alicia Saenz, Esperanza Baur and Pilar Palette. He had four children with Josephine and three with Pilar, most notably producer, Michael Wayne, actor Patrick Wayne, and daughter Aissa Wayne who practices law in California.

His romance with Josie Saenz began when he was a college student and continued for seven years before their marriage. Miss Saenz was 15 or 16 at their first meeting at a dance at Balboa Pavilion. The daughter of a successful California businessman, Josie resisted considerable opposition from her family to maintain her relationship with Wayne.

In the years prior to his death, Wayne was romantically involved with his former secretary Pat Stacy.[8]. She died of lung cancer in 1995, at the age of 57.

Death

John Wayne died of stomach cancer on June 11, 1979, and was interred in the Pacific View Memorial Park cemetery in Corona del Mar. He requested his tombstone read, "Feo, Fuerte y Formal" a Spanish epitaph meaning he was ugly, strong and had dignity. However, the grave, unmarked for twenty years, now is marked with a quotation from his 1971 Playboy interview: "Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." According his first four children, they were present when he converted to Catholicism before his death.

At the time of his death, John Wayne resided in a bayfront house in Newport Beach, California.[citation needed] The site of his last residence remains a point of interest in Newport Harbor. However, after his death, his house was sold, torn down and replaced by new owners. His prized converted Navy minesweeper the "Wild Goose", once moored at Balboa Island, has been sold and resold. Each owner has said it is haunted.

Various public locations have been named in memory of John Wayne. They include John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, the John Wayne Marina near Sequim, Wash., and a 100-plus mile trail named the "John Wayne Pioneer Trail" in Washington state's Iron Horse State Park.


Iconic status

File:TheGreenBerets.jpg
John Wayne in Green Beret

In his own lifetime, John Wayne rose beyond the typical recognition for a famous actor to that of an enduring icon who symbolized and communicated a particular image of American values and ideals. By his mid-career, Wayne developed a larger-than-life image based on a composition of many of the fictional characters he portrayed in movies. To maintain this image, Wayne selected roles that would not compromise his off-screen image. In his last film The Shootist (1976), Wayne refused to allow his character to shoot a man in the back as was originally scripted with the justification that John Wayne had never shot anyone in the back.[2] While some actors can become stereotyped as they get strongly associated with their more popular roles, these actors rarely become off-screen icons as Wayne had become through the managing of his public image to communicate a set of values and ideals and even shape public opinion.

Wayne's rise to a quintessential icon of a patriotic war hero began to take shape five years after World War II when Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) was released and for which Wayne got a Best Actor nomination. His footprints at Grauman's Chinese theater in Hollywood were laid in cement that contained sand from Iwo Jima [citation needed]. His status grew so large and legendary that when Japanese Emperor Hirohito visited the United States in 1975 he asked to meet John Wayne.

Wayne used his iconic status of a patriotic war hero to support right-wing US government causes, including rallying support during the Vietnam War where he contributed his acting and co-direction to the box-office hit The Green Berets (1968) (although the film was critically panned for its highly idealized, fictionalized depiction of war. [3]). While the general public and many in the military have maintained a positive view of the John Wayne image, there are many who found this image to be misleading if not despised especially after personally experiencing war firsthand. In an interview, Oliver Stone credited his own gung-ho patriotic enlistment to fight in the Vietnam War to being inspired by the "John Wayne image of America", although he came home a decorated veteran, he also had become an embittered anarchist, eventually creating Platoon, a movie that starkly counters the heroic and patriotic images idealized by the John Wayne icon and the The Green Berets. [4]. In an article, William Manchester, recounted when John Wayne came dressed up as cowboy to visit him and other World War II soldiers recuperating at a naval hospital in Hawaii. Wayne was greeted with silence and then subsequently booed off the stage for he had become "a symbol of a fake machismo [they] had come to hate". William Manchester, "The Bloodiest battle of All", New York Times Magazine, June 14, 1987, pg 84</ref>[5] Nonetheless, Wayne was a popular visitor to the war zones in both World War II and the Vietnam War. By the 1950s, perhaps in large part due to the film Sands of Iwo Jima, Wayne had become an icon to the U.S. Marine Corps, despite his actual lack of military service. His name is attached to various pieces of gear (such as the P-38 "John Wayne" can-opener, so named because "it can do anything"), and C-Ration crackers are called "John Wayne crackers" because presumably only someone as tough as Wayne could eat them. Wayne's iconic status to the military, as in the civilian world, supersedes the facts of his actual life.

Congressional Gold Medal

John Wayne's enduring status as an iconic American was formally recognized by the United States Congress on May 26, 1979 when he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal [6][7]. Numerous actors, including Elizabeth Taylor, and politicians testified to Congress of the merit and deservedness of this award, most notably Maureen O'Hara, who requested the words that would be on placed onto the medal: "It is my great honor to be here. I beg you to strike a medal for Duke, to order the President to strike it. And I feel that the medal should say just one thing, "John Wayne, American"." The medal crafted by the United States Mint has on one side John Wayne riding on horseback and the other side has a portrait of Wayne with the words "John Wayne, American". This Congressional Gold Medal was presented to the family of John Wayne in a ceremony held on March 6, 1980 at the United States Capitol. This medal is now at the John Wayne Museum in Winterset, Iowa. Copies were made and the public made it a best seller.

Filmography

Preceded by Academy Award for Best Actor
1969
for True Grit 		Succeeded by

Missed roles

  • Wayne was approached by Mel Brooks to play the part of Mr. Taggert in the film Blazing Saddles. After reading the script he said, "I can't be in this picture, it's too dirty...but I'll be the first in line to see it."[9] The part eventually went to another cowboy actor, Slim Pickens.

He also knocked back the role that Lee Marvin played in the Dirty Dozen and chose the part in the Green Berets. .[10]

Character deaths

Template:Spoiler

  • Contrary to popular belief, Wayne's character did die in seven of his films. His death is seen in the following films:
  1. The Shootist — After winning a seemingly hopeless gunfight with three opponents simultaneously, he is shot by the bartender, played by Charles G. Martin, and is then avenged by Ron Howard's character.
  2. The Cowboys — He is killed by Bruce Dern's character.
  3. The Alamo — Playing Davy Crockett, he's stabbed with a lance, then staggers into the ammunition room with a lit torch and blows it up.
  4. Sands of Iwo Jima — He is killed at the end of the film by a bullet fired by a Japanese sniper.
  5. Wake of the Red Witch — He drowns when the sunken ship he is trying to salvage shifts and drops further into the ocean, carrying him with it.
  6. The Fighting Seabees — He is shot by a sniper as he attempts to dismount from a bulldozer loaded with TNT aimed at a fuel depot.
  7. Reap the Wild Wind — He is trapped inside the wreck of a sunken ship after a fight with a giant squid and drowns.
  • His character death is not shown in the following:
  1. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance — His character is dead at the beginning of the film and the story is told in flashback by James Stewart, who is attending his funeral.
  2. The Sea Chase — Lana Turner and Wayne are on a ship when it sinks, but the possibility that the characters survived is left open.
  3. The Deceiver — Ian Keith's character died, but the corpse was played by John Wayne.
  4. Central Airport — John Wayne has a very minor role as the co-pilot of an aircraft that crashes into the ocean.

Template:Endspoilers

Famous movie quotes

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.jwayne.com/biography.shtml
  2. ^ jwayne.com
  3. ^ geocities site. See also jwayne.com
  4. ^ thinkquest.org article
  5. ^ biography.com article. See also jwayne.com article
  6. ^ jwayne.com
  7. ^ Playboy May, 1971
  8. ^ jwayne.com
  9. ^ [1]
  10. ^ washingtonpost.com

Further reading

  • Roberts, Randy, and James S. Olson. John Wayne: American. New York: Free Press, 1995 ISBN 978-0029238370
  • Campbell, James T. "Print the Legend: John Wayne and Postwar American Culture". Reviews in American History, Volume 28, Number 3, September 2000, pp. 465-477
  • Shepherd, Donald, and Robert Slatzer, with Dave Grayson. Duke: The Life and Times of John Wayne. New York: Doubleday, 1985 ISBN 0-385-17893-X
  • Carey, Harry Jr. A Company of Heroes: My Life as an Actor in the John Ford Stock Company. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1994 ISBN 0-8108-2865-0
  • Clark, Donald & Christopher Anderson. John Wayne's The Alamo: The Making of the Epic Film. New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1995 ISBN 0-8065-1625-9 (pbk.)
  • Eyman, Scott. Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999 ISBN 0-684-81161-8
  • McCarthy, Todd. Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood. New York: Grove Press, 1997 ISBN 0-8021-1598-5
  • Maurice Zolotow., Shooting Star: A Biography of John Wayne. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974 ISBN 0671829696
  • Jim Beaver, "John Wayne". Films in Review, Volume 28, Number 5, May 1977, pp. 265-284.
  • McGivern, Carolyn. John Wayne: A Giant Shadow. Bracknell, England: Sammon, 2000 ISBN 0-9540031-0-1
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