John Wayne
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Official U.S. stamp of John Wayne from 2004 |
John Wayne (
May 26,
1907 –
June 11,
1979), popularly known as "The Duke,"
[A Macro Bio] was an
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 most famous for his
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 certain kind of rugged individualistic masculinity, and has become an enduring American icon.
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John Wayne's birthplace in Winterset, Iowa |
John Wayne was born
Marion Robert Morrison in
Winterset, Iowa in 1907, 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 Irish descent. Wayne's family moved to
Glendale, California in 1911; it was neighbors in Glendale who started calling him "Big Duke" because he never went anywhere without his
Airedale Terrier dog, who was Little Duke. He preferred "Duke" to "Marion", and the name stuck for the rest of his life. [
1]
Duke Morrison's early life was marked by poverty; his father 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]
Wayne applied to the
U.S. Naval Academy, but was not accepted. He instead attended the
University of Southern California, 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. An injury while supposedly swimming at the beach curtailed his athletic career, however; Wayne would later note that 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] [
4]
While at the university, Wayne began working around the local film studios.
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 with his USC teammates as one of the featured football players in
Columbia Pictures'
Maker of Men (filmed in 1930 and released in 1931), which starred
Richard Cromwell and
Jack Holt. In the film, Wayne was billed with his given name of Marion Morrison. [
5]
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. [
6]
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, where he played the role of d'Artagnan in
The Three Musketeers, set in modern North Africa, with co-stars Ray Corrigan and Max Terhune. In this same year (1933), Wayne had a small part in
Alfred E. Green's succes de scandale
Baby Face. [
7] [
8]
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.
Island in the Sky (1953) is related to it, and both films were made one year apart with the same producers, director, writer, cinematographer, editor, and distributor.
John Wayne won a
Best Actor Oscar in
True Grit (1969). Many believe that award was given in recognition of his forty-year career, since his performance in the film was over-the-top and he had given better performances in
Red River (1948) and
The Searchers (1956). 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 film made during the
Vietnam War to support the conflict. [
9]
The Searchers continues to be widely regarded as perhaps Wayne's finest 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.
Wayne was known for his conservative ideals. He took part in creating the
Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, and was the president of that organization at one time. He was an ardent
anti-communist, and was a vocal supporter of
HUAC and the
blacklisting of actors and actresses that were sympathetic to
communist ideals.
Batjac, the production company co-founded by Wayne, was named after the fictional shipping company in
The Wake of the Red Witch.
In 1964 Wayne was diagnosed with
lung cancer, and underwent surgery to remove his entire left lung and two ribs. Rumors circulated that his illness was caused by having filmed
The Conqueror in Utah (at a location that had been heavily contaminated with
nuclear fallout from above-ground atomic testing in the
Nevada Test Site), however he did not believe this, since from the early 1930s until his operation, he had smoked between three and five packs of cigarettes a day.
Perhaps due to his sheer popularity, or his status as the most famous
Republican star in Hollywood, the Republican Party asked Wayne to run for President in 1968. He declined because 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 asked to be conservative Democratic governor
George Wallace's running mate in the presidential election, however, this too did not come to pass. [
10]
John Wayne died of
stomach cancer on
June 11,
1979, and was interred in the Pacific View Memorial Park cemetery in
Corona del Mar. At the request of his oldest son, Michael (who had been raised in the Catholic faith by his mother), the Presbyterian Wayne was baptized in his hospital room by the Archbishop of Panama, and given a Catholic funeral.
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 actor
Patrick Wayne and
Aissa Wayne, who wrote a memoir of her life as the daughter of John Wayne.
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 beach party at Balboa. The daughter of a successful Spanish businessman, Josie resisted considerable opposition from her family to maintain her relationship with Duke. In the years prior to his death, Wayne was happily involved with his former secretary Pat Stacy. [
11]
At the time of his death, John Wayne resided in a bayfront home in
Newport Beach,
California. His home remains a point of interest in Newport Harbor. Sadly his home was torn down and replaced with a new one by the current owners of the property.
Various things have been named
in memoriam of John Wayne. They include
John Wayne Airport, in
Orange County, California, and the 100-plus mile trail named the "John Wayne Pioneer Trail" in Washington state's
Iron Horse State Park.
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North to Alaska with John Wayne |
1920s
Brown of Harvard (1926)
Bardelys the Magnificent (1926)
The Great K & A Train Robbery (1926)
Annie Laurie (1927)
The Drop Kick (1927)
Mother Machree (1928)
Four Sons (1928)
Hangman's House (1928)
Speakeasy (1929)
The Black Watc (1929)
Noah's Ark (1929)
Words and Music (1929)
Salute (1929)
The Forward Pass (1929)
1930s
Men Without Women (1930)
Born Reckless (1930)
Rough Romance (1930)
Cheer Up and Smile (1930)
The Big Trail (1930)
Girls Demand Excitement (1931)
Three Girls Lost (1931)
Arizona (1931)
The Deceiver (1931)
Range Feud (1931)
Maker of Men (1931)
The Voice of Hollywood No. 13 (1932) (short subject)
Running Hollywood (1932) (short subject)
The Shadow of the Eagle (1932)
Texas Cyclone (1932)
Two-Fisted Law (1932)
Lady and Gent (1932)
The Hurricane Express (1932)
The Hollywood Handicap (1932) (short subject)
Ride Him, Cowboy (1932)
That's My Boy (1932)
The Big Stampede (1932)
Haunted Gold (1932)
The Telegraph Trail (1933)
The Three Musketeers (1933)
Central Airport (1933)
Somewhere in Sonora (1933)
His Private Secretary (1933)
The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933)
Baby Face (1933)
The Man From Monterey (1933)
Riders of Destiny (1933)
College Coach (1933)
Sagebrush Trail (1933)
The Lucky Texan (1934)
West of the Divide (1934)
Blue Steel (1934)
The Lawless Frontier (1934)
Helltown (1934)
The Man from Utah (1934)
Randy Rides Alone (1934)
The Star Packer (1934)
The Trail Beyond (1934)
The Lawless Beyond (1934)
'Neath the Arizona Skies (1934)
Texas Terror (1935)
Rainbow Valley (1935)
The Desert Trail (1935)
The Dawn Rider (1935)
Paradise Canyon (1935)
Westward Ho (film) (1935)
The New Frontier (1935)
Lawless Range (1935)
The Oregon Trail (1936)
The Lawless Nineties (1936)
King of the Pecos (1936)
The Lonely Trail (1936)
Winds of the Wasteland (1936)
Sea Spoilers (1936)
Conflict (1936)
California Straight Ahead! (1937)
I Cover the War (1937)
Idol of the Crowds (1937)
Adventure's End (1937)
Born to the West (1937)
Pals of the Saddle (1938)
Overland Stage Raiders (1938)
Santa Fe Stampede (1938)
Red River Range (1938)
Stagecoach (1939)
The Night Riders (1939)
Three Texas Steers (1939)
Wyoming Outlaw (1939)
New Frontier (film) (1939)
Allegheny Uprising (1939)
1940s
Meet the Stars: Cowboy Jubilee (1940) (short subject)
Three Faces West (1940)
The Long Voyage Home (1940)
Seven Sinners (1940)
A Man Betrayed (1941)
Lady from Louisiana (1941)
The Shepherd of the Hills (1941)
Meet the Stars: Past and Present (1941) (short subject)
Lady for a Night (1942)
Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
The Spoilers (1942)
In Old California (1942)
Flying Tigers (1942)
Pittsburgh (1942)
Reunion in France (1942)
A Lady Takes a Chance (1943)
In Old Oklahoma (1943)
The Fighting Seabees (1944)
Tall in the Saddle (1944)
Flame of Barbary Coast (1945)
Back to Bataan (1945)
They Were Expendable (1945)
Dakota (1945)
Without Reservations (1946)
Angel and the Badman (1947) (also producer)
Tycoon (1947)
Red River (1948)
Fort Apache (1948)
Three Godfathers (1948)
Wake of the Red Witch (1948)
The Fighting Kentuckian (1949) (also producer)
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Rodeo (1949) (short subject)
Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
Dark Command (1940)
1950s
Rio Grande (1950)
Screen Snapshots: Reno's Silver Spur Awards (1951) (short subjects)
Operation Pacific (1951)
The Screen Director (1951) (short subject)
Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Awards (1951) (short subject)
Flying Leathernecks (1951)
Miracle in Motion (1952) (short subject) (narrator)
The Quiet Man (1952)
Big Jim McLain (1952) (also producer)
Trouble Along the Way (1953)
Island in the Sky (1953) (also producer)
Hondo (film) (1953) (also producer)
The High and the Mighty (1954) (also producer)
The Sea Chase (1955)
Screen Snapshots: The Great Al Jolson (1955) (short subject)
Blood Alley (1955) (also director and producer)
The Conqueror (1956)
The Searchers (1956)
The Wings of Eagles (1957)
Jet Pilot (1957)
Legend of the Lost (1957)
I Married a Woman (1958) (Cameo)
The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958)
Rio Bravo (1959)
The Horse Soldiers (1959)
1960s
The Alamo (1960) (also director and producer)
North to Alaska (1960)
The Challenge of Ideas (1961) (short subject) (narrator)
The Comancheros (1961) (also director)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
Hatari! (1962)
The Longest Day (1962)
How the West Was Won (1962)
McLintock! (1963)
Donovan's Reef (1963)
Circus World (1964)
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
In Harm's Way (1965)
The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)
El Dorado (1966)
A Nation Builds Under Fire (1967) (short subject) (narrator)
The War Wagon (1967)
The Green Berets (1968) (also director)
Hellfighters (1968)
True Grit (1969)
The Undefeated (1969)
1970s
No Substitute for Victory (1970) (documentary)
Chisum (1970)
Rio Lobo (1970)
Big Jake (film) (1971) (also co-director)
Directed by John Ford (1971) (documentary)
The Cowboys (1972)
Cancel My Reservation (1972) (Cameo)
The Train Robbers (1973)
Cahill U.S. Marshall (1973)
McQ (1974)
Brannigan (1975)
Rooster Cogburn (1975)
Chesty: Tribute to a Legend (1976) (documentary) (narrator)
The Shootist (1976)
Movies and television
Characters in numerous other movies and television shows have made imitations of John Wayne. They have easily imitated his signature swaggered walk, and especially his use of the word "pilgrim" and his famous lines like "Fill your hands you son-of-a-bitch."[
12]
* In the 1994 film,
The Professional,
Jean Reno's character Leon does an impersonation of John Wayne in a game of charades. Wayne is one of the few American icons whom his detached character in the film knows of aside from
Gene Kelly, as he fails to recognize obvious impersonations of
Charlie Chaplin,
Marilyn Monroe and
Madonna.
* In the 1996 film
The Birdcage, Robin Williams encourages
Nathan Lane to become more "manly" by walking like Wayne. When Lane does a rather limp impression of the Duke's characteristic stride, Williams comments, "I didn't know John Wayne walked like that."
* In the 1985
John Hughes film
Weird Science, Lisa taunts the boys who are hiding in the closet from the party crashers with, "John Wayne wouldn't be hiding in the closet? Gary, played by
Anthony Michael Hall, replies, "The man's dead"!
* In the comic
Preacher, the main character speaks to the ghost of John Wayne. During a flashback to Vietnam, John Wayne is featured speaking to the troops. Jesse has a lighter that was presented to his father (and other troops) by "The Duke".
* In the 2006 film, Running Scared, Anzor Yugorsky is a very devoted John Wayne fan, lashing out at anyone who would bash Wayne. Anzor was working with the mob, but turns on them after refusing to kill his stepson. He removes his shirt and turns around, revealing a tattoo of John Wayne's face on his back. One of the mobsters kills Anzor by shooting him twice in the back, the bullets going through the eyes of the tattoo.
Many comedians have imitated Wayne.
Jonathan Winters did so on several occasions;
Robin Williams has even imitated Winters imitating Wayne (including in the film
Good Morning Vietnam). Impressionist
Rich Little's take on Wayne appeared in his 1978 TV special
Christmas Carol and 1982 special
Robin Hood, with Wayne as Little John.
Ryan Stiles impersonates Wayne on the improv comedy series
Whose Line is it Anyway on a regular basis.
In an episode of
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In,
Tiny Tim claimed that the reason he chose his stage name was because another performer was already using his "real name" – John Wayne! (Tiny Tim's name was actually Herbert Khaury.)
The movie
Gas-s-s-s begins with a cartoon of an Army general announcing a "weapons test", which turns out to spell disaster for everyone on Earth over twenty-five; the general's voice was an imitation of Wayne's.
Gary Burghoff sometimes mimicked John Wayne's voice and mannerisms in episodes of
M*A*S*H, as his character
Radar O'Reilly.
Clyde Kusatsu played eccentric Honolulu Detective Gordon Katsumoto on two episodes of
Magnum P.I. titled "This Island Isn't Big Enough...." and "A.A.P.I." (both 1986), in which he imitated John Wayne throughout the show. The imitation went so far as that he had a bronze bust of Wayne and a white cavalry hat (like the one Wayne wore in movies
Rio Grande,
Fort Apache, and
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon) in his office.
Full Metal Jacket, the
Stanley Kubrick 1987 effort, has
Matthew Modine doing his Wayne imitations.
Holly Hunter and
Brad Johnson both attempted, although poorly, to imitate "The Duke" in the movie
Always (1989).
Kurt Russell does a John Wayne impersonation throughout the entirety of
John Carpenter's
Big Trouble in Little China (1986).
Various characters have been named after Wayne, including a
security guard in
North of Pittsburgh (1992), a character in an intergalactic zoo for
Earth Minus Zero (1996), cowboy John Wayne Hart in
Harts of the West (1993), the lead in French film
Les Folles années du twist (1986), and in Spanish television series
Marina (1980). In
Shanghai Knights (2003),
Jackie Chan plays Chon Wang (simplified pronunciation "John Wayne"); when he and
Owen Wilson's character Roy O'Bannon consider going into the silent film industry, O'Bannon comments that the name "could work".
Wayne even parodied himself occasionally, with appearances in
I Married a Woman (1958),
Cancel My Reservation (1972), and episodes of the television series
Gunsmoke (1955),
I Love Lucy (1955),
The Jack Benny Program (1960),
The Dean Martin Show (1965, 1966),
The Lucy Show (1966),
The Beverly Hillbillies (1967),
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (1972, 1973), and
Maude (1974). This was in addition to his appearances on talk shows, game shows, variety shows, award shows, and tribute shows.
Song lyrics
* Wayne is featured in
Denis Leary's
1993 song
Asshole. Leary's rapid-fire diatribe towards the end of the song contained the words, "John Wayne's not dead, he's frozen! And as soon as we find a cure for cancer, we're gonna thaw out the Duke and he's gonna be pretty pissed off. You wanna know why? You ever taken a cold shower? Well, multiply that by 15 million times; that's how pissed off the Duke's gonna be. I'm gonna get the Duke, and
John Cassavetes, and
Lee Marvin, and
Sam Peckinpah and a case of whisky, and drive down to
Texas..."
* The
punk rock band,
MDC released a song called
John Wayne Was a Nazi, saying that John Wayne had a picture of
Adolf Hitler in his vest, and murdered "our Indian brothers", among other things. The song celebrated Wayne's "long and painful death". [
13]
*
Tom Lehrer's
1965 song "Send the Marines" (from
That Was the Year That Was), includes the lyric, "We'll send them all we've got / John Wayne and
Randolph Scott / Remember those exciting fighting scenes?" satirically conflating Wayne's war movies with the reality of military action, especially in popular consciousness.
* Wayne is mentioned in the
Paula Cole song "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" (
lyrics) from the
1996 album
This Fire. In the song, sung from the female point of view, the singer is both: wanting a man, or men, who act like they did in the John Wayne
Westerns ("Where is my John Wayne?") and at the same time making fun of both the men of today and the falseness of the men in the movies.
* In 1989,
Ray Stevens released the album
Beside Myself, in which the song "Marion Michael Morrison" is dedicated to John Wayne. The lyrics contained the quote "Here's to you, Marion Michael Morrison. Here's to you, for all of our battles that you fought and won."
*
Jimmy Buffett mentions John Wayne prominently in his song "Incommunicado" (
lyrics) on the
Coconut Telegraph album of
1981. Jimmy is lamenting his loss and remembering such films as
Red River and
(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valence.
* Wayne appears in a very uncomplimentary light in the Public Enemy song "Fight the Power," from the 1990 album
Fear Of A Black Planet. The lyrics state that Wayne's friend
Elvis Presley was a racist who stole black music to become famous, then seems to lump Presley and Wayne together. The lyrics state that "Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me. Straight-up racist the sucker was simple and plain. Mother fuck him and John Wayne". Wayne has frequently come under fire for extremely racist remarks he made about black people and Native American Indians in a controversial
Playboy interview in May 1971. He has also been criticised for openly supporting
Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election, after Goldwater had voted against the
Civil Rights Act, and for later supporting the segregationist Governor of
Alabama George Wallace.
* Country duo
Big & Rich mention Wayne in "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" from their 2004 album
Horse of a Different Color.
* In Garth Brooks' song, "Against the Grain" from the Album "Ropin' the Wind", there is a message about being yourself with the lyric "Go bustin' in like old John Wayne"
* Southern rock group Drive-By Truckers mention Wayne in "The Sands of Iwo Jima", a tribute song to a grandfather who fought in the battle and "never saw John Wayne on the Sands of Iwo Jima".
* Queen's song "Bicycle Race" contains the lyrics "you say John, I say Wayne".
* The song
John Wayne is Big Leggy, a whimsical prodding into Wayne's personal life, was the ninth track on British
new wave group
Haysi Fantayzee's 1983 record
Battle Hymns for Children Singing.
* The chorus to the 1994
Bruce Dickinson song
Sacred Cowboy goes "Where is our John Wayne, where's our sacred cowboy now? Where are the indians on the hill? There's no injuns left to kill."
* Warren Zevon mentions John Wayne in his song "My Ride's Here" not only as John Wayne but later on as Marion, his birth name.
* The punk rock band MDC trashes Wayne in their song "John Wayne Was a Nazi", containing lyrics such as "Hypocrite coward never fought a real fight, when I see John I'm ashamed to be white." This song is also referenced in the NOFX song "13 Stitches".
* The Rolling Stones mention him in the lyrics of "Star Star"
* John Wayne is the title of a song by the mainstay
gogo group, the Junkyard band.
* Wayne is mentioned in
Public Enemy's song "Fight the Power" from the album
Fear of a Black Planet* Wayne is mentioned in
Spike Lee's movie "Do the Right Thing"
* Wayne was also mentioned on a gunit song called Gangsta Shit, Young Buck said " I keep a holster on my shoulder like I'm John Wayne "
Trivia
* Wayne was inducted into the
Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 1974.
* For over 40 years, John Wayne and
Maureen O'Hara, who starred together in
McClintock! and
The Quiet Man, were best friends.
* Owned the
Culver Hotel for several years before donating it to the
YMCA.
* On Sunday evenings the "good ol' boys club" met at the
John Ford Ranch in the
San Fernando Valley. John Ford and John Wayne would be at the Ranch, and some others;
Ben Johnson,
Chill Wills,
Ward Bond,
Grant Withers,
Harry Carey, Jr. and many of the other supporting actors that were usually in all of Wayne's pictures. Sometimes,
Lee Marvin would show up. They were sometimes known as The John Ford Stock Company.
* Along with
Bob Hope, Wayne was one of Hollywood's vocal
Republican supporters.
* His official height was 6'4". However, Wayne was known to wear 4 inch lifts inside his boots, especially as he got older because old age, increased weight and health problems made it difficult for him to tower over his co-stars, and in certain photographs appears shorter than the 6'3" actors
Gregory Peck,
James Stewart,
Gary Cooper and
Charlton Heston. Many people believe Wayne's real height was closer to 6' even.
* Stated he believed in "white supremacy" in a
1971 interview with
Playboy magazine.
* In
1978, Wayne uncharacteristically sided with the Democrats and President Jimmy Carter against his fellow conservative Republicans over the issue of the Panama Canal, which Wayne believed belonged to the people of Panama and not the United States of America.
* Had a life-long friendship and professional collaboration with
John Ford, which spanned 50 years, despite their political differences.
* 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!" The part eventually went to another cowboy actor, Slim Pickens. One can only speculate just how it would have looked with Wayne playing what could have been the biggest parody of himself in film history.[
14]
Character deaths
* Contrary to popular belief, Wayne's character did die in several of his films. His death is seen in the following films:
#
The Shootist â€" After winning a seemingly hopeless gunfight with three opponents simultaneously, he is shot by the bartender and is then avenged by
Ron Howard's character.#
The Cowboys â€" He is killed by
Bruce Dern's character.#
The Alamo â€" Playing
Davy Crockett, he's stabbed with a lance, then staggers into the ammunition room with a lit torch and blows it up.#
Sands of Iwo Jima â€" He is killed by a bullet fired by a Japanese sniper who was hiding in a concealed hole at the end of the film. #
Wake of the Red Witch â€" He drowns when the sunken ship he is trying to salvage shifts and drops further into the ocean, carrying him with it.#
The Fighting Seabees â€" He is shot by a sniper.#
Reap the Wild Wind â€" 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:
#
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance â€" 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. #
The Sea Chase â€"
Lana Turner and Wayne are on a ship when it sinks, but the possibility that the characters survived is left open. #
The Deceiver â€" Ian Keith's character died, but the corpse was played by John Wayne.#
Central Airport â€" John Wayne has a very minor role as the co-pilot of an aircraft that crashes into the ocean.
* NO character deaths:
It is believed that the 1963 film
McLintock! with
Maureen O'Hara, is the only John Wayne western where
no one is shot or killed.
*
Other notable figures in Western films*
List of film collaborations* 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 038517893X
* Carey, Harry Jr.
A Company of Heroes: My Life as an Actor in the John Ford Stock Company. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1994 ISBN 0810828650
* 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
* Zolotow, Maurice.,
Shooting Star: A Biography of John Wayne. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974 ISBN 671-80211-9
*
Find A Grave Entry*
Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): John Wayne*
John Wayne Cancer Foundation*
John Wayne Cancer Institute*
Wayne Enterprises, the sole and exclusive licensor of the John Wayne name, image, and
likeness*
Did John Wayne die of cancer caused by a radioactive movie set? (from
The Straight Dope)
*
The Religious Affiliation of John Wayne*
John Wayne Celebrity Soundboards*
John Wayne at TriviaTribute.com*
John Wayne Profile at USC Legends
*
John Wayne's Narration on Americasection_id=6&article_id=2688&page_number=14