John “The Duke” Wayne was a legendary Hollywood actor and political activist who stood up for the underdog and what was right in a large majority of his films and personal beliefs. During this period of uncertainty and unrest, we could use a stoic leader like Wayne to set an example for the rest of us to follow. Standing 6’4” and 240 lbs., it’s hard to imaging the Duke wearing a mask and gloves while sauntering through the produce section at Safeway, but if he did, that would be assuredly get everyone else in line. Given how beloved Wayne was by the American public, he would’ve been a wonderful spokesman to assist President Trump and Dr. Fauci with their pandemic messaging while at the same time giving hope and inspiration to the masses
Born Marion Mitchell Morrison, this American born actor was known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed “The Duke”. Wayne was box office gold and one of the biggest movie stars of his day. An Academy Award winner for “True Grit”, Wayne was among the top box office draws for nearly three decades. As a kid, I caught the tail end of Wayne’s career, but I do remember seeing him in movies such as Rooster Cogburn, The Shootist and Brannigan. I remember his being revered by talk show hosts such as Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin and Johnny Carson. They all treated him with the utmost respect and admiration, especially toward the end of Wayne’s life. He died in 1979 at the age of 72.
Here are some fun facts about John “the Duke” Wayne.
1. Born May 26, 1907 in Winterset, Iowa. His family moved around a lot throughout his childhood, but finally settled down in Glendale, California.
2. He was president of Glendale High School – Class of 1925.
3. He found work at local film studios when he lost his football scholarship to the University of Southern California as a result of a bodysurfing accident.
4. Initially working for the Fox Film Corporation, he appeared mostly in small bit parts.
5. His first leading role came in Raoul Walsh’s widescreen epic The Big Trail, which led to leading roles in many B movies throughout the 1930s, most of them in the Western genre.
6. Wayne’s career took off in 1939, with John Ford’s “Stagecoach” making him an instant star.
7. He went on to star in 142 motion pictures altogether, including the dozens with his name above the title produced before 1939.
8. His father was a pharmacist while his grandfather was a veteran of the American Civil War.
9. He was a staunch Republican.
10. At USC, Wayne was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity.
11. He had always wanted to serve the U.S. Navy, but was rejected by the U.S. Naval Academy so he took a football scholarship to the University of Southern California in 1925.
12. After leaving the University of South California, his coach at the university, Howard Jones, called in a favor and got him the job of an extra with the help of actor Tom Mix. As an extra, he appeared in countless cowboy and sports themed related movies.
13. Wayne fathered 7 children.
14. After appearing in some minor roles in movies and television shows throughout the 1930s, Wayne got his big break in the movie “Stagecoach“, released in 1939.
15. Wayne always preferred his childhood name, “Duke Morrison,” to his eventual stage name.
16. Wayne attributed his walk, talk and persona to his acquaintance with legendary law man Wyatt Earp.
17. As a lifelong chess enthusiast, Wayne had a star-studded list of chess partners: Marlene Dietrich, Rock Hudson, and Robert Mitchum.
18. Wayne was the first person to publicly refer to cancer as “The Big C.” He came up with the idiom to make his struggle with the illness less “scary” to studio executives in the early 1960s.
19. In his first battle with cancer, Wayne lost a rib and half of one lung, and still managed to hold a press conference in his own living room shortly after in order to maintain his strong public image.
20. Wayne famously walked away from the lead role in “High Noon” because he felt the movie was an allegory against blacklisting, an activity which, as a staunch conservative, Wayne supported.
21. Wayne’s guilt over not serving in World War II haunted him for life. Although many of his Hollywood peers volunteered to fight, Wayne himself didn’t make particularly great efforts to change his own draft exemption.
22. He rejected the starring role in “All the King’s Men” because he thought that the script was un-American.
23. Despite a long and critically acclaimed career, Wayne was only nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars twice: once for Sands of Iwo Jima, then winning 20 years later for True Grit.
24. He was fluent in Spanish and all three of his wives were of Latin descent.
25. Towards the end of the 1940s, Wayne’s hair began to thin, so he started wearing hairpieces.
26. He was a registered Freemason, ranking as a Master Mason in Marion McDaniel Lodge No. 56 F&AM, in Tucson, Arizona.
27. Because of Wayne’s star power and conservative views, Republican party backers frequently approached Wayne about trying his luck at public office.
28. For the first time ever, Wayne got hate mail from Republicans after he sided with President Jimmy Carter and the Democrats over the Panama Canal.
29. Contrary to much of what he did and say in his later life, Wayne identified as a Socialist during his college days as the University of Southern California.
30. Wayne converted to Roman Catholicism shortly before his death by stomach cancer at the age of 72.
Most millennials probably couldn’t tell you who John Wayne was unless their grandfather encouraged them to watch the old westerns with him. When trying to come up with a sampling of contemporary actors who might have a little bit of the Duke’s swagger I could only list Dwayne Johnson, Jason Stratham and Jason Mamoa, but none have Wayne’s body of work. He was a heroic man’s man who led by example. I envy that type of reputation and sometimes think we all need to remember John “the Duke” Wayne’s toughness, resilience and strength of character when it comes to overcoming the social and health obstacles we’re currently facing.
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