biography
Born Marion Morrison on May 26, 1907, in Winterset, Iowa, actor John Wayne was the son of a druggist. The family moved to California in 1913
or 1914, eventually settling in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale. As a child Wayne hated the name Marion and was nicknamed 'Duke' after
the Morrison family's Airedale of the same name. Tall and athletic, the 6'4" teenager excelled in high school football and won a
scholarship to the University of Southern California. His first film appearance came at the age of 19 when he appeared in Brown of
Harvard (1926; with William Haines) as a football player, which was a natural for Wayne. He was a promising football player for USC,
but in the summer of 1926 he fractured his collarbone while surfing (some reports say he broke his ankle). Unable to play football,
as a result he lost his college scholarship. In order to make ends meet, Wayne worked as a grip and an extra at MGM during his spare
time and met legendary director John Ford, who encouraged the handsome young man to give acting a try.For four years, Wayne worked as a stage hand, extra, and stuntman at several studios. While working at Fox in early 1930, director Raoul Walsh spotted Wayne moving furniture and gave him the starring role in the big-budget epic western The Big Trail (1930; with Marguerite Churchill). Under different circumstances, the film might have succeeded, yet it flopped at the box office due in part to its high production costs, long running time, and its depths-of-the-Depression release date. However, Fox cast Wayne in several more films, including the romantic comedy Girls Demand Excitement (1931; with Virginia Cherrill and Marguerite Churchill) and the melodrama Three Girls Lost (1931; with Loretta Young) before cutting the young actor loose. Wayne headed to Columbia, then a poverty-row studio, where he was cast in the westerns Range Feud (1931; with Buck Jones) and Texas Cyclone (1932; with Tim McCoy) before heading to Mascot. He subsequently made three serials for poverty-row Mascot: the crime dramas Shadow of the Eagle (1932; with Dorothy Gulliver) and The Hurricane Express (1932; with Tully Marshall), and the western The Three Musketeers (1933; with Raymond Hatton and Lon Chaney Jr.). In 1933, he jumped over to Monogram, where he starred in a string of low-budget westerns, such as Sagebrush Trail (1933; with Lane Chandler and Yakima Canutt) and The Star Packer (1934; with Gabby Hayes and Yakima Canutt). In 1935, Monogram was swallowed by Republic (Monogram was eventually resurrected in the late 1930s); the studio kept Wayne busy in better western programmers like Lawless Range (1935; with Sheila Bromley) and Winds of the Wasteland (1936; with Lane Chandler). Briefly leaving Republic for Universal from 1936 through 1937, Wayne returned to Republic and was cast in the popular Three Mesquiteer series as a replacement for Robert Livingston. After toiling in B movies and serials for a decade, Wayne's breakthrough roles came in John Ford's masterpiece Stagecoach (1939; with Claire Trevor and John Carradine) and RKO's Allegheny Uprising (1939; with Claire Trevor, George Sanders, and Brian Donlevy). Wayne left B movies behind for good, the only western actor of the period to do so. |
the films of john wayneThe Big Trail (1930)
Wayne's first starring role came in Raoul Walsh's The Big Trail, released by FoxSagebrush Trail (1933)
With Lane Chandler in Monogram's Sagebrush TrailThe Three Musketeers (1933)
From Mascot's action-adventure serial The Three MusketeersThe Desert Trail (1935)
Wayne catches up with some robbers in Monogram's western The Desert TrailConflict (1936)
Wayne portrays logger Pat Glendon in the Universal drama Conflict. Also pictured is Tommy BuppAdventure's End (1937)
From the Universal adventure flick Adventure's End with Diana GibsonHell Town (1937)
From Paramount's western release Hell Town with John PattersonOverland Stage Raiders (1938)
From Republic's Overland Stage Raiders, part of the Three Mesquiteers series. Also pictured are Ray 'Crash' Corrigan and Max TerhuneRed River Range (1938)
Ray 'Crash' Corrigan and John Wayne round up a cattle rustler in Republic's Red River RangeSanta Fe Stampede (1938)
With Dick Rush, Max Terhune, and Ray 'Crash' Corrigan in Republic's Santa Fe StampedeThree Texas Steers (1939)
From Republic's Three Texas Steers with Max Terhune and Ray 'Crash' CorriganFrontier Horizon (1939)
From the Republic Three Mesquiteers entry Frontier Horizon with Raymond Hatton. Wayne left the series after this filmAllegheny Uprising (1939)
With Claire Trevor in RKO's excellent western Allegheny UprisingStagecoach (1939)
From John Ford's Stagecoach, the film that catapulted John Wayne out of B movies. Also pictured are John Carradine, Louise Platt, and Claire TrevorThe Shepherd of the Hills (1941)
From Paramount's The Shepherd of the Hills with Betty Field and Harry CareyIn Old California (1942)
From Republic's western In Old California with Binnie BarnesReap the Wild Wind (1942)
With Ray Milland in Cecil B. Demille's Reap the Wild Wind, released by ParamountThe Lady Takes a Chance (1943)
Behind-the-scenes photo with Jean Arthur used to promote RKO's romantic comedy The Lady Takes a ChanceFlame of Barbary Coast (1945)
With Ann Dvorak in Republic's Flame of Barbary CoastTycoon (1947)
Wayne stars as Johnny Munroe in the big-budget romantic adventure Tycoon, released by RKOJet Pilot (1957)
With Janet Leigh and Phil Arnold in the RKO production Jet Pilot. Originally lensed in 1950, this feature was not released until 1957 when Universal-International distributed the picture. By the time of the film's release, RKO had been sold to Desilu ProductionsThe Comancheros (1961)
With Stuart Whitman and Ina Balin in the 20th Century Fox western The ComancherosHatari! (1962)
With Elsa Martinelli in Howard Hawks' comedy-adventure Hatari!Donovan's Reef (1963)
With Elizabeth Allen in John Ford's comedy Donovan's Reef, released by ParamountCircus World (1964)
From the Paramount drama Circus World with Claudia Cardinale and Rita HayworthChisum (1970)
From the Warner Bros. western Chisum with Bruce Cabot and Glenn CorbettRio Lobo (1970)
With Jorge Rivero and Jennifer O'Neill in Howard Hawks' western Rio LoboThe Cowboys (1972)
The Duke slugs it out with Bruce Dern in the Warner Bros. release The Cowboyslater yearsIn addition to acting, in later years Wayne also turned to producing and occasionally directing films. Among the films he produced were The High and the Mighty, Hondo, Island in the Sky, and The Alamo. He served as director for The Alamo and The Green Berets, as well as a few other films.Years of heavy drinking and a five-pack-a-day smoking habit began to take a toll on Wayne's health. Just a few months after the debut of Circus World (1964; with Claudia Cardinale and Rita Hayworth), Wayne was diagnosed with lung cancer, and his left lung was removed in September 1964. Yet he went back to work soon after, entering a very productive period in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the release of such films as El Dorado (1966; with Robert Mitchum), True Grit (1969; Wayne won an Oscar for his role), Rio Lobo (1970; with Jorge Rivero), and Big Jake (1971; with Richard Boone), among others. His final film bow came in The Shootist (1976), in which Wayne portrays a cancer-stricken gunfighter looking to end his days with dignity. The actor fell ill during production but was able to complete the picture. Afterward, his health deteriorated rapidly, and after another bout with cancer, John Wayne died on June 11, 1979, at the age of 72. He was survived by his estranged third wife, Pilar (the couple separated in 1973 but never divorced) and seven children from his first and third marriages. |
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This page premiered March 6, 2006.
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