WAYNE, JOHN

born May 26, 1907, Winterset, Iowa, U.S. died June 11, 1979, Los Angeles, Calif. byname Duke, original name Marion Michael Morrison (see Researcher's Note) American motion-picture actor who embodied the image of the strong, taciturn cowboy or soldier. While a member of the University of Southern California football team, Wayne worked summers at the Fox Film Corporation as a propman and developed a friendship with director John Ford. In 1928 he began to get a number of small parts in Ford films. He had his first leading role in director Raoul Walsh's The Big Trail (1930), and over the next eight years he starred in more than 80 low-budget motion pictures. He reached genuine star stature when cast by John Ford as the Ringo Kid in Stagecoach (1939). From that film his place in American cinema was assured and grew with each successive year. Wayne starred in many of John Ford's westerns, including Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Rio Grande (1950), The Searchers (1956), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). His roles in westerns by Howard Hawks, Red River (1948) and Rio Bravo (1959), were among his finest. His war films included Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and Ford's The Wings of Eagles (1957). Among Wayne's other notable film roles were those in Ford's The Long Voyage Home (1940) and The Quiet Man (1952) and Hawks' Hatari! (1962). Late in his career Wayne continued to play in such westerns as Hawks' El Dorado (1967), True Grit (1969), in which his performance as the drunken, one-eyed marshal Rooster Cogburn won him an Academy Award for best actor, and The Shootist (1976). Wayne's career in films spanned 40 years and more than 150 feature films. He was one of the greatest box-office attractions in film history. Following his death a Congressional Medal of Freedom was struck in his honour.