Story of John Wayne E-Book

Neil Crossley

• Herausgeber: Fox Chapel Publishing
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 113

Beschreibung

Peek inside the life and career of John Wayne, or "The Duke," in this amazingly detailed book, The Story of John Wayne. Read about his humble beginnings, his desire to join the military, be a football pro, and ultimately his rise to stardom in the Wild West movies of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. It features a review of the top 10 Wayne movies for each decade and discusses how he became the star, how he got along with his co-stars and leading ladies. Additionally, included is information about Wayne's political influence and ambitions, his foray onto the small screen, and ultimately with his diagnosis of incurable cancer. In his day, John Wayne was considered the epitome of manhood.

Leseprobe

STORY OF

CONTRIBUTORS:

JOEL MCIVER

,

NEIL CROSSLEY

,

SCOTT REEVES.

©2024 by Future Publishing Limited

Articles in this issue are translated or reproduced from

Story of John Wayne: The Ultimate Collector’s Edition

and are the

copyright of or licensed to Future Publishing Limited, a Future plc group company, UK 2022.

Used under license. All rights reserved. This version published by Fox Chapel Publishing Company, Inc., 903 Square Street,

Mount Joy, PA 17552.

For more information about the Future plc group, go to

http://www.futureplc.com

.

eISBN: 978-1-6374-1370-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023952724

To learn more about the other great books from Fox Chapel Publishing, or to find a retailer near you, call toll-free 800-457-

9112 or visit us at

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.

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[email protected].

First printing

COURAGE IS BEING

SCARED TO DEATH

,

BUT SADDLING UP

ANYWAY.

hen you’re a boy named Marion growing up in the state of

Iowa, you toughen up fast. Yet few boys go from riding a

horse to school to sitting astride a galloping steed on the set

of a big-budget blockbuster movie that will be seen across the

globe. Marion Robert Morrison did, and he achieved global

stardom with nothing more than grit, determination, and no

small amount of hard work and bravery.

In time, he would come to be known as John Wayne, one of the most

iconic titles in the history of cinema. This is the story of how he rose

from a quiet rural upbringing to become a Hollywood hero and the most

famous cowboy the big screen has ever seen. From his early days lugging

props around movie sets to his first big break, early flops, and biggest

hits; to the women who won his heart (however briefly), his pioneering

methods, and his legacy today. This is the tale of the man who made the

Western his own, spoke as he found, and above all, embodied what it was

to be an American patriot in a world of ever-changing fortunes. This is

the story of John Wayne.

Image

Getty Images

John Wayne

John Wayne

John Wayne

CONTENTS

1

2

3

4

5

Image

Alamy

CHAPTER 1

THE NAME

’

s DUKE

EARLY YEARS

.................................................................

8

A BOOT IN THE DOOR

.......................

13

STAGECOACH:

THE DUKE’S BIGBREAK

.....

18

CHAPTER 2

A NEW FRONTIER

AMERICA’S FAVORITE

COWBOY

...........................................................................

24

A REAL-LIFE GUNFIGHT

..............

30

TOP 10 FILMS

OF THE 1940

S

........................................

32

CHAPTER 3

MOVIE

MAVERICK

BEHIND THE CAMERA

.................................

43

LEADING LADIES

........................................

49

TOP 10 FILMS

OF THE 1950

S

........................................

56

CHAPTER 4

THE Controversial

Patriot

POLITICAL POWERHOUSE

.....................

66

THE ALAMO

..........................................................

72

FALSE ADVERTISING

.................

76

TOP 10 FILMS

OF THE 1960

S

...............................

78

CHAPTER 5

A Troubling Icon

HOLLYWOOD HERO

..........................................

88

THE PLAYBOY INTERVIEW

......

95

SMALL-SCREEN STAR

................

98

END CREDITS

.................................

103

WAYNE’S WORLD

...........

110

4

A GOAL

,

A LOVE

,

AND A

DREAM GIVE YOU TOTAL

CONTROL OVER YOUR BODY

AND YOUR LIFE.

John Wayne

JOHN

WAYNE

BY

NUMBERS

112

J

O

NUMB

HN

YNE

A GOAL

,

A LOVE

,

A LOVE

,

,

AND A

DREAM GIVE YOU TOTAL

CONTROL OVER YOUR BODY

AND YOUR LIFE

.

John Wayne

5

Image

Getty Images

CHAPTER 1

tHE NAME

’

s

DUKE

EARLY YEARS

.................................................................

8

A BOOT IN THE DOOR

.......................

13

STAGECOACH:

THE DUKE’S BIGBREAK

.....

18

How a Midwestern boy named Marion distinguished

himself thanks to physical prowess and sheer

determination.

By NEIL CROSSLEY

EARLY

YEARS

Wayne (left) with his father

Leonard and brother Robert.

The house that Wayne

was born in.

Wayne’s hometown of Winterset,

Iowa, is known for its covered bridges.

Images

Alamy

or the 30,000 people a year who visit the

house where John Wayne was born, it

must be difficult to envisage how such

a gargantuan star can have emerged

from such a modest dwelling. The tiny

white clapboard house is situated in

the small town of Winterset, Iowa, 35

miles southwest of the state capital, Des

Moines. Wayne lived there for only three

years, but it is now the only museum in

the world dedicated to him.

These days, the house is crammed with

period-era furniture and memorabilia

from Wayne’s career, including an eye

patch he wore in the original

True Grit

and an autographed copy of a 1972

biography entitled

The John Wayne Story

.

A dim, back corner room, measuring

just eight feet wide and 15 feet long, is

where the infant Wayne drew his first

breath, and it’s a space that instills a

reverential hush among the steady stream

of visitors.

HE TOOK THE FAMILY

WEST TO SOUTHERN

CALIFORNIA

WHERE THEY TRIED

RANCHING IN THE

MOJAVE DESERT.

hailing from the Isle of Lewis in the Outer

Hebrides. When Clyde developed a lung

condition, he decided to move to warmer

climes in an effort to improve his health. He

took the family west to southern California,

where they tried ranching in the Mojave

Desert. So began a whole new way of life for

Wayne and his younger brother, Robert, his

only sibling. They rode a horse to school and

would swim in a local irrigation ditch.

In 1916, when Wayne was seven, the

family moved again, this time to Lancaster,

Had his family remained in this sleepy

Midwestern town, it seems unlikely that he

would have risen to prominence in the way

that he did. But a move west and a series of

chance events set him on a path that would

secure his reputation as one of the greatest

movie icons of all time.

Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison

on May 26, 1907, to Mary Alberta “Molly”

Brown and Clyde Leonard Morrison, a

pharmacist. He was of English, Ulster-Scots,

and Irish ancestry, the Morrisons originally

9

EARLY YEARS

A view of Moyse Field on the

campus of Glendale Union

High School (now called

Glendale High School).

California. A few years later they moved

for a third time when Clyde’s attempts to

become a farmer eventually failed.

The family settled in Glendale, California,

where Clyde ran a drug store. By his

mid-teens, Wayne was rising at four every

morning to deliver newspapers, and after

playing football he would make deliveries

for his father and other local stores in the

evenings.

It was while living in Glendale that Wayne

received his famous nickname “Duke.” This

was the name of the family’s Airedale Terrier,

and the young Wayne spent so much time

with the animal that he earned the nickname

“Little Duke.” He far preferred it to Marion

and the name stuck.

Wayne attended Glendale Union High

School and excelled at both sport and

academic study. He became part of the

school’s football team and its 1924 league

championship-winning squad. He also

joined its debate team, contributed to the

school newspaper’s sports column, and took

part in numerous theatrical productions.

Towards the end of Wayne’s high school

years, two setbacks occurred that would

transform his career plans. The first came

when he applied to the US Naval Academy

in Annapolis but narrowly failed admission

due to insufficient grades. Instead, in 1925,

he went to the University of Southern

California (USC) on a football scholarship

and majored in pre-law.

Wayne played college football

at the University of Southern

California (circa 1927).

BELOW

An aerial view of the

Westwood campus at USC,

California.

10

CHAPTER 1

An Airedale

Terrier like Wayne’s

beloved Duke.

Images

Alamy, Getty Images

By the age of 18, Wayne was an imposing

6 foot 4 inches tall and playing on the USC

football team under revered coach Howard

Jones. But in 1927, after two years at USC,

a second setback occurred that prompted a

major change in his fortunes.

Like many of his peers, Wayne was an

avid surfer and would take any available

opportunity to get out on his board at

Newport Beach. During one surfing session

Wayne was knocked off his board by a wave

and forced underwater, which left him with

a broken collarbone.

Years later, Wayne admitted that he was

too terrified of coach Howard Jones to reveal

the actual cause of his injury. He attempted

to bluff his way through football practices,

but the injury was too painful. He was

dropped from the team and lost his athletic

scholarship.

Without the scholarship, he had to pay for

boarding and tuition fees, something he was

unable to do even when he took on various

jobs. His parents, who divorced in 1926,

were unable to help. By the end of 1927 he

had left university.

It was a profound shock. Within the

space of two years Wayne had been

thwarted in his consecutive ambitions

to become a naval officer and a pro

football player. But he had already proved

himself to be a well-rounded scholar—a

WAYNE WAS

KNOCKED OFF

HIS BOARD

BY A WAVE

AND FORCED

UNDERWATER.

resourceful, hardworking, and ambitious

young man who excelled academically and

on the sports field. These were attributes

that would serve him well as he embarked

on a whole new chapter in his life in the

months and years ahead.

11

EARLY YEARS

or every actor that enters the

profession through the time-

honored route of drama school

and stage, there are those with

no training whatsoever who fall

in by accident and go on to light up

the big screen with their charisma and

presence. They may not possess any finely honed

drama skills at the outset, but they exude a realism,

strength, and believability that resonates with

audiences.

Such was the case with John Wayne, who after

losing his football scholarship at the University

of Southern California (USC) looked around for

ways to make money. By then he had dropped the

“Marion” from his birth name to become simply

“Duke” Morrison. He had no thoughts of becoming

an actor, but within months he was being drawn into

an industry that fueled his interests and his talents.

It was Wayne’s former USC football coach, Howard

Jones, who helped secure him a job. Jones had given

How the young Duke Morrison went from behind-

the-scenes prop shifting to the cusp of stardom.

By

NEIL CROSSLEY

silent Western movie star Tom Mix tickets for USC

football games. As a return favor to Jones, Hollywood

director John Ford agreed to hire the young Duke as

a prop boy and laborer at Fox Studios. Ford would

become pivotal to Wayne’s acting career. Decades later,

Wayne would refer to Ford as “the most profound

relationship of my life and, I believe, my greatest

friendship.”

As prop boy, Wayne joined a group of manual

laborers known as a “swing gang” who were

responsible for moving equipment and furniture and

handling props.

Away from the elitist fraternity houses of USC,

Wayne reveled in the rough and tumble of the

blue-collar workforce. “There were a lot of tough

guys around in those days, working in the picture

business,” he said years later.

At around the same time, silent actor Tom Mix

allegedly introduced Wayne to Wyatt Earp, who was

living out his days in Los Angeles. The legendary lawman

and gambler made a real impact on a young Wayne.

A BOOT

IN THE

DOOR

Image

Alamy

13

“My father said he basically played

Wyatt Earp,” recalled Wayne’s son Ethan

on the American Heroes Channel in 2016.

“When he has to play a sheriff or leader

going into something, he goes in like he’s

Wyatt Earp.”

In Scott Eyman’s biography

John Wayne:

The Life and Legend

, stuntman Yakima

Canutt said that Wayne’s behind-the-

scenes exposure to genuine hard men

played a major role in his presence on

the screen. “He thrived on working with

cowboys,” said Canutt. “He picked up on

what those men were like and he’d find

ways of bringing those things into his

pictures.”

By 1928, Wayne began picking up

work as an extra as well as bit parts at Fox

and other studios. When a call went out

for 6-foot-plus-tall extras for Warners’

biblical epic

Noah’s Ark

, Wayne put

himself forward for the spectacular flood

sequence. It was perilous work, with rivers

of water and a mocked-up temple washing

over Wayne and other extras.

Ford saw talent in Wayne and began

molding him for parts. When Ford was

assigned a film called

Salute

, his first

“talkie,” he enlisted Wayne’s help to use

some of his former USC football players

in bit parts. Wayne played a naval cadet

named Bill and the film features his first

spoken line of dialogue.

As a prop man, Wayne earned $35

a week, but the salaries for

Salute

were

between $50 and $75 a week. The only

acting experience Wayne had was a

few high school and college theater

productions. In the years that followed,

Ford would coach him in the pivotal skills

needed by a screen actor.

“Duke . . . was just a stick of wood when

he came away from USC,” said director

Allan Dwan in Eyman’s biography. “Jack

[John Ford] gave him character.”

Wayne endeared himself to Ford by

doing pretty much anything the director

asked him to do, as demonstrated on

the set of the submarine war drama

Men Without Women

, which was shot

off Catalina Island in 1929. The scene

required some of the actors to jump off a

ship, disappear underwater, inhale some

air from a submerged hose, then reappear

gasping as though they were shipwrecked

sailors.

In the normally sun-baked environs of

Catalina Island (located off the coast of

Southern California), it could almost have