John Wayne Biography

Fast Facts

• His nickname was inspired by a remark that a fireman made about him in his childhood, when his constant companion was his dog, Duke
• While a USC football player, he often worked for filmmakers during summers as an extra or prop man; can be spotted in several late 1920s silent films
• Met John Ford, the director with whom Wayne did some of his most memorable work---including The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Stagecoach and The Quiet Man---in 1926 when he worked odd jobs on a Ford movie set
• Known for his conservative politics, Wayne turned down the starring role in the 1949 classic All the King's Men, which he considered un-American
• The film won an Oscar for Broderick Crawford (who beat Wayne, nominated for Sands of Iwo Jima)
• Turned down the role of Marshal Dillon in Gunsmoke, but recommended his friend James Arness and gave an on-camera introduction in the pilot episode
• One of Wayne's most impressive and complex roles was that of Ethan Edwards, the bigoted, obsessed hunter of America Indians in Ford's 1956 masterpiece, The Searchers
• Wayne named one of his sons Ethan in honor of the pride he took in his powerful portrayal
• Wayne's politics angered many young people during the 1960s; but just as, in a later era, left-wing rock star Bruce Springsteen surely had fans among Republicans, Wayne's films enraptured some who hated his politics, including protest singer Phil Ochs
• Received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1979; also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (posthumously) in 1980
• More than 30 years after his death, finished third in a Harris poll on favorite movie stars