Changes

==Health==

==Health==

Wayne was a pack-a-day cigarette smoker until the early 1960s, and his problems and frustrations related to the filming of ''The Alamo'' increased his habit to four packs daily on the set; it is also said he may have contracted cancer while on the set of ''The Conqueror'' (1956)[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049092/], which was filmed near nuclear test sites in [[Nevada]]; indeed, several individuals related to the production of that film succumed to cancer afterwards.  In 1964 a malignant tumor was discovered in one of his lungs, necessitating its complete removal and mandating the presence of an oxygen cylinder on the sets of his later films.  Although a physically powerful individual – he once knocked out friend and fellow actor Ward Bond by sending his fist through a closed door – the cancer he contracted never fully left; his last film, ''The Shootist'' (1976)[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075213/] ironically delt with a gunfighter dying of cancer.  In 1979 his stomach was removed, but by then the cancer had spread throughout his body, and it was a gaunt-looking Wayne who took the stage to present a best actor Oscar in that April's ceremony.  Hospitalized for good a few months later, he died in Los Angeles, [[California]], June 11, 1979, but not before his friend and co-star O'Hara and several other actors made a successful petition to Congress, in which he was awarded the [[Congressional Gold Medal]] and the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]].   

Wayne was a pack-a-day cigarette smoker until the early 1960s, and his problems and frustrations related to the filming of ''The Alamo'' increased his habit to four packs daily on the set; it is also said he may have contracted cancer while on the set of ''The Conqueror'' (1956)[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049092/], which was filmed near nuclear test sites in [[Nevada]]; indeed, several individuals related to the production of that film succumed to cancer afterwards.  In 1964 a malignant tumor was discovered in one of his lungs, necessitating its complete removal and mandating the presence of an oxygen cylinder on the sets of his later films.  Although a physically powerful individual – he once knocked out friend and fellow actor Ward Bond by sending his fist through a closed door – the cancer he contracted never fully left; his last film, ''The Shootist'' (1976)[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075213/] ironically delt with a gunfighter dying of cancer.  In 1979 his stomach was removed, but by then the cancer had spread throughout his body, and it was a gaunt-looking Wayne who took the stage to present a best actor Oscar in that April's ceremony.  Hospitalized for good a few months later, he died in Los Angeles, [[California]], June 11, 1979, but not before his friend and co-star O'Hara and several other actors made a successful petition to Congress, in which he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]].   

Wayne's spoken album ''America: Why I Love Her'' was a best seller when originally released in 1973; it was back on the charts after its re-release on CD after the [[September 11, 2001]] terrorist attacks.

Wayne's spoken album ''America: Why I Love Her'' was a best seller when originally released in 1973; it was back on the charts after its re-release on CD after the [[September 11, 2001]] terrorist attacks.

Includes U.S. history from the early 1960s.

Includes U.S. history from the early 1960s.

[[Category:US History by Decade]]

[[Category:US History by Decade]]

==See also==

==See also==