John Wayne

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John Wayne

John Wayne (real name: Marion Morrison; nickname: "Duke"), 1907-1979[1], United States film actor, was an icon of American heroism, often appearing in patriotic roles, particularly in movies he made during World War II. His New York Times obituary called him "the greatest figure of one of America's greatest native art forms, the western."[2]. Vincent Canby called him "as emblematic of the United States of America as the Indian head penny, and perhaps even more enduring."[3]

Many of his Westerns were directed by John Ford.

He was politically a conservative, an anti-[[[Communist]], and a supporter of Richard Nixon, Barry Goldwater, Spiro Agnew, and Ronald Reagan. He supported the war in Vietnam and starred in a movie about it, The Green Berets, which irritated critics such as Roger Ebert who wrote: "What we certainly do not need is a movie depicting Vietnam in terms of cowboys and Indians.... We need no more propaganda. But propaganda is what we get in 'The Green Berets,' a heavy-handed, remarkably old-fashioned film."[4]

He appeared in over two hundred films. His classic Westerns included Stagecoach, Red River, and The Searchers; patriotic war movies included They Were Expendable, Sands of Iwo Jima, and The Green Berets; and films that departed from the John Wayne stereotype included The Long Voyage Home, The Quiet Man, and True Grit.

He won only one Academy Award: "Best Actor," in 1969, for True Grit. His finest performance, however, was perhaps alongside Lauren Bacall in The Shootist, his final film released in 1976.

Before he died of colon cancer, he converted to Catholicism.

Notes and references

  1. John Wayne, Internet Movie Database
  2. Shephard, Richard F. (1979), "'Duke,' an American Hero," The New York Times, June 12, 1979, p. A10
  3. Canby, Vincent (1979), "Myth as a Man Realized Our Dreams," The New York Times, June 13, 1979, p. B10
  4. The Green Berets, Robert Ebert's 1968 review