John Wayne
Biography
Marion Mitchell Morrison (born Marion Robert Morrison) (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed Duke, was an American actor and filmmaker. An Academy Award-winner for True Grit (1969), Wayne was among the top box office draws for three decades. Born in Winterset, Iowa, Wayne grew up in Southern California. He was president of Glendale High class of 1925. He found work at local film studios when he lost his football scholarship to the University of Southern California as a result of a bodysurfing accident. Initially working for the Fox Film Corporation, he appeared mostly in small bit parts. His first leading role came in Raoul Walsh's The Big Trail (1930), which led to leading roles in numerous B movies throughout the 1930s, many of them in the Western genre. Wayne's career took off in 1939, with John Ford's Stagecoach making him an instant star. He went on to star in 142 pictures. Biographer Ronald Davis said, "John Wayne personified for millions the nation's frontier heritage. Eighty-three of his movies were Westerns, and in them, he played cowboys, cavalrymen, and unconquerable loners extracted from the Republic's central creation myth." Wayne's other well-known Western roles include a cattleman driving his herd north on the Chisholm Trail in Red River (1948), a Civil War veteran whose young niece is abducted by a tribe of Comanches in The Searchers (1956), and a troubled rancher competing with a lawyer for a woman's hand in marriage in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). He is also remembered for his roles in The Quiet Man (1952), Rio Bravo (1959), and The Longest Day (1962). In his final screen performance, he starred as an aging gunfighter battling cancer in The Shootist (1976). He appeared with many important Hollywood stars of his era, and his last public appearance was at the Academy Awards ceremony on April 9, 1979.
Personal Details
Also Known As
Movies (45)
Elway
as Self (archive footage)
2025
Naughty America: Guns & Stripes
as Self (archive footage)
2025
The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout
as Self (archive footage)
2024
Atomic People
as Self (archive footage)
2024
John Wayne: Cowboys & Demons
as Self (Archive Footage)
2023
Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend
as Self (archive footage)
2022
John Ford and Throwing
2022
Gérard Blain : adultes, je vous hais
as Self (archive)
2019
John Wayne - America at All Costs
as Himself (archive footage)
2019
John Ford: The Man Who Invented America
as Self - Actor / Various Roles (archive footage)
2019
John Wayne on Film
as Himself
2016
Dictator: One Crazy Job
as Self (archive footage)
2013
John Ford & Monument Valley
as Self (archive footage)
2013
Christmas Around the World with Perry Como
as Self
2012
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
as Self (archive footage)
2010
Nuke 'Em, Duke
as Self (archive footage)
2010
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
as Self (archive footage)
2009
The Shootist: The Legend Lives On
2001
The Duke at Fox
as Self (archive footage)
2001
John Wayne-A Life on Film
as Himself
2000
Television: The First Fifty Years
as Self (archive footage)
1999
JOHN WAYNE - AMERICAN LEGEND
as Himself
1998
The Best of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
as Self - Roaster (archive footage)
1998
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
as Self (archive footage)
1997
La Classe américaine
as George Abitbol (archive footage)
1993
Young Duke: Making Of A Movie Star
as Himself
1993
The John Wayne Story - The Later Years
as Himself
1993
The John Wayne Story: The Early Years
1993
The Making of 'Rio Grande'
as Self (archive footage)
1993
John Wayne's 'The Alamo'
as Davy Crockett
1992
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
as Self (archive footage)
1991
John Wayne - Eine amerikanische Legende
as (archive footage)
1991
Movie Tough Guys
as Self (archive footage)
1991
John Wayne: American Hero Of The Movies
1990
Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
as Self (archive footage)
1988
Going Hollywood: The '30s
as (archive footage)
1984
Showbiz Goes to War
as (archive footage)
1982
Perry Como's Early American Christmas
as Self
1978
This Little Bullet
as Host
1977
That's Action
as self
1977
Bob Hope's Comedy Christmas Special
1976
CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years
as Self
1976
The Shootist
as J.B. Books
1976
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
as Jerry Mason
1976
Chesty: A Tribute to a Legend
as Himself/Narrator
1976
