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John Wayne

John Wayne

Birthday: 1907-05-26 | Place of Birth: Winterset, Iowa, USA

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.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2024
The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout

as    Self (archive footage)

2023
John Wayne: Cowboys & Demons

as    Self (Archive Footage)

2022
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)

2016
John Wayne on Film

as    Himself

2013
John Ford & Monument Valley

as    Self (archive footage)

2000
John Wayne-A Life on Film

as    Himself

1998
Lee Marvin: A Personal Portrait by John Boorman

as    Self (archive footage)

1993
1991
Movie Tough Guys

as    Self (archive footage)

1976
Chesty: A Tribute to a Legend

as    Himself/Narrator

1976
The Shootist

as    J.B. Books

1975
Brannigan

as    Lt. Jim Brannigan

1975
Rooster Cogburn

as    Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn

1974
McQ

as    McQ

1973
Cahill: United States Marshal

as    J.D. Cahill

1973
The Train Robbers

as    Lane