texastrophies Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 May 26, 1907 John Wayne is born John Wayne, an actor who came to epitomize the American West, is born in Winterset, Iowa. Born Marion Michael Morrison, Wayne's family moved to Glendale, California, when he was six years old. As a teen, he rose at four in the morning to deliver newspapers, and after school he played football and made deliveries for local stores. When he graduated from high school, he hoped to attend the U.S. Naval Academy. However, after the school rejected him, he accepted a full scholarship to play football at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. In the summer of 1926, Wayne's football coach found him a job as an assistant prop man on the set of a movie directed by John Ford. Ford started to use Wayne as an extra, and he eventually began to trust him with some larger roles. In 1930, Ford recommended Wayne for Fox's epic Western The Big Trail. Wayne won the part, but the movie did poorly, and Fox let his contract lapse. During the next decade, Wayne worked tirelessly in countless low-budget western films, sharpening his talents and developing a distinct persona for his cowboy characters. Finally, his old mentor John Ford gave Wayne his big break, casting him in his brilliant 1939 western, Stagecoach. Wayne played the role of Ringo Kid, and he imbued the character with the essential traits that would inform nearly all of his subsequent screen roles: a tough and clear-eyed honesty, unquestioning valor, and a laconic, almost plodding manner. After Stagecoach, Wayne's career took off. Among the dozens of Westerns he appeared in-many of them directed by Ford-were memorable classics like Tall in the Saddle (1944), Red River (1948), Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Rio Bravo (1959), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). In all these films, The Duke, as he was known, embodied the simple, and perhaps simplistic, cowboy values of decency, honesty, and integrity. Besides Westerns, Wayne also acted in war films. It was a small leap from the valorous cowboy or cavalry soldier to the brave WWII fighters of films like Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and Flying Leathernecks (1951). Deeply conservative in his politics, Wayne also used his 1968 film, The Green Berets, to express his support of the American government's war in Vietnam. By the late 1960s, some Americans had tired of Wayne and his simplistically masculine and patriotic characters. Increasingly, western movies were rejecting the simple black-and-white moral codes championed by Wayne and replacing them with a more complex and tragic view of the American West. However, Wayne proved more adaptable than many expected. In his Oscar-winning role in True Grit (1969), he began to escape the narrow confines of his own good-guy image. His final film, The Shootist (1976), won over even his most severe critics. Wayne--who was himself battling lung cancer--played a dying gunfighter whose moral codes and principles no longer fit in a changing world. Three years later, Wayne died of cancer. To this day, public polls identify him as one of the most popular actors of all time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Re: Happy Birthday to Marion Michael Morrison Happy Birthday to my hero. You have no idea how much I miss you Now on the day that John Wayne died I found myself on the continental divide Tell me where do we go from here? Think I'll ride into Leadville and have a few beers Think of "Red River", "Liberty Valence" can't believe the old man's gone Chorus But now he's incommunicado Leaving such a hole in a world that believed That a life with such bravado Was taking the right way home Written by J. Buffett Ranger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUDRUNNER Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Re: Happy Birthday to Marion Michael Morrison He's a true American icon.My Grandma gave my Dad Wayne as his middle name because she liked him so much.I still like to watch his movies.Just saw The Quite Man last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldawg Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Re: Happy Birthday to Marion Michael Morrison I'll never tire of watching the Duke reruns. "I ain't gonna hit ya pilgrim...like heck I ain't"....lol The legend will always live on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
too_pointer Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Re: Happy Birthday to Marion Michael Morrison I really miss him for his cowboy movies. He made a huge impact on alot of people lives, god bless him too_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archerjg Posted May 27, 2005 Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 Re: Happy Birthday to Marion Michael Morrison Dad and I love to watch John Wayne movies they are all good. Archerjg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted May 27, 2005 Report Share Posted May 27, 2005 Re: Happy Birthday to Marion Michael Morrison John Wayne is one of my heros! i still love watching his movies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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