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.
Known For
John Chance
Rio Bravo
The Ringo Kid
Stagecoach
Self (archive footage)
Movie Tough Guys
Thomas Dunson
Red River
Sean Thornton
The Quiet Man
Ethan Edwards
The Searchers
Centurion at crucifixion
The Greatest Story Ever Told
Self (archive footage)
The Movie Orgy
Col. Davy Crockett
The Alamo
Jake Cutter
The Comancheros
J.D. Cahill
Cahill: United States Marshal
Sean Mercer
Hatari!
Sam McCord
North to Alaska
Hondo Lane
Hondo
Lt. Cmdr. Wedge Donovan
The Fighting Seabees
Jacob McCandles
Big Jake
Tom Doniphon
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Quirt Evans
Angel and the Badman
Colonel Mike Kirby
The Green Berets
Cole Thornton
El Dorado
John Wyatt
Paradise Canyon
Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke
Rio Grande
Singin' Sandy Saunders
Riders of Destiny
Randy Bowers
Randy Rides Alone
John Higgins
Texas Terror
Jerry Mason
The Lucky Texan
John Brant
Sagebrush Trail
Temujin, later Genghis Khan
The Conqueror
Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman
How the West Was Won
Self
Perry Como's Early American Christmas
Lynn Hollister
A Man Betrayed
Rusty Thomas
Without Reservations
J.B. Books
The Shootist
Joe January
Legend of the Lost
Narrator
A Nation Builds Under Fire
Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort
The Longest Day
Chance Buckman
Hellfighters
Col. Cord McNally
Rio Lobo
McQ
McQ
Taw Jackson
The War Wagon
Lt. Jim Brannigan
Brannigan
Jimmy McCoy Jr.
Baby Face
Self
Wayne Train
Pat Talbot
Reunion in France
John Blair
Winds of the Wasteland
Ted Hayden aka Gat Ganns
West of the Divide
Rod Drew
The Trail Beyond
Dan
Seven Sinners
Captain Dooley
Island in the Sky
Captain Karl Ehrlich
The Sea Chase
Bob Seton
Dark Command
Capt. Nathan Cutting Brittles
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Duke E. Gifford
Operation Pacific
Tom Craig
In Old California
Stephen Aloysius Williams
Trouble Along the Way
Lane
The Train Robbers
Jackson Morgan
Lady for a Night
Duke Fergus
Flame of Barbary Coast
Jim McLain
Big Jim McLain
Daniel F Somers
In Old Oklahoma
John Phillips
Three Faces West
Craig McCoy
The Shadow of the Eagle
Capt. Ralls
Wake of the Red Witch
Dick Wallace
His Private Secretary
Robert Marmaduke Sangster Hightower
3 Godfathers
Jim Gordon
Flying Tigers
Capt. Tom Wilder
Blood Alley
Breck Coleman
The Big Trail
Matt Masters
Circus World
Young Matt Matthews
The Shepherd of the Hills
Capt. Kirby York
Fort Apache
George Washington McLintock
McLintock!
Rocklin
Tall in the Saddle
John Breen
The Fighting Kentuckian
Glennister
The Spoilers
Jim Smith
Allegheny Uprising
Michael "Guns" Donovan
Donovan's Reef
Wil Andersen
The Cowboys
John Wyatt
Westward Ho
U.S. Marshal John Travers
The Star Packer
Charles 'Pittsburgh' Markham
Pittsburgh
Capt. Rockwell Torrey
In Harm's Way
George Abitbol (archive footage)
La Classe américaine
Captain Jack Stuart
Reap the Wild Wind
John Elder
The Sons of Katie Elder
The Air Pilot
The Hurricane Express
College Coach
Flood Extra (uncredited)
Noah's Ark
Mother Machree
Actor in a Movie (uncredited)
I Married a Woman
Cancel My Reservation
Extra (uncredited)
Born Reckless
Salute
Radioman on Surface (uncredited)
Men Without Women
Guard (uncredited)
Bardelys the Magnificent
Extra (uncredited)
The Great K&A Train Robbery
Central Airport
Cheer Up and Smile
Black Watch Soldier (uncredited)
The Black Watch
Annie Laurie
Four Sons
John Chisum
Chisum
Frank W. 'Spig' Wead
The Wings of Eagles
The Shootist: The Legend Lives On
Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn
True Grit
Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn
Rooster Cogburn
Duke Hudkins
A Lady Takes a Chance
Maj. Daniel Xavier Kirby
Flying Leathernecks
Townsend Harris
The Barbarian and the Geisha
Col John Marlowe
The Horse Soldiers
Dan Roman
The High and the Mighty
Sgt. John M. Stryker
Sands of Iwo Jima
Lt. (J.G.) 'Rusty' Ryan
They Were Expendable
John Tobin
The Lawless Frontier
Deputy Sheriff John Steele
The Big Stampede
Colonel John Henry Thomas
The Undefeated
Colonel Joseph Madden
Back to Bataan
(archive footage)
Showbiz Goes to War
John Holmes
The Man from Monterey
Ole Olsen
The Long Voyage Home
John Mason
Haunted Gold
Dare Rudd
Born to the West
John Scott / John Jones
The Desert Trail
John Weston
The Man from Utah
Stony Brooke
New Frontier
John Martin
Rainbow Valley
John Mason
The Dawn Rider
John Carruthers
Blue Steel
Chris Morrell
'Neath the Arizona Skies
John Drury
Ride Him, Cowboy
Col. Jim Shannon
Jet Pilot
John Trent
The Telegraph Trail
John Clayborn
King of the Pecos
Duke
Two-Fisted Law
John Bishop
Somewhere in Sonora
Steve Pickett
Texas Cyclone
John Middleton
Lawless Range
Johnny Munroe
Tycoon
Stony Brooke
Santa Fe Stampede
John Devlin
Dakota
Yale Football Player (uncredited)
Brown of Harvard
Lt. Bob Denton
Arizona
Clint Turner
The Range Feud
John Tipton
The Lawless Nineties
John Carruthers
Bandits of the Badlands
John Blair
The Stagecoach Race
U.S. Marshal John Travers
The Shadow Gang
Lt. Tom Wayne
The Three Musketeers
Stony Brooke
Three Texas Steers
Ted Hayden aka Gat Ganns
Next Of Kin
John Mason
Avenging Angel
Johnny Hanson
Idol of the Crowds
Self (archive footage)
Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
Stony Brooke
Red River Range
Stony Brooke
Overland Stage Raiders
Himself
No Substitute for Victory
Tom Wayne
Desert Command
Stony Brooke
Wyoming Outlaw
Captain John Ashley
The Lonely Trail
Stony Brooke
Pals of the Saddle
Stony Brooke
The Night Riders
Self (archive footage)
The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks
John Wayne: American Hero Of The Movies
Buzz Kinney
Lady and Gent
Bob Adams
I Cover the War!
Biff Smith
California Straight Ahead
Football Player / Extra in Stands
The Drop Kick
Jerry Mason
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
Self
You're the Star
Host
This Little Bullet
Host
Choice
Self
The Challenge of Ideas
John Dawson
The New Frontier
Emcee
Running Hollywood
John Reynolds
Lady from Louisiana
(archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Opposing Football Player
The Draw-Back
Lumberjack (uncredited)
Rough Romance
Smith
The Life of Jimmy Dolan
Self (Archive Footage)
John Wayne: Cowboys & Demons
Himself
The John Wayne Story - The Later Years
Himself
JOHN WAYNE - AMERICAN LEGEND
Dusty Rhodes
Maker of Men
Gen. Mike Randolph
Cast a Giant Shadow
Bob Hope's Comedy Christmas Special
Pete Donahue
Words and Music
(archive footage)
Hollywood's Hidden Secrets
Self (archive footage)
The Duke at Fox
Self
CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years
Peter Brooks
Girls Demand Excitement
Self (archive footage)
The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Sly
Self (archive footage)
John Ford & Monument Valley
Self (archive footage)
Clint Eastwood, la dernière légende
Capt John Delmont
The Oregon Trail
Rodeo Racketeers
Jerry Mason
Claim Jumpers
Self - Narrator
The American West of John Ford
Pat Glendon
Conflict
Duke Slade
Adventure's End
The Colter Craven Story
Marine Sergeant
Flashing Spikes
Horse Race Spectator / Condemned Man in Flashback
Hangman's House
Self (archive footage)
Television: The First Fifty Years
Himself
Young Duke: Making Of A Movie Star
Bob Randall
Sea Spoilers
self
That's Action
Self
Raquel!
Himself
John Wayne on Film
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still
Self
Christmas Around the World with Perry Como
Self (1969)
Directed by John Ford
Himself/Narrator
Chesty: A Tribute to a Legend
(archive footage)
John Wayne - Eine amerikanische Legende
Himself
John Wayne - Ein Leben für den Film
Self - Host
Swing Out, Sweet Land
Self (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Man on Stool
A Home Made Man
Self (archive footage)
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
Self (staged 'archive' footage) (uncredited)
The Screen Director
Self
Memo for Joe
Extra
Speakeasy
(archive footage)
The 10 from Texas
Self - Actor / Various Roles (archive footage)
John Ford : l'homme qui inventa l'Amérique
Self (archive footage)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Self (archive footage)
And the Oscar Goes To...
Self (archive footage)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Self (archive footage)
It's Showtime
Himself (archive footage)
John Wayne - L'Amérique à tout prix
Self (archive footage)
The Making of 'Rio Grande'
Self (archive footage)
The Selling of the Pentagon
John Wyatt
Guns Along The Trail
Self - Roaster (archive footage)
The Best of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
Himself - Host
The Victory Squad
The John Wayne Story: The Early Years
Davy Crockett
John Wayne's 'The Alamo'
Gordon Wales
Three Girls Lost
Self (archive footage)
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
Self (archive footage)
Lee Marvin: A Personal Portrait by John Boorman
Self (archive footage)
Dictateur, un boulot de dingue
Self
Three Lives
Self
Plimpton! Shoot-Out at Rio Lobo
Self (archive footage)
Nuke 'Em, Duke
(archive footage)
Texaco Presents: A Quarter Century of Bob Hope on Television
Reginald Thorpe as a corpse
The Deceiver
Self
Christmas Around The World With Perry Como
Self (archive footage)
Hooray for Hollywood
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
247
Gender
Male
Birthday
1907-05-26
Place of Birth
Winterset, Iowa, USA
Also Known As
Duke