Okla-homey
5/26/2007, 07:54 AM
May 26, 1907: John Wayne is born
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5299/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzztg1.gif
One hundred years ago, on this day in 1907, John Wayne is born in Iowa. The star of countless film classics, he became an American and western icon.
http://img61.echo.cx/img61/142/searchers6vy.gif
This John Wayne classic is considered by most film critics (and me) to be the best Wayne film, and probably the best western film ever.
Wayne was born Marion Michael Morrison in Winterset Iowa. While he was a boy, his family moved to Glendale, California. A football star at Glendale High School, he attended the University of Southern California on a football scholarship but dropped out after his sophomore year because of a broken ankle.
http://aycu10.webshots.com/image/15569/2003994572487120854_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003994572487120854)
Duke's first home in Iowa. The town is holding a big John Wayne centennial weekend celebration as I type this
http://img73.echo.cx/img73/6066/100yearsjohnwayneuscfootball9i.jpg
Trojan Duke
Working as a movie studio laborer, he befriended rising director John Ford. Wayne played bit parts under the name of "Duke" Morrison (a childhood nickname derived from the family dog, Marion's constant companion). In 1930, a college buddy, Raoul Walsh, hired him for $75 a week for his first starring role, in Walsh's film The Big Trail, which flopped. The following year, Fox dropped Wayne from its roster.
After leaving Fox, Wayne worked for LoneStar/Monogram, where he starred in 16 mediocre westerns between 1933 and 1935. Sometimes churning out two westerns a week, Wayne played various rough and tumble characters and occasionally appeared as "Singing Sandy," a musical cowpoke a-la' Roy Rogers.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/18469/2001367319232887673_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001367319232887673)
Duke as he appeared in his early work in the mid-1930's
In 1939, Wayne finally had his breakthrough when his old friend John Ford cast him in Stagecoach. Stagecoach was a massive success and was the break he needed to become internationally famous and a hot Hollywood commodity.
http://img264.echo.cx/img264/5033/wayne6fw.jpg
The Duke as he appeared in "Stagecoach"
Wayne went on to play larger-than-life heroes in dozens of movies. In 1969, he won an Oscar for his role in True Grit. During four decades of acting, Wayne appeared in 250 films. Ford directed many of those, including She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and The Quiet Man (1952). John Wayne was married three times, each time to Hispanic women, and had seven children and 16 grandchildren.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/14933/2001319009733006999_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001319009733006999)
As "Rooster Cogburn" in "True Grit"
http://img234.echo.cx/img234/4356/statue9be.jpg
Statue of the Duke at his namesake airport in Orange County CA
Duke battled cancer near the end of his life and finally succumbed to it in 1979. Future President Ronald Reagan eulogized Wayne at his death by saying, "He showed the world what it means to be an American."
http://img98.echo.cx/img98/9875/johnwayne8ak.jpg
The gravemarker. The Duke rests at Newport Beach, CA.
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/15328/2001392918064366305_rs.jpg
Duke remains a cultural icon.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/18469/2001376325895478015_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001376325895478015)
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5299/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzztg1.gif
One hundred years ago, on this day in 1907, John Wayne is born in Iowa. The star of countless film classics, he became an American and western icon.
http://img61.echo.cx/img61/142/searchers6vy.gif
This John Wayne classic is considered by most film critics (and me) to be the best Wayne film, and probably the best western film ever.
Wayne was born Marion Michael Morrison in Winterset Iowa. While he was a boy, his family moved to Glendale, California. A football star at Glendale High School, he attended the University of Southern California on a football scholarship but dropped out after his sophomore year because of a broken ankle.
http://aycu10.webshots.com/image/15569/2003994572487120854_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2003994572487120854)
Duke's first home in Iowa. The town is holding a big John Wayne centennial weekend celebration as I type this
http://img73.echo.cx/img73/6066/100yearsjohnwayneuscfootball9i.jpg
Trojan Duke
Working as a movie studio laborer, he befriended rising director John Ford. Wayne played bit parts under the name of "Duke" Morrison (a childhood nickname derived from the family dog, Marion's constant companion). In 1930, a college buddy, Raoul Walsh, hired him for $75 a week for his first starring role, in Walsh's film The Big Trail, which flopped. The following year, Fox dropped Wayne from its roster.
After leaving Fox, Wayne worked for LoneStar/Monogram, where he starred in 16 mediocre westerns between 1933 and 1935. Sometimes churning out two westerns a week, Wayne played various rough and tumble characters and occasionally appeared as "Singing Sandy," a musical cowpoke a-la' Roy Rogers.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/18469/2001367319232887673_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001367319232887673)
Duke as he appeared in his early work in the mid-1930's
In 1939, Wayne finally had his breakthrough when his old friend John Ford cast him in Stagecoach. Stagecoach was a massive success and was the break he needed to become internationally famous and a hot Hollywood commodity.
http://img264.echo.cx/img264/5033/wayne6fw.jpg
The Duke as he appeared in "Stagecoach"
Wayne went on to play larger-than-life heroes in dozens of movies. In 1969, he won an Oscar for his role in True Grit. During four decades of acting, Wayne appeared in 250 films. Ford directed many of those, including She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and The Quiet Man (1952). John Wayne was married three times, each time to Hispanic women, and had seven children and 16 grandchildren.
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/14933/2001319009733006999_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001319009733006999)
As "Rooster Cogburn" in "True Grit"
http://img234.echo.cx/img234/4356/statue9be.jpg
Statue of the Duke at his namesake airport in Orange County CA
Duke battled cancer near the end of his life and finally succumbed to it in 1979. Future President Ronald Reagan eulogized Wayne at his death by saying, "He showed the world what it means to be an American."
http://img98.echo.cx/img98/9875/johnwayne8ak.jpg
The gravemarker. The Duke rests at Newport Beach, CA.
http://aycu09.webshots.com/image/15328/2001392918064366305_rs.jpg
Duke remains a cultural icon.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/18469/2001376325895478015_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2001376325895478015)