On this day in history, May 26, 1907, John Wayne, the iconic actor who is known for epitomizing the American West, is born in Winterset, Iowa.
Named Marion Robert Morrison, Wayne at age six moved with his family to Glendale, California, according to History.com.
As a teen, he delivered newspapers in the mornings, while after school he played football and made deliveries for local stores.
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John Wayne holding a rifle in a publicity photo for the movie “Shepherd of the Hills.” He was born on May 26, 1907. (Getty Images)
Upon graduating from high school, Wayne hoped to attend the U.S. Naval Academy, but when that school rejected him, he accepted a full scholarship to play football at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, notes History.com.
In the summer of 1926, Wayne’s football coach set him up with a job as an assistant prop man on the set of a movie directed by John Ford, recounts the same source.
“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,” according to History.com.
“In all these films, The Duke embodied the simple, and perhaps simplistic, cowboy values of decency, honesty and integrity.”
American actor John Wayne (1907-1979) with two of his children, son John Ethan and daughter Aissa Wayne, photographed in an unspecified restaurant, 1967. Wayne was in costume in this photo (as Cole Thornton) for his role in “El Dorado” (directed by Howard Hawks). ( Silver Screen Collection)
“In all these films, The Duke, as he was known, embodied the simple, and perhaps simplistic, cowboy values of decency, honesty and integrity,” the same source indicates.
In the later part of the 1960s, Wayne had both successes and failures, notes Biography.com.
He co-starred with Robert Mitchum in “El Dorado” (1967), which was well-received.
The next year, Wayne encountered mixed feedback with the pro-Vietnam War film “The Green Berets” (1968), as Wayne directed, produced and starred in the film.
“Viewed by many as a piece of propaganda, the film still did well at the box office,” recounts Biography.com.
He had seven children from his marriages, the first two of which ended in divorce.
He also had more than 15 grandchildren, the site says.
Wayne has been honored by the U.S. Marine Corps with the Iron Mike Award, the highest honor given to a civilian; the Veterans of Foreign Wars with the Americanism Award; and the American Legion with another Americanism Award, says the National Football Foundation.
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Many public locations have been named in memory of John Wayne.
They include John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, where his life-sized statue graces the entrance; John Wayne Elementary School (P.S. 380) in Brooklyn, New York, which features a 38-foot, mosaic-mural commission by New York artist Knox Martin entitled “John Wayne and the American Frontier”; and a 100-plus-mile trail named the John Wayne Pioneer Trail in Washington’s Iron Horse State Park, says New World Encyclopedia.
