But, the characterization that would ultimately immortalize him was that of a man doing his duty — whether in military uniform, civies or dust-encrusted Western wear — his duty as he saw it, sometimes almost fanatically, and usually against all odds. But whether as Dunson or Stryker or as Reuben J. He must be prepared to sacrifice all — his wife, his family, his fortune and especially his life, to carry out that duty.
Force is always met with force, preferably a lot of force, if you can lay hold of it. Those who knew the actor well said Wayne was careful to maintain the continuity of that screen image, not only because it was financially successful, but because the concepts he portrayed struck a truthful chord in the man himself.
As a child, Wayne was fond of telling interviewers, his father had imparted to him the following life — philosophy, summed up in three rules:. A gentleman never insults anyone intentionally. The actor once said he had tried to live by those rules, with the possible exception of the second which, he admitted — usually with a satisfied, devilish glint in his eye — he had amended to:.
But it was not merely the roles he played as an actor that created the enduring love affair with his fans. It was as if, over the years, the actor and the man seemed to merge together — both in the mind of many Americans, and within Wayne himself — to form one, indistinguishable symbol of courage, endurance and indestructibility. The culmination of that metamorphosis — of what might be called the blending of the man and the myth — became complete in when Wayne, then 57, successfully, and publicly defeated cancer.
Two months after leaving Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, Wayne — against the advice of his own public relations advisers — called a press conference at his home to advise the world he had undergone surgery for lung cancer. Then in that simple, matter-of-fact language his characters used on the screen, Wayne told of how his inner fight begun:. There is a little pull that begins somewhere in you that begins wanting to stick around a little bit longer. I felt that pull everything I thought it was over.
Like so many giants of the entertainment industry, John Wayne was not born of Hollywood or other megalopolis, but had his roots in the small-town Midwest. Residents of Winterset and, later, Earlham, another small Iowa town, have told biographers that young Marion his middle name was changed from Robert to Michael when his brother, Robert, was born did not appear to have been a particularly happy child.
His parents, Clyde L. His most frightening task involved long hours of shooting rattlesnakes to protect his father while the elder Morrison harrowed the land. The exercise made the boy a crack shot, however, and while he was never much good with a six-shooter — even in much later years — there were few who could best him with a rifle.
According to biographer Maurice Zolotow, the snake shooting also fave Wayne nightmares — visions of hordes of slithering, disembodied shake heads coming at him.
Young Marion often awoke in a cold sweat in the middle of the night — but he kept these fears to himself. Wayne would later say the Palmdale years his parents moved to Glendale in when he was 9 taught him the demanding work habits he carried with him during his lifetime, and the importance of getting through long, lonely nights on his own inner resources. The Palmdale period also gave vent to a capacity that would one day make him famous: The art of living in his imagination.
At Glendale High, Wayne grew into a muscular, outgoing young man he was elected president of the class of — a high achiever both in his studies and on the athletic field. Ironically, it was his prowess as a football player that ultimately would provide his exposure to the world of motion pictures. In those early years, Wayne threw himself into learning as much as he could about the technical ins and outs of the magic that is movie-making — and few would learn the job better than he.
Despite his unparalleled stardom in later years, Wayne remained the consummate professional, always on time for a 5 a. Also during this period, Wayne, through the tutelage of the famous stunt man, Yakima Canutt, learned how to do complicated horsefalls without betting killed, and developed with hours of practice a manner of walking and talking that later became his trademarks.
The Wayne drawl, uniquely his, was also a laid back sort of thing, with a strong hint of sleepy-eyed mayhem lurking just beneath the surface.
The Wayne-Canutt technique was surprisingly realistic and Wayne often spent many hours teaching it to new actors he met during his career.
The motion picture, a milestone in establishing the Western as an American art form, was a classic, winning three Academy Awards and featuring John Wayne in the principal role of the Ringo Kid, a young, good-natured outlaw with an easy sort of menacing grace. The surgeon had to go in through his back, the tumor was so big. The operation laid Wayne low for a while, but it was a success.
He kept on smoking, but switched to cigars. If fans had feted Wayne before his cancer, they lionized him afterward. Five years later, in , although he was well out of step with the zeitgeist, he got the Oscar for True Grit , a career high.
And he was still cancer free. The star worked on until he was almost The Shootist would be his last film; he was sick again while making it. In March he had open-heart surgery, a risky procedure. Once again, he got through it. He bought himself some new gym shoes for his daily walk around Newport Beach. But it could have left him a helpless invalid, and very nearly did. There were, in fact, two operations, because after the first he suffered complications in which his whole body swelled up.
The second was successful, but it cost him almost an entire lung. The doctors told him he must give up smoking, and though it was a habit of 40 years, he did quit. But old ways cling hard. By he was smoking again. During his struggle with cancer and the idleness that was as painful to him as anything else in his recovery, Wayne had the comfort of his third wife, Pilar. He and Josephine were divorced in , after 11 years. In he married Esperanza Bauer, a Mexican actress.
It was a stormy union and they were divorced in with considerable acrimony, much of it public. He met Pilar Palette, the daughter of a Peruvian diplomat, while he was on location in her native country. They were married in the day his divorce from Esperanza became final. Some thought it a curiosity that all three of the women were Spanish speaking.
More than once only a quick wit brought Mm cleanly through situations that might have produced public disfavor. With Pilar there were three more children, two girls, Aissa and Marisa, and a boy Ethan. Now there are many grandchildren, too. This marriage also ended in divorce. In retrospect, Wayne admitted that he probably should have done the film.
What emerges from all this is a life portrait of John Wayne curiously similar to the heroes he played through the years: a decent and honest human being. Only one thing, actually, in all his life and all him career, sent the winds of hate, of harsh personal criticism, sweeping against him. After World War II he took a big, public swing to the political right. Liberals denounced him and he was distressed, but it was something he apparently could not keep bottled up.
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