would now become one hundredth Half his life he spent in front of the
camera for one of his movies and could even take home an Oscar.
John Wayne, the emblem of the cowboys in the American film
about three feet tall, with cowboy hat, western boots and a bronze
hand on the gun John Wayne sits in the lobby of the John Wayne Airport
in Southern California-Irvine. A few miles away in Newport Beach,
where the "Duke" spent the last years before his death in June 1979.
From the liberal Hollywood, the Western hero and patriotic Republicans
had settled into the ultra-conservative Orange County. His birthplace
in Winterset (Iowa) in the Midwestern United States has long been a
pilgrimage site. Every year, over 40,000 fans, the little white wooden
houses, eight times as many spectators as the dump has residents.
With a Wild West Parade, rodeos and cowboy songs can Winterset his
famous son on Saturday 26 May cheer. Exactly a hundred years ago most
male American hero born with the name Marion Robert Morrison here the
light of day. His last film he shot over 30 years ago, but the
broad-shouldered giant is Hollywood's most durable hero. At the annual
Harris poll of U.S. citizens on their screen favorite John Wayne
landed among the top ten every time. According to the Guinness Book of
World Records, he is the actor with the most leading roles. In 142 of
his 153 movies he made as a "Leading Man" - usually as a sheriff,
soldier, officer or Revolvers - set the tone.
Wayne's closest childhood friend was a terrier
Behind the camera he knocked sayings such as "Courage is when you have
fear of death, and still resonates in the saddle" and "I'm an
old-fashioned, thoroughly decent, flag-waving patriot." As a movie
star he was indestructible. He had more stamina than James Cagney and
Cary Grant, who threw in the towel already in his early sixties. He
survived famous contemporaries such as Errol Flynn, Gary Cooper,
Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable.
The son of a pharmacist was four years old when the family moved in
1911 from Iowa to distant California. On the ranch of his father he
learned to ride. His closest friend was a terrier named "Duke" (Duke),
a nickname, which he heard himself happy. First he was bathing the
star of a football team, but with a swimming accident, the dream came
from the sports career. He worked as a "gofer" in the movie studios
and then stood before the camera. Director Raoul Walsh in 1930 gave
him the stage name John Wayne and the first leading role in the
Western "The Big Trail." Wayne fired first as a B-movie Western star
in second-rate order, but his legendary friendship with the young John
Ford finally brought the breakthrough. The director picked him in 1939
for the elaborate Western "Ringo - hell ride to Santa Fe," a breakneck
stagecoach ride through Apache country before the camera.
Critics accused before of glorifying war Wayne
More than 20 films after they shot off together, including "The Horse
Soldiers" (1949), "Rio Grande" (1950) "The Searchers" (1956) and "The
Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962). In addition to Western Wayne
turned into the 40s and adventure films like "Seven Sinners" with
Marlene Dietrich, and war movies ("Steel Storm", "The Fighting
Seabees," "They Were Expendable"). In "Red River" Howard Hawks made
him a powerful cattle baron with his adopted son (Montgomery Clift) is
in the clinch. In the legendary western "Rio Bravo" (1959) he gave
Wayne the role of a small-town sheriff, who defended the town against
a gang of thugs.
His proud father onto land seized in 1960 in the patriotic Wayne
Western "Alamo," which he directed and produced himself. The
historical film about the bloody battle of the Texans against the
Mexican army, but flopped at the box office and Wayne fell almost to
ruin. But eight years later, dared the Communists declared haters and
supporters of the Vietnam War back to explosive material. In "The
Green Berets", he sends a Green Beret unit on the canvas in the
Vietnam War. The critics were against Wayne glorification of war and
propaganda.
Wayne smoked up to four packs of cigarettes a day
A year later he stood triumphantly on the Oscar stage to take his
single "Golden Man" Best Actor in reception. This trophy he earned
with the hilarious role of a drunken one-eyed and always Marshals in
the Western "True Grit". At this time the married three times, seven
times the father was already suffering from cancer. 1964 he had a lung
removed. The chain smoker gave up to four packs of cigarettes a day
the debt. Others attributed the disease to the filming of the movie
"The Conqueror" (1956) in a nuclear weapons test site in Utah. Several
crew members had also died of cancer.
With nearly 70 years, Wayne turned his last film, the Western "The
Shootist - The Shootist," in which he plays a terminally ill shooters.
1979 lost hero of the film's fight against cancer. He was 72 years
old. He is buried on "Pacific View" Cemetery in Newport Beach,
overlooking the Pacific. One last wish was denied him, however, to
decorate the grave stone with the Mexican saying "ugly, strong and
dignified."
No comments:
Post a Comment