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N0KFQ > TODAY 11.06.16 15:33l 59 Lines 2596 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 96387_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Jun 11
Path: IZ3LSV<F1OYP<F4DUR<CX2SA<N0KFQ
Sent: 160611/1423Z 96387@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1979
John Wayne dies
On this day in 1979, John Wayne, an iconic American film actor
famous for starring in countless westerns, dies at age 72 after
battling cancer for more than a decade.
The actor was born Marion Morrison on May 26, 1907, in Winterset,
Iowa, and moved as a child to Glendale, California. A football
star at Glendale High School, he attended the University of
Southern California on a scholarship but dropped out after two
years. After finding work as a movie studio laborer, Wayne
befriended director John Ford, then a rising talent. His first
acting jobs were bit parts in which he was credited as Duke
Morrison, a childhood nickname derived from the name of his
beloved pet dog.
Wayne's first starring role came in 1930 with The Big Trail, a
film directed by his college buddy Raoul Walsh. It was during
this time that Marion Morrison became "John Wayne," when director
Walsh didn't think Marion was a good name for an actor playing a
tough western hero. Despite the lead actor's new name, however,
the movie flopped. Throughout the 1930s, Wayne made dozens of
mediocre westerns, sometimes churning out two movies a week. In
them, he played various rough-and-tumble characters and
occasionally appeared as "Singing Sandy," a musical cowpoke a la
Roy Rogers.
In 1939, Wayne finally had his breakthrough when his old friend
John Ford cast him as Ringo Kid in the Oscar-winning Stagecoach.
Wayne went on to play larger-than-life heroes in dozens of movies
and came to symbolize a type of rugged, strong, straight-shooting
American man. John Ford directed Wayne in some of his best-known
films, including Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
(1949), Rio Grande (1950), The Quiet Man (1952) and The Man Who
Shot Liberty Valence (1962).
Off-screen, Wayne came to be known for his conservative political
views. He produced, directed and starred in The Alamo (1960) and
The Green Berets (1968), both of which reflected his patriotic,
conservative leanings. In 1969, he won an Oscar for his role as a
drunken, one-eyed federal marshal named Rooster Cogburn in True
Grit. Wayne's last film was The Shootist (1976), in which he
played a legendary gunslinger dying of cancer. The role had
particular meaning, as the actor was fighting the disease in real
life.
During four decades of acting, Wayne, with his trademark drawl
and good looks, appeared in over 250 films. He was married three
times and had seven children.
73 - K.O., n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-Mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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