Ten years after Hollywood film idol John Wayne’s death, Hans Gruber, a terrorist in the movie Die Hard says to law enforcement officer John McClane in a tense moment, “This time John Wayne does not walk off into the sunset with Grace Kelly,” (McTiernan 1988). McClane responds, “That was Gary Cooper, asshole,” (McTiernan 1988). Gruber’s confusion is understandable because to most Americans and foreigners, John Wayne is the embodiment of American might and values. In a Harris Poll 18 years after his death, Americans identified John Wayne as “their favorite movie star”, (Schickel 1997).
From his first film role playing a guard in the 1926 film Bardelys The Magnificent to his final leading role and screen appearance in The Shootist in 1976, John Wayne’s screen persona embodied the values, societal roles, and ideological concerns of Americans more than any other film star in Hollywood history, (John 2004). From the 1939’s Stage Door, the film that made him a star, to his Oscar winning performance in 1969 for True Grit, John Wayne remained a number one box-office star for three decades. Born Marion Morrison in Iowa in 1907, Wayne’s pharmacist father moved the family to Glendale, California, in 1914 (John 2004). If Wayne was known for anything it was his grit and hard work. He excelled as a student and became class president and president of the debate team. He played football at USC, where he worked as a waiter for the fraternity of which he was a member. Hurt in a surfing injury, Wayne lost his football scholarship and took a job as grip at the Fox Film Corporation. Director Raoul Walsh admired the way Wayne moved and offered him a role in a Western. The rest is history as by 1939 Wayne starred in John Ford’s Stagecoach and became a first-magnitude star.
In large measure, John Wayne’s success stems from his purposeful choices of roles that portrayed him as heroic. Never mean, petty or cowardly, ...