Marion Mitchell Morrison (born Marion Robert Morrison; May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed Duke, was an American actor and filmmaker. An Academy Award-winner for True Grit (1969), Wayne was among the top box office draws for three decades.
Born in Winterset, Iowa, Wayne grew up in Southern California. He was president of Glendale High class of 1925. He found work at local film studios when he lost his football scholarship to the University of Southern California as a result of a bodysurfing accident. Initially working for the Fox Film Corporation, he appeared mostly in small bit parts. His first leading role came in Raoul Walsh's The Big Trail (1930), which led to leading roles in numerous B movies throughout the 1930s, many of them in the Western genre.
Wayne's career took off in 1939, with John Ford's Stagecoach making him an instant star. He went on to star in 142 pictures. Biographer Ronald Davis said, "John Wayne personified for millions the nation's frontier heritage. Eighty-three of his movies were Westerns, and in them, he played cowboys, cavalrymen, and unconquerable loners extracted from the Republic's central creation myth."
Wayne's other well-known Western roles include a cattleman driving his herd north on the Chisholm Trail in Red River (1948), a Civil War veteran whose young niece is abducted by a tribe of Comanches in The Searchers (1956), and a troubled rancher competing with a lawyer for a woman's hand in marriage in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). He is also remembered for his roles in The Quiet Man (1952), Rio Bravo (1959), and The Longest Day (1962). In his final screen performance, he starred as an aging gunfighter battling cancer in The Shootist (1976). He appeared with many important Hollywood stars of his era, and his last public appearance was at the Academy Awards ceremony on April 9, 1979.
Academy Awards
Best Actor
Golden Globe Awards
Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
Known For
Rio Bravo
(1959)
John Chance
True Grit
(1969)
Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn
Stagecoach
(1939)
The Ringo Kid
Baby Face
(1933)
Jimmy McCoy Jr.
The Greatest Story Ever Told
(1965)
Centurion at crucifixion
Sly
(2023)
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
(1962)
Tom Doniphon
The Searchers
(1956)
Ethan Edwards
How the West Was Won
(1962)
Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman
El Dorado
(1966)
Cole Thornton
Big Jake
(1971)
Jacob McCandles
Fort Apache
(1948)
Capt. Kirby York
The Longest Day
(1962)
Col. Benjamin Vandervoort
The Comancheros
(1961)
Jake Cutter
Cahill: United States Marshal
(1973)
J.D. Cahill
Rio Lobo
(1970)
Colonel Cord McNally
Full Filmography
Acting
Bardelys the Magnificent
(1926)
The Great K&A Train Robbery
(1926)
Brown of Harvard
(1926)
Yale Football Player (uncredited)
Annie Laurie
(1927)
Mother Machree
(1927)
The Drop Kick
(1927)
Football Player / Extra in Stands
The Draw-Back
(1927)
Opposing Football Player
Four Sons
(1928)
Hangman's House
(1928)
Horse Race Spectator / Condemned Man in Flashback
A Home Made Man
(1928)
Man on Stool
Noah's Ark
(1928)
Flood Extra (uncredited)
Speakeasy
(1929)
Extra
Words and Music
(1929)
Pete Donahue
The Black Watch
(1929)
Black Watch Soldier (uncredited)
Salute
(1929)
Cheer Up and Smile
(1930)
Born Reckless
(1930)
Extra (uncredited)
Men Without Women
(1930)
Radioman on Surface (uncredited)
The Big Trail
(1930)
Breck Coleman
Rough Romance
(1930)
Lumberjack
Three Girls Lost
(1931)
Gordon Wales
Arizona
(1931)
Lt. Bob Denton
The Range Feud
(1931)
Clint Turner
Maker of Men
(1931)
Dusty Rhodes
Girls Demand Excitement
(1931)
Peter Brooks
Two-Fisted Law
(1932)
Duke
Haunted Gold
(1932)
John Mason
Texas Cyclone
(1932)
Steve Pickett
The Big Stampede
(1932)
Deputy Sheriff John Steele
The Shadow of the Eagle
(1932)
Craig McCoy
The Hurricane Express
(1932)
The Air Pilot
Running Hollywood
(1932)
Emcee
Lady and Gent
(1932)
Buzz Kinney
Ride Him, Cowboy
(1932)
John Drury
Sagebrush Trail
(1933)
John Brant
College Coach
(1933)
The Three Musketeers
(1933)
Lt. Tom Wayne
Baby Face
(1933)
Jimmy McCoy Jr.
Somewhere in Sonora
(1933)
John Bishop
The Telegraph Trail
(1933)
John Trent
Riders of Destiny
(1933)
Singin' Sandy Saunders
Central Airport
(1933)
His Private Secretary
(1933)
Dick Wallace
The Man from Monterey
(1933)
John Holmes
The Life of Jimmy Dolan
(1933)
Smith
Next Of Kin
(1934)
Ted Hayden aka Gat Ganns
The Shadow Gang
(1934)
U.S. Marshal John Travers
Bandits of the Badlands
(1934)
John Carruthers
The Lawless Frontier
(1934)
John Tobin
Randy Rides Alone
(1934)
Randy Bowers
The Lucky Texan
(1934)
Jerry Mason
The Star Packer
(1934)
U.S. Marshal John Travers
The Trail Beyond
(1934)
Rod Drew
West of the Divide
(1934)
Ted Hayden aka Gat Ganns
'Neath the Arizona Skies
(1934)
Chris Morrell
Blue Steel
(1934)
John Carruthers
The Man from Utah
(1934)
John Weston
Rainbow Valley
(1935)
John Martin
Lawless Range
(1935)
John Middleton
Paradise Canyon
(1935)
John Wyatt
Guns Along The Trail
(1935)
John Wyatt
Texas Terror
(1935)
John Higgins
The Desert Trail
(1935)
John Scott / John Jones
The New Frontier
(1935)
John Dawson
The Dawn Rider
(1935)
John Mason
Westward Ho
(1935)
John Wyatt
Avenging Angel
(1935)
John Mason
The Oregon Trail
(1936)
Capt John Delmont
Winds of the Wasteland
(1936)
John Blair
Sea Spoilers
(1936)
Bob Randall
The Lawless Nineties
(1936)
John Tipton
Conflict
(1936)
Pat Glendon
King of the Pecos
(1936)
John Clayborn
The Lonely Trail
(1936)
Captain John Ashley
The Stagecoach Race
(1936)
John Blair
Born to the West
(1937)
Dare Rudd
Idol of the Crowds
(1937)
Johnny Hanson
California Straight Ahead
(1937)
Biff Smith
I Cover the War!
(1937)
Bob Adams
Adventure's End
(1937)
Duke Slade
Red River Range
(1938)
Stony Brooke
Santa Fe Stampede
(1938)
Stony Brooke
Pals of the Saddle
(1938)
Stony Brooke
Overland Stage Raiders
(1938)
Stony Brooke
Three Texas Steers
(1939)
Stony Brooke
Wyoming Outlaw
(1939)
Stony Brooke
New Frontier
(1939)
Stony Brooke
Stagecoach
(1939)
The Ringo Kid
Allegheny Uprising
(1939)
Jim Smith
The Night Riders
(1939)
Stony Brooke
Three Faces West
(1940)
John Phillips
Seven Sinners
(1940)
Dan
Dark Command
(1940)
Bob Seton
The Long Voyage Home
(1940)
Ole Olsen
The Shepherd of the Hills
(1941)
Young Matt Matthews
Lady from Louisiana
(1941)
John Reynolds
A Man Betrayed
(1941)
Lynn Hollister
Flying Tigers
(1942)
Jim Gordon
Lady for a Night
(1942)
Jackson Morgan
In Old California
(1942)
Tom Craig
Pittsburgh
(1942)
Charles 'Pittsburgh' Markham
Reunion in France
(1942)
Pat Talbot
Reap the Wild Wind
(1942)
Captain Jack Stuart
The Spoilers
(1942)
Glennister
In Old Oklahoma
(1943)
Daniel F Somers
A Lady Takes a Chance
(1943)
Duke Hudkins
Tall in the Saddle
(1944)
Rocklin
Memo for Joe
(1944)
Self
The Fighting Seabees
(1944)
Lt. Cmdr. Wedge Donovan
Back to Bataan
(1945)
Colonel Joseph Madden
They Were Expendable
(1945)
Lt. (J.G.) 'Rusty' Ryan
Flame of Barbary Coast
(1945)
Duke Fergus
Dakota
(1945)
John Devlin
Without Reservations
(1946)
Rusty Thomas
Desert Command
(1946)
Tom Wayne
Tycoon
(1947)
Johnny Munroe
Angel and the Badman
(1947)
Quirt Evans
Fort Apache
(1948)
Capt. Kirby York
3 Godfathers
(1948)
Robert Marmaduke Sangster Hightower
Wake of the Red Witch
(1948)
Capt. Ralls
Red River
(1948)
Thomas Dunson
The Fighting Kentuckian
(1949)
John Breen
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
(1949)
Capt. Nathan Cutting Brittles
Sands of Iwo Jima
(1950)
Sgt. John M. Stryker
Rio Grande
(1950)
Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke
Flying Leathernecks
(1951)
Maj. Daniel Xavier Kirby
Operation Pacific
(1951)
Duke E. Gifford
The Screen Director
(1951)
Self (staged 'archive' footage) (uncredited)
Big Jim McLain
(1952)
Jim McLain
The Quiet Man
(1952)
Sean Thornton
You're the Star
(1953)
Self
Island in the Sky
(1953)
Captain Dooley
Trouble Along the Way
(1953)
Stephen Aloysius Williams
Hondo
(1953)
Hondo Lane
Three Lives
(1953)
Self
The High and the Mighty
(1954)
Dan Roman
Rookie of the Year
(1955)
Mike Cronin
Blood Alley
(1955)
Capt. Tom Wilder
The Sea Chase
(1955)
Captain Karl Ehrlich
The Conqueror
(1956)
Temujin, later Genghis Khan
The Searchers
(1956)
Ethan Edwards
Jet Pilot
(1957)
Col. Jim Shannon
The Wings of Eagles
(1957)
Frank W. 'Spig' Wead
Legend of the Lost
(1957)
Joe January
The Barbarian and the Geisha
(1958)
Townsend Harris
I Married a Woman
(1958)
The Horse Soldiers
(1959)
Col John Marlowe
Rio Bravo
(1959)
John Chance
North to Alaska
(1960)
Sam McCord
The Alamo
(1960)
Col. Davy Crockett
The Colter Craven Story:
(1960)
The Challenge of Ideas
(1961)
Self
The 10 from Texas
(1961)
(archive footage)
The Comancheros
(1961)
Jake Cutter
The Longest Day
(1962)
Col. Benjamin Vandervoort
Flashing Spikes
(1962)
Marine Sergeant
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
(1962)
Tom Doniphon
How the West Was Won
(1962)
Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman
Hatari!
(1962)
Sean Mercer
Donovan's Reef
(1963)
Michael "Guns" Donovan
McLintock!
(1963)
George Washington McLintock
Circus World
(1964)
Matt Masters
Choice
(1964)
Host
The Sons of Katie Elder
(1965)
John Elder
In Harm's Way
(1965)
Capt. Rockwell Torrey
The Greatest Story Ever Told
(1965)
Centurion at crucifixion
El Dorado
(1966)
Cole Thornton
The Victory Squad
(1966)
Himself - Host
Cast a Giant Shadow
(1966)
Gen. Mike Randolph
The War Wagon
(1967)
Taw Jackson
A Nation Builds Under Fire
(1967)
Narrator
The Movie Orgy
(1968)
Self (archive footage)
Hellfighters
(1968)
Chance Buckman
The Green Berets
(1968)
Colonel Mike Kirby
The Undefeated
(1969)
Colonel John Henry Thomas
True Grit
(1969)
Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn
Swing Out, Sweet Land
(1970)
Self - Host
Raquel!
(1970)
Self
No Substitute for Victory
(1970)
Himself
Chisum
(1970)
John Simpson Chisum
Plimpton! Shoot-Out at Rio Lobo
(1970)
Self
Rio Lobo
(1970)
Colonel Cord McNally
The Selling of the Pentagon
(1971)
Self (archive footage)
Directed by John Ford
(1971)
Self (1969)
The American West of John Ford
(1971)
Self - Narrator
Big Jake
(1971)
Jacob McCandles
Cancel My Reservation
(1972)
The Cowboys
(1972)
Wil Andersen
The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks
(1973)
Self (archive footage)
The Train Robbers
(1973)
Lane
Cahill: United States Marshal
(1973)
J.D. Cahill
Wayne Train
(1973)
Self
McQ
(1974)
McQ
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
(1975)
Self (archive footage)
Rooster Cogburn
(1975)
Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn
Brannigan
(1975)
Lt. Jim Brannigan
Bob Hope's Comedy Christmas Special
(1976)
Chesty: A Tribute to a Legend
(1976)
Himself/Narrator
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
(1976)
Jerry Mason
The Shootist
(1976)
J.B. Books
CBS Salutes Lucy: The First 25 Years
(1976)
Self
It's Showtime
(1976)
Self (archive footage)
That's Action
(1977)
self
This Little Bullet
(1977)
Host
Perry Como's Early American Christmas
(1978)
Self
Showbiz Goes to War
(1982)
(archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(1984)
(archive footage)
Hollywood's Hidden Secrets
(1987)
(archive footage)
Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
(1988)
Self (archive footage)
John Wayne: American Hero Of The Movies
(1990)
Barbara Stanwyck: Fire and Desire
(1991)
Self (archive footage)
John Wayne - Eine amerikanische Legende
(1991)
(archive footage)
Movie Tough Guys
(1991)
Self (archive footage)
John Wayne's 'The Alamo'
(1992)
Davy Crockett
Young Duke: Making Of A Movie Star
(1993)
Himself
The John Wayne Story - The Later Years
(1993)
Himself
La Classe américaine
(1993)
George Abitbol (archive footage)
The John Wayne Story: The Early Years
(1993)
The Making of 'Rio Grande'
(1993)
Self (archive footage)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
(1997)
Self (archive footage)
JOHN WAYNE - AMERICAN LEGEND
(1998)
Himself
Lee Marvin: A Personal Portrait by John Boorman
(1998)
Self (archive footage)
The Best of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts
(1998)
Self - Roaster (archive footage)
Television: The First Fifty Years
(1999)
Self (archive footage)
John Wayne - Ein Leben für den Film
(2000)
Himself
The Duke at Fox
(2001)
Self (archive footage)
The Shootist: The Legend Lives On
(2001)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
(2009)
Self (archive footage)
Nuke 'Em, Duke
(2010)
Self (archive footage)
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
(2010)
Self (archive footage)
John Ford & Monument Valley
(2013)
Self (archive footage)
Dictator: One Crazy Job
(2013)
Self (archive footage)
And the Oscar Goes To...
(2014)
Self (archive footage)
John Wayne on Film
(2016)
Himself
John Ford: The Man Who Invented America
(2019)
Self - Actor / Various Roles (archive footage)
John Wayne - America at All Costs
(2019)
Himself (archive footage)
Clint Eastwood: The Last Legend
(2022)
Self (archive footage)
John Wayne: Cowboys & Demons
(2023)
Self (Archive Footage)
The Conqueror (Hollywood Fallout)
(2023)
Self (archive footage)
Sly
(2023)
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Crew
Production
Angel and the Badman
(1947)
Producer
The Fighting Kentuckian
(1949)
Producer
The Dangerous Stranger
(1950)
Producer
Santa and the Fairy Snow Queen
(1951)
Producer
Bullfighter and the Lady
(1951)
Producer
Island in the Sky
(1953)
Producer
Hondo
(1953)
Producer
The High and the Mighty
(1954)
Producer
Ring of Fear
(1954)
Producer
Track of the Cat
(1954)
Producer
Blood Alley
(1955)
Producer
Good-bye, My Lady
(1956)
Producer
7 Men from Now
(1956)
Producer
The Alamo
(1960)
Producer
Big Jake
(1971)
Executive Producer
The Train Robbers
(1973)
Executive Producer
McQ
(1974)
Executive Producer
Directing