From Western Star to Action Hero to American Icon!

Anytime we hear of the passing of a legend, each of us say goodbye in our own personal way. If you are of the age to have grown up during the era of the Westerns, you felt like you KNEW every cowboy as though he were your next door neighbor. Of course, the knowing may not have been personal but more a matter of heart, mind and soul. You lived each scene as though you were there...imaginatively!
 
This Day in History: June 11, 1979

 

Today's step back in time says goodbye to one of, if not THE, greatest of all cowboys. His given name was Marion Robert Morrison. Who? Marion Morrison? Never heard of him. Sure you have but by a much different name. If you were into Westerns, there is no way you would miss knowing the face, the voice, the walk, the man. You probably only knew him by his stage name, John Wayne.

 Most published sources refer to Wayne's birth name as Marion Michael Morrison. His birth certificate, however, gives his original name as Marion Robert Morrison. According to Wayne's own statements, after the birth of his younger brother in 1911, his parents named the newborn Robert Emmett and changed Wayne's name from Marion Robert to Marion Michael. It has also been suggested by several of his biographers that Wayne's parents actually changed his birth name from Marion Robert to Marion Mitchell. In "Duke: The Life and Times of John Wayne" (1985), Donald Shepherd and Robert F. Slatzer state that when Wayne's younger brother was born, "the Duke's middle name was changed from Robert to Mitchell. . . . After he gained celebrity, Duke deliberately confused biographers and others by claiming Michael as his middle name, a claim that had no basis in fact."
Source: John Wayne Trivia

From Western Star to Action Hero to American Icon! That is the legacy of John Wayne, aka The Duke. Wayne possessed a unique American screen persona and loved his country, America, as much if not more than anyone possibly could! Behind the man is a great legend...a legend laced with true grit!

  

John Wayne's patriotism ran deep. In fact, he was one of the most patriotic men who ever lived!

 

Pictured on a 37¢ USA commemorative stamp in the Legends of Hollywood series, issued on Thursday, September 9th, 2004. The first-day ceremonies were held at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood

 R.I.P. Marion Robert Morrison, aka John Wayne, the Duke
May 26, 1907 - June 11, 1979