John Wayne

             John Wayne.
             A true legend of the movie industry was John Wayne. He was born Marion Michael Morrison in Winterset, Iowa. When he was six, the family moved to California. His childhood dog was an Airedale named Duke, which became John's nickname. He woke up early every morning to deliver newspapers. After school he had football practice then he made deliveries for a local stores. He was an A student, president of the Latin Society, head of his senior class and all-state guard on a championship football team.
             John Wayne had hoped to attend the U.S. Naval Academy, and was named an alternate candidate to Annapolis, but the first choice took the appointment. So he accepted a full scholarship to play football at the University of Southern California. There coach Howard Jones, who often found summer jobs in the movie industry for his players, got John work for the summer of 1926 as an assistant prop man on the set of a movie directed by John Ford.
             From his job in props, John worked his way into roles on the screen. During the Depression he played in grade B westerns until John Ford finally convinced United Artists to give him a role of the Ringo Kid in his classic film "Stagecoach". John Wayne was on the road to stardom. He quickly established his versatility in a variety of major roles: a young seaman in Eugene O"Neill's "The Long Voyage Home", a tragic captain in "Reap the Wild Wind", a rodeo rider the comedy "A Lady Takes a Chance." .
             When the war broke out, John tried to enlist but was rejected because of an old football injury to his shoulder, his age, and his status as a married father of four. He flew to Washington to plead that he be allowed to join the Navy but was turned down. So he poured his self into the war effort by making inspirational war movies. Some of the movies were "The Fighting Seabees", "Back to Baton" and "They Were Expendable.