Exhibits: Irish American Hall of History

John Wayne

1907 - 1979

Film

Born Marion Michael Morrison the "Duke" played characters who typically exuded the American "can do" spirit in over 200 films. He attended USC on a football scholarship and in the summer would work on the FOX lot as a laborer. He was be-friended by John Ford, who gave him roles in some of his films in the late 1920s. In the 1930s he worked in B-westerns and serials. In 1939 he played Ringo Kid in Stagecoach and his career took off from that brilliant performance. Other notable films that he starred in were Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), The Shootist (1976), and of course his greatest role, at least to all Irish Americans, was of Sean Thornton in The Quiet Man. His mother was Irish and Wayne stated about her "She was a tiny vivacious red-headed bundle of energy." Sounds very similar to Maureen O'Hara's role as Mary Kate Danaher in this great movie classic.

External Links

• John Wayne - Official web site for John Wayne
• John Wayne - actor, patriot, man of honor
• The John Wayne Message Board
• John Wayne - Wikipedia