John Wayne profile
Actor profile

John Wayne

26th May 1907 Winterset, Iowa, USA Acting

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.

265 Movies 36 TV Shows 301 Credits
Filmography

Movies & TV Shows

Elway poster
Elway 21st December 2025 as Self (archive footage)
McQ poster
McQ 6th February 1974 as McQ
Chisum poster
Chisum 23rd July 1970 as John Chisum
Rio Lobo poster
Rio Lobo 1st April 1970 as Col. Cord McNally
True Grit poster
True Grit 11th June 1969 as Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn
McLintock! poster
McLintock! 12th November 1963 as George Washington McLintock
The Alamo poster
The Alamo 23rd October 1960 as Col. Davy Crockett
Rio Bravo poster
Rio Bravo 8th March 1959 as Sheriff John T. Chance
Hondo poster
Hondo 26th November 1953 as Hondo Lane
Rio Grande poster
Rio Grande 15th November 1950 as Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke
3 Godfathers poster
3 Godfathers 31st December 1948 as Robert Marmaduke Sangster Hightower
Tycoon poster
Tycoon 27th December 1947 as Johnny Munroe
Dakota poster
Dakota 15th December 1945 as John Devlin
Pittsburgh poster
Pittsburgh 11th December 1942 as Charles 'Pittsburgh' Markham
Arizona poster
Arizona 27th June 1931 as Lt. Bob Denton
Noah's Ark poster
Noah's Ark 1st November 1928 as Flood Extra (uncredited)
Hangman's House poster
Hangman's House 13th May 1928 as Horse Race Spectator / Condemned Man in Flashback
The Drop Kick poster
The Drop Kick 25th September 1927 as Football Player / Extra in Stands
Maude poster
Maude 12th September 1972 as Himself
Wagon Train poster
Wagon Train 18th September 1957 as Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman
Gunsmoke poster
Gunsmoke 10th September 1955 as Self - Host, Introduction to the Series