John Wayne (1907–1979)

John Wayne, whose career spanned from the late 1920s to the mid-1970s, is the most visually recognizable actor in the history of American film. Despite appearing in a great number and wide variety of films, as an actor he is most closely identified with Westerns (see entry under 1930s—Film and Theater in volume 2). His roles in a series of Westerns helped make Wayne an American icon who was thought by many to represent the American spirit.

For a ten-year period, Wayne appeared primarily in low-budget Westerns. In 1939, Wayne's long affiliation with director John Ford (1894–1973) began when Wayne played the Ringo Kid in Stagecoach. He went on to star in some of Ford's best films, including Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), The Searchers (1956), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). He also starred in the Westerns directed by Howard Hawks (1896–1977)—Red River (1948) and Rio Bravo (1959). Both movies are considered among the finest of the genre. Beginning in the 1950s, Wayne became increasingly associated with right-wing, anticommunist politics. By the 1970s, his political stance resulted in an anti-Wayne backlash by a young audience disillusioned with the Vietnam War, of which Wayne was a supporter. Still, his power as a larger-than-life icon (symbol) of a certain kind of American male—tough minded, hard working, and determined—remained strong in the early 2000s.

—Robert C. Sickels

For More Information

Levy, Emanuel. John Wayne: Prophet of the American Way of Life. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 1988.

Nardo, Don. John Wayne. New York: Chelsea House, 1995.

Wills, Garry. John Wayne's America: The Politics of Celebrity. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.