John Wayne: American
by Randy Roberts, James S. Olson
List Price:
Our Price: $21.86
You Save: $8.09 (27%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $8.49 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: James S. Olson, Randy RobertsEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1997-09-28
ISBN: 0803289707
Number of pages: 762
Publisher: Bison Books
Book Reviews of John Wayne: American
Book Review: "The Duke" who was a king
Summary: 5 Stars
Roberts and Olson have penned a comprehensive, definitive biography of an actor who was literally "larger than life" in his own time and whose name has become a synonym for a man who, in the vernacular of many of his fans, "don't take nothin' off nobody."
And this isn't to denigrate either John Wayne or those who were his devoted followers -- who still watch "Stagecoach" or "Sands of Iwo Jima" or "The Searchers" on DVD from Amazon or on a satellite Western channel. John Wayne, who started life as Robert Michael Morrison, then at age five lost his first name to the baby brother his mother favored, and became "Marion," was in his career more than just "an American"; to so many of us, he WAS America. He was big and sprawling and loud and swaggering, with a hard fist and a fast gun for the bad guys -- but a soft inner core for those needing his help, and an unswerving belief that the good guys would, by gosh, win in the end, or he'd know the reason why, Pilgrim!
"John Wayne: American" tells us of his Iowa boyhood, which morphed into a California one at a young age; of his tetchy, impossible-to-please mother, and his easy-going, loving, poor provider father who jumped from job to job and state to state, trying and usually failing to raise his family higher than the just-above-subsistence level.
Young Marion, who gladly surrendered his female-sounding first name when neighborhood firefighters started calling him "Duke" after the family dog that waited at the firehouse for him to return from school each day, was a hard worker by nature, smart and resourceful, an honor roll student and class leader in high school. He went off to college, forced by the family's poverty to work his way through by waiting tables and washing dishes for his fellow students. But Hollywood beckoned. He got a job hauling properties around sets, more than one director noticed the tall, good-looking young man who moved with such graceful strength -- and ultimately he got his first starring role in "The Big Trail," a Raoul Walsh Western.
John Wayne, who was given that name for the film and kept it until his death, worked his way through the 1930s in a series of B-Westerns, struggling to support his wife and growing family (four children). Finally, in 1939, he got his big break in "Stagecoach," and was on the road to becoming America's chief cinematic he-man and idol.
The authors tell of how Wayne never served in World War II, despite many of his fellow actors doing so; of how he felt life-long guilt about it, and of how this may have fueled his anti-Communist, conservative political views of later years. But Roberts and Olson do not brand Wayne a "draft dodger" as a few less-sympathetic biographers have; they demonstrate how the reasons for his non-service were complex and not easily labeled.
John Wayne's glory years of the 1950s and 1960s are chronicled. They were the years during which he became an American icon, mostly in Westerns but also in some other notable films such as "The Quiet Man." Finally in 1970 The Duke achieved his long-time goal when he was named Best Actor for the Western with comedy overtones, "True Grit."
As his film career thrived, Wayne's three marriages each crashed and burned, leaving him with lifelong guilt for the end of the first, bitterness toward his second wife, and regrets about his third divorce from Pilar Wayne, the mother of his three younger children (he fathered seven in all).
Finally John Wayne's physical decline began, and the authors tell us in detail of how his magnificent, long-abused body finally succumbed to cancer in 1979 when he was 72 years old.
The book gives us a fascinating, illuminating look at an American who was indeed an icon; who was smart, fun-loving, compassionate; but who also could not stand pettiness, had no patience with what nowadays would be called "nuances," and who believed that almost anything could be achieved by Americans by pushing ahead and overcoming all obstacles. One wonders what Wayne would think of our country's current situation, were he alive to see it.
This is an excellent portrait of an unforgettable man. It's a long read, but a fascinating one.
Entertainers Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Entertainers Books
El Sid: Saint Viciousby David Dalton
Griffin; Published: 1998-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops:
Moonwalkby Michael Jackson
Crown Archetype; Published: 2009-10-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.44
Price in other shops:
High Society: The Life of Grace Kellyby Donald Spoto
Three Rivers Press; Published: 2010-10-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.73
Price in other shops:
Stand & Deliver: The Autobiographyby Adam Ant
Pan Macmillan; Published: 2007-04-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $105.86
San Antonio Rose: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF BOB WILLS (Music in American Life)by Charles Townsend
University of Illinois Press; Published: 1986-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $33.50
Price in other shops:
Orson Welles: Volume 1: The Road to Xanaduby Simon Callow
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1997-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.22
Price in other shops:
The Basketball Diariesby Jim Carroll
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1987-07-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.52
Price in other shops:
Hollywood Animalby Joe Eszterhas
Hutchinson; Published: 2004; Paperback; Book
Love, Janisby Laura Joplin
It Books; Published: 2005-08-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops:
A Paper Life CDby Tatum O'Neal
HarperAudio; Published: 2004-10-12; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $17.77
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Duke: The Life and Image of John Wayneby Ronald L. Davis
University of Oklahoma Press; Published: 2001-05-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.50
Price in other shops:
John Wayne's Wild West: An Illustrated History of Cowboys, Gunfights, Weapons, and Equipmentby Bruce Wexler
Skyhorse Publishing; Published: 2010-10-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.37
Price in other shops:
John Wayne - An American Icon (Biography)by Biographiq
Biographiq; Published: 2008-04-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.94
Price in other shops:
Dukeby DONALD /SLATZER/GRA SHEPHERD, Dave Grayson, Dona Shepherd
Citadel; Published: 2002-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.27
Price in other shops:
John Wayne: My Fatherby Aissa Wayne
Taylor Trade Publishing; Published: 1998-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.91
Price in other shops:
'Tis Herself: An Autobiographyby Maureen O'Hara, John Nicoletti
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005-02-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.03
Price in other shops:
The Young Duke: The Early Life of John Wayneby Chris Enss, Howard Kazanjian
Globe Pequot; Published: 2009-06-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.25
Price in other shops:
Duke, We're Glad We Knew You (by Herb Fagen
Citadel; Published: 2009-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.50
Price in other shops:
John Wayne: The Man Behind the Mythby Michael Munn
NAL Trade; Published: 2005-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.08
Price in other shops:
The Quotable John Wayne: The Grit and Wisdom of an American IconTaylor Trade Publishing; Published: 2007-09-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.84
Price in other shops: