The Director Who Made This Iconic Hollywood Tough Guy
John Wayne (1907 – 1979) made a lot of money off his tough guy image, and on-screen portrayals of virile and gung ho masculinity. “Duke”, as he was known to millions of admirers, cornered the market for a while on depictions of the quintessential American fighting man. Such roles got him two Best Actor Oscar nominations, including one for playing a tough US Marine sergeant in The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949). Less known is the fact that, just a few years earlier in WWII, Duke had been booed off stage by actual US Marines, who reacted negatively to his fake machismo. They also resented the fact that he had ducked the draft and avoided service. For the rest of his life, Wayne berated himself – and overcompensated – for his WWII draft avoidance.
Director Raoul Walsh cast an unknown actor named Marion Robert Morrison in his first lead role in The Big Trail, released in 1930. The movie flopped, and sent its lead actor back into Hollywood purgatory. However, some good came out of the venture: on Walsh’s and the studio’s recommendation, Marion Robert Morrison changed his name to John Wayne. Over the next few years, Wayne toiled in dozens of forgettable Westerns for so-called Poverty Row Studios. He was saved from obscurity in 1938, when Oscar-winning director John Ford offered him the lead in Stagecoach. The movie was a hit. It kicked off a productive relationship that lasted for 23 pictures, in which the iconic director crafted John Wayne’s public image, and transformed him into a Hollywood legend. Throughout their long professional relationship, Ford seldom spared a kind word for his protégé.