John Wayne: The Life and Legend

John Wayne: The Life and Legend

Drawing on interviews that author Scott Eyman conducted with John Wayne before his death and more than 100 interviews with the actorâ‚¬s family, co-stars, and close associates, this revelatory biography shows how both the facts and fictions about Wayne illuminate his singular life.

John Wayne was one of Hollywoodâ‚¬s most famous and most successful actors, but he was more than that. He became a symbol of America itself. He epitomized the Western film, which for many people epitomized America. He identified with conservative political causes from the early 1930s to his death in 1979, making him a hero to one generation of Americans and a villain to another. But unlike fellow actor Ronald Reagan, Wayne had no interest in politics as a career. Like many stars, he altered his life story, claiming to have become an actor almost by accident when in fact he had studied drama and aspired to act for most of his youth. He married three times, all to Latina women, and conducted a lengthy affair with Marlene Dietrich, as unlikely a romantic partner as one could imagine for the Duke. Wayne projected dignity, integrity, and strength in all his films, even when his characters were flawed, and whatever character he played was always prepared to confront injustice in his own way. More than thirty years after his death, he remains the standard by which male stars are judged and an actor whose morally unambiguous films continue to attract sizeable audiences.

Scott Eyman interviewed Wayne, as well as many family members, and he has drawn on previously unpublished reminiscences from friends and associates of the Duke in this biography, as well as documents from his production company that shed light on Wayneâ‚¬s business affairs. He traces Wayne from his childhood to his stardom in Stagecoach and dozens of films after that. Eyman perceptively analyzes Wayneâ‚¬s relationship with John Ford, the director with whom heâ‚¬s most associated and who made some of Wayneâ‚¬s greatest films, among them She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Quiet Man, and The Searchers. His evaluation of Wayne himself is shrewd: a skilled actor who was reluctant to step outside his comfort zone. Wayne was self-aware; he once said, â‚¬Å“Iâ‚¬ve played the kind of man Iâ‚¬d like to have been.â‚¬Â Itâ‚¬s that man and the real John Wayne who are brilliantly profiled in Scott Eymanâ‚¬s insightful biography of a true American legend.
Country USA
Brand Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer Simon & Schuster
Binding Hardcover
ReleaseDate 2014-04-01
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781439199589

Country	USA
Brand	Simon & Schuster
Manufacturer	Simon & Schuster
Binding	Hardcover
ReleaseDate	2014-04-01
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781439199589

John Wayne: The Life and Legend

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