As you may already be aware of, John Wayne is among the 20th century’s most popular actor. He is also known as Duke and was discovered in his leading role in the movie “The Big Trail.” So if you are a huge fan of this man, here are the best ones.
Forgotten Facts about John Wayne
1 John Wayne’s real name was Marrion Morrison, but would rather be called Duke or MMM.
2 The term “The Big C” was coined by John Wayne.
3 He reaped two government medals namely Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Medal.
4 John Wayne smoked 6-packs a day; he beat lung cancer, but died of stomach cancer.
5 John Wayne was good at chess, but it was not beneath him to cheat at it too.
6 A lot of John Wayne’s award winning acting was as a military, but he never served in the military in real life.
7 Between 1939 and 1976, John Wayne appeared in 75 different films.
8 He was a superstitious man where he didn’t like salt being passed to him or a hat left on the bed.
9 He was ordered to be assassinated for his anti-communist stance by Joseph Stalin.
10 He was awarded a football scholarship to the University of Southern California, but after two years, lost the scholarship when an injury forced him off the football field.
11 But, let me add a little bit more, did you know that the name Duke was taken from their family’s four-legged furry friend? Yes, Marion’s dog was named Duke. And lastly, the Harris Poll’s listing of America’s favorite movies stars always included John Wayne in the top ten—even at the beginning of the Poll’s inception.
John Wayne Biography
In episode 39 of 5 Minute Biographies, we take a brief look at the life of the man who will forever be remembered as the king of movie westerns – John Wayne.
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
I’m Natalie Garcia and I started this website to share my love of trivia, facts and fun knowledge tidbits. We cover things like celebrity gossip, historical facts, tv shows, world leaders and just odd and random fun things. I started this site to have some fun with my hobby and share some useful information with you, our community. Please feel to send me your suggestions and feedback through the contact form. And if you have suggestions for things to write about, please shoot me a message!