John Wayne _ The Man Behind the Myth - Michael Munn [0]
T h e M a n B e h i n d T h e My t h 21184_ch00.i-xiv.qxd 12/18/03 1:41 PM Page ii 21184_ch00.i-xiv.qxd 12/18/03 1:41 PM Page iii JOH N WAY N E
T h e M a n B e h i n d T h e My t h M IC H A E L MU N N
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New American Library
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Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. This is an authorized reprint of a hardcover edition published by Robson Books, a member of the Chrysalis Group plc. For information address Robson Books, The Chrysalis Building, Bramley Road, London W10 6SP.
First Electronic Edition March 2005
Copyright © Michael Munn, 2003
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AEB ISBN 0 7865 5414 2
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21184_ch00.i-xiv.qxd 12/18/03 1:41 PM Page v For all the victims and heroes of 9/11
21184_ch00.i-xiv.qxd 12/18/03 1:41 PM Page vi 21184_ch00.i-xiv.qxd 12/18/03 1:41 PM Page vii Contents
Foreword
ix
1
A Communist Conspiracy Revealed
1
2
From Marion to Duke
7
3
Call Him Wayne
19
4
Happy Trails, Unhappy Wedlock
31
5
Enter Ringo
45
6
B Pictures and Politics
62
7
Dietrich and DeMille
73
8
The War Years
81
9
Cold War in Hollywood
93
10
A New Bad Marriage
104
11
Stardom at Last
113
12
Wayne’s Crusade for Freedom
123
13
Quiet in Ireland
135
14
Assassins
145
15
From the Mighty to the Mongols
156
16
The Bloody Battle of Burbank
167
17
Searching for the Darkness
175
18
Duke Meets Nikita
186
19
The Alamo
203
20
Working Twenty Years for Nothing
223
21
Winning the West, the War, and Wild Africa
236
vii
21184_ch00.i-xiv.qxd 12/18/03 1:41 PM Page viii viii
CONTENTS
22
Life Is a Circus
243
23
Licking the Big C
254
24
The Vietcong Sniper
266
25
Oscar
284
26
Last Roundup
298
27
Dirty Duke
308
28
The Last Ride
323
29
The Absolute All-Time Movie Star
341
Postscript
353
Filmography
354
Sources
371
Bibliography
376
Index
379
21184_ch00.i-xiv.qxd 12/18/03 1:41 PM Page ix Foreword
I have a great affection for the man they called the Duke.
There are numerous actors I have a great admiration for, and there are a great many I think were better actors than Wayne. But I can think of only three I have real affection for, and John Wayne is one of them.
One reason simply has to do with his screen persona. I liked—
and still like—watching Wayne on screen. Some of his work has touched my life. I can’t think of another film that portrayed courage as inspiringly as The Alamo, which was the film that turned me on to Wayne in 1960 when I was just eight. I don’t think the critics who savaged the film knew what they were talking about, and I say