Posted on 09/06/2011 5:55:59 PM PDT by jazusamo
Ethan Wayne, the youngest son of Hollywood legend John Wayne, hates to have anything in his pockets because as a young boy he couldn't go out of the house with his dad without a stack of business cards that read, "Good Luck, John Wayne" on one side and the Duke's name typed on the other side stuffed in his pockets.
"He would always take care of the fans no matter how busy he got," said Wayne, 49, who is named after his father's character in John Ford's influential 1956 western "The Searchers."
"If he couldn't sign [an autograph] or talk to them, they at least got a card," said Wayne. "I would say to him, 'Dad, why do we have to talk to this guy?' He'd say, 'Son, because these are the people who allow me to do what I do.' Because they watched his films he was allowed to do what he did and live a certain lifestyle and take care of his family way until his late 60s. He was always astonished [by his success]."
Since 2003, Ethan Wayne has headed John Wayne Enterprises in Newport Beach, which is owned by the Duke's children and grandchildren and whose primary mission is to preserve and protect the name, likeness and image of the larger-than-life movie star. He also has such a large collection of his father's movie memorabilia that he has opened his archives for auction.
"We get phone calls here, not daily anymore, but certainly weekly from fans saying, 'How can I get one of your dad's vests from this film or these films?'" said Wayne, sitting in a conference room at his office. "People have been calling for 32 years. His films affected people and they have a personal relationship with the guy and they want that...
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
He was a life-long hero of yours? Goodness gracious. The man had no real war-time experiences. He was a Hollywood ACTOR. What's to admire about that?
I can understand that you could admire the kind of person he portrayed but surely not the person he was.
If you want a hero, think of someone like Audey Murphy. Here's a guy who fought the Germans in real combat situations and was the most decorated soldier of World War II. Now, there's a hero, not some actor who is good at make-believe.
That’s interesting and signed by “Wild Bill” Donovan.
Did you know that John Wayne was in the OSS? I didn’t know that until tonight when I happened upon that certificate. As far as I know, he never spoke about it. I know John Ford was in the OSS, but he didn’t talk much about it either. There are a lot of ways a person can serve their country in a time of war.
There’s the Marine Corps now and there’s the Marine Corps of WWII. It’s my understanding that the age requirements were different then.
You may not know what the OSS was. It was the precursor to the CIA. It was involved in propaganda, espionage, information collection and dispersal, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Strategic_Services
Here is the CIA webpage on John Ford and the OSS film unit:
https://www.cia.gov/news-information/featured-story-archive/john-ford.html
Since Wayne and Ford worked together on numerous films, I can see how Ford would have asked for Wayne’s input on various projects, and that is how Wayne helped to serve his country during the war.
Donovan’s wikipage:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Joseph_Donovan
Donovan was the head of the OSS and was awarded a Medal of Honor. If he was willing to sign his name to a certificate that John Wayne served honorably as a member of the OSS, that is good enough for me.
James Steward is my favorite.
He just didn’t play a hero in the movies.
He was a real life hero.
Good grief, you’ve been carrying around this hatred for a man who’s been dead for 34 years? That’s crazy.
Eye patch from “True Grit” $4,000-$6,000.
That is very true. He also made a point not to make war movies after he returned to avoid the appearance that he was capitalizing on his war experience. He was my favorite also.
Dad was able to serve as a civilian pilot flying C-46s in the China-Burma-India Campaign. He wore a military uniform with CBI patch but without rank insignia. Some of these guys moved on to Air America...
When one thinks of the OSS isn't the image that of super secret spies working behind enemy lines? Instead of doing that, Wayne starred in some of John Ford's OSS training films. Kinda falls flat at that point, but I suppose that's good enough for you. Low standards, I guess.
But go ahead, admire someone like that.
No, it’s not hatred, just disdain for people who think the man is some sort of a hero, instead of a Hollywood actor, which is all he was.
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