Wasn’t Leto Atreides the Red Duke?
James Henry “Red” Duke, Jr. (born 1928) is a Texas legend. He is trauma surgeon and professor at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He has been working on-site since 1972.
Duke attended Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas where he served as a yell leader. He was the first person to deliver the poem “The Last Corps Trip” publicly.
Duke has had years of achievement in the field of medicine. He was instrumental in introducing and expanding the Vietnam-proven civilian helicopter “Medivac” and the Level 1 Trauma Unit system to American medicine.
Outside of Texas, he is probably most famous for running a nationally syndicated television spot called “Dr. Red Duke’s Health Reports”, which aired for fifteen years. The spots educated millions about various health-related topics, a different subject for each day. He is well-recognized for his distinctive Texas accent, ever-present large mustache and “Duke-isms” (like his popular segment sign-off “For your health!”).
In addition to his medical work, in his spare time, he was an excellent bronc rider on the professional rodeo circuit! Dennis Weaver played him on a TV series patterned after his life.