Wayne, John, 1907–79, American movie actor, b. Winterset, Iowa, as Marion Michael Morrison. An enduringly popular movie star from his debut in 1930, Wayne combined the toughness necessary to play westerners and soldiers with an appealing amiability. He collaborated with John Ford, who discovered him, in such films as Stagecoach (1939), Fort Apache (1948), Rio Grande (1950), The Quiet Man (1952), The Searchers (1956), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). Wayne's other films include Red River (1949), The Alamo (1960), True Grit (1969), for which he won an Academy Award, and The Shootist (1975).
See biographies by R. Roberts and J. S. Olson (1995) and S. Eyman (2014); studies by M. Tomkies (1971), G. Carpozi (1972), and G. Wills (1997).
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