Page 209 - Cousins - Celebrities, Saints & Sinners

John Wayne

10th Cousin

1 time removed

Common Ancestor

Father: Thomas Carter

England Born: Died:
Unknown – 1652 26 May 1907 11 June 1979

Mother: Mary Parkhurst Winterset, Iowa Los Angeles, California
England Marion Mitchell Morrison known professionally as John
Unknown – 1664 Wayne and nicknamed Duke, was an American actor,
director, producer and Presidential Medal of
Freedom recipient. He was among the top box office draws
for three decades famous for his roles in Western Films.
Wayne was born in Winterset, Iowa but grew up
in Southern California. He lost a football scholarship to
the University of Southern California as a result of
a bodysurfing accident, and began working for the Fox Film
Corporation. He appeared mostly in small parts, but his first
leading role came in Raoul Walsh's Western The Big
Trail (1930), an early widescreen film epic which was a box-
office failure. Leading roles followed in numerous B
movies during the 1930s, most of them also Westerns,
without becoming a major name. It was John
Ford's Stagecoach (1939) that made him a mainstream star,
and he starred in 142 motion pictures altogether. According
to one biographer, "John Wayne personified for millions the
nation's frontier heritage.”

Wayne's other roles in Westerns include a cattleman driving his herd on the Chisholm Trail in Red River (1948),
a Civil War veteran whose niece is abducted by a tribe of Comanches in The Searchers (1956), a troubled
th
rancher competing with a lawyer (James Stewart – 13 cousin) for a woman's hand in The Man Who Shot
Liberty Valance (1962), and a cantankerous one-eyed marshal in True Grit (1969), for which he received
the Academy Award for Best Actor. He is also remembered for his roles in The Quiet Man (1952), Rio
Bravo (1959) with Dean Martin, and The Longest Day (1962). In his final screen performance, he starred as an
aging gunfighter battling cancer in The Shootist (1976). He appeared with many important Hollywood stars of
his era, and made his last public appearance at the Academy Awards ceremony on April 9, 1979.

Wayne's father, Clyde Leonard Morrison (1884–1937), was the son of American Civil War veteran Marion
Mitchell Morrison (1845–1915). Wayne's mother, the former Mary "Molly" Alberta Brown (1885–1970), was
from Lancaster County, Nebraska. Wayne had Scottish, English and Irish ancestry. He was raised Presbyterian.
Wayne's family moved to Palmdale, California, and then in 1916 to Glendale at 404 Isabel Street, where his
father worked as a pharmacist. He attended Glendale Union High School where he performed well in both
sports and academics. Wayne was part of his high school's football team and its debating team. He was also
the President of the Latin Society and contributed to the school's newspaper sports column.

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