Duke of the Saddle



On this date in nineteen seventy nine

The master of Hollywood ran out of time

After making one hundred and fifty films

The cowboy's cowboy finally gave in ...



Having won the Oscar just ten years before

And then following it up with a dozen more

Each one - a performance highly tuned

Crafted from forty years making room



... For the roles for which he'll be remembered forever

A mix of those and the odd earlier ones done in ways clever

Some representing the combined talents of Wayne and Ford

... The director who kept driving him for a little more ...



- Tristram



© Christopher W. Thomas

written 10:30am June 12th, 1999

(for the date - June 11th, 1999)



The Highlights of John Wayne's Career



Awards:

1969 - Best Actor Oscar for True Grit

1960 - The Alamo (film nominated)

John Wayne produced/directed/starred

1949 - Nominated for Best Actor for

Sands of Iwo Jima



Other Accomplishments:



1968 - The Green Berets 

(star and co-director, with Ray Kellogg)



1958 - China Doll

(executive producer)



1949 - The Fighting Kentuckian

(star and producer)



1947 - Angel and the Badman

(star and producer)



Films Since True Grit



The Undefeated - 1969 

Chisum - 1970

Rio Lobo - 1970

Big Jake - 1971

The Cowboys - 1972

Cahill, U.S. Marshall - 1973

The Train Robbers - 1973

McQ - 1974

Brannigan - 1975

Rooster Cogburn - 1975

The Shootist - 1976



John Ford-directed John Wayne Films

(other directors noted)



Stagecoach - 1939

The Long Voyage Home - 1940

They Were Expendable - 1945

3 Godfathers - 1948

Fort Apache - 1948

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon - 1949

Rio Grande - 1950

The Quiet Man - 1953

Hondo - 1953 (with John Farrow)

The Searchers - 1956

The Wings of Eagles - 1957

The Horse Soldiers - 1959

How the West Was Won - 1962

(with George Marshall, Henry Hathaway)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - 1962

Donovan's Reef - 1962

(their last collaboration)



John Ford died in 1973

(six years before the Duke

... after making 160 films)



Birthdays



Rise Stevens (opera singer) 86

Richard Todd (actor/producer) 80

William Styron (author) 74

Gene Wilder (actor) 64

Chad Everett (actor) 63

Johnny Brown (comedian) 62

Jackie Stewart (car racer) 60

Wilma Burgess (Country) 60

Joey Dee (singer) 59

Adrienne Barbeau (actress) 54

Frank Beard (ZZ Top) 50

Donnie Van Zandt (.38 Special) 47

Peter Bergman (soap actor) 46

Joe Montana (ex-footballer) 43

Dan Lavery (Tonic) 30

Smilin' Jay McDowell (BR5-49) 30

Joshua Jackson (tv actor) 21