name	John Wayne
birth name	Marion Robert Morrison
birth date	May 26, 1907
birth place	Winterset, Iowa, U.S.
death date	June 11, 1979
death place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
other names	Marion Mitchell Morrison; "The Duke"; Duke Morrison
occupation	Actor, director, producer
education	Glendale High School
alma mater	University of Southern California
home town	Glendale, California
party	Republican
religion	Roman Catholic convert from Presbyterian
years active	1926–76
death cause	Stomach cancer
spouse
website	http://www.johnwayne.com }}

Marion Mitchell Morrison (born Marion Robert Morrison; May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive voice, walk and height. He was also known for his conservative political views and his support, beginning in the 1950s, for anti-communist positions.

A Harris Poll, released January 2011, placed Wayne third among America's favorite film stars, the only deceased star on the list and the only one who has appeared on the poll every year since it first began in 1994.

In June of 1999, the American Film Institute named Wayne 13th among the Greatest Male Screen Legends of All Time.

Early life

Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, Iowa. His middle name was soon changed from Robert to Mitchell when his parents decided to name their next son Robert.

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 was of Presbyterian Scots-Irish descent through his second great-grandfather Robert Morrison, who was born in County Antrim, Ireland and emigrated to the United States in 1782.

Wayne's family moved to Palmdale, California, and then in 1911 to Glendale, California, where his father worked as a pharmacist. A local fireman at the station on his route to school in Glendale started calling him "Little Duke" because he never went anywhere without his huge Airedale Terrier, Duke. He preferred "Duke" to "Marion", and the name stuck for the rest of his life.

As a teen, Wayne worked in an ice cream shop for a man who shod horses for Hollywood studios. He was also active as a member of the Order of DeMolay, a youth organization associated with the Freemasons. He attended Wilson Middle School in Glendale. He played football for the 1924 champion Glendale High School team. Wayne applied to the U.S. Naval Academy, but was not accepted. He instead attended the University of Southern California (USC), majoring in pre-law. He was a member of the Trojan Knights and Sigma Chi fraternities. Wayne also played on the USC football team under legendary coach Howard Jones. An injury curtailed his athletic career; Wayne later noted he was too terrified of Jones's reaction to reveal the actual cause of his injury, which was bodysurfing at the “Wedge” at the tip of the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach. He lost his athletic scholarship and, without funds, had to leave the university.

Wayne began working at the local film studios. Prolific silent western film star Tom Mix had gotten him a summer job in the prop department in exchange for football tickets. Wayne soon moved on to bit parts, establishing a longtime friendship with the director who provided most of those roles, John Ford. Early in this period, Wayne appeared with his USC teammates playing football in ''Brown of Harvard'' (1926), ''The Dropkick'' (1927), and ''Salute'' (1929) and Columbia's ''Maker of Men'' (filmed in 1930, released in 1931). Also, it is during this period that Wayne is reputed to have met the legendary gunfighter and lawman Wyatt Earp.

Film career

While working for Fox Film Corporation in bit roles, he was given on-screen credit as "Duke Morrison" only once, in ''Words and Music'' (1929). In 1930, director Raoul Walsh cast him in his first starring role in ''The Big Trail'' (1930). For his screen name, Walsh suggested "Anthony Wayne", after Revolutionary War general "Mad Anthony" Wayne. Fox Studios chief Winfield Sheehan rejected it as sounding "too Italian". Walsh then suggested "John Wayne". Sheehan agreed, and the name was set. Wayne himself was not even present for the discussion. His pay was raised to $105 a week.

''The Big Trail'' was to be the first big-budget outdoor spectacle of the sound era, made at a staggering cost of over $2 million, using hundreds of extras and wide vistas of the American southwest, still largely unpopulated at the time. To take advantage of the breathtaking scenery, it was filmed in two versions, a standard 35mm version and another in "Grandeur", a new process using innovative camera and lenses and a revolutionary 70mm widescreen process. Many in the audience who saw it in Grandeur stood and cheered. Unfortunately, only a handful of theaters were equipped to show the film in its widescreen process, and the effort was largely wasted. The film was considered a huge flop. After the failure of ''The Big Trail'', Wayne was relegated to small roles in A-pictures, including Columbia's ''The Deceiver'' (1931), in which he played a corpse. He appeared in the serial ''The Three Musketeers'' (1933), an updated version of the Alexandre Dumas novel in which the protagonists were soldiers in the French Foreign Legion in then-contemporary North Africa. He appeared in many low-budget "Poverty Row" westerns, mostly at Monogram Pictures and serials for Mascot Pictures Corporation. By Wayne's own estimation, he appeared in about eighty of these horse operas between 1930 - 1939. In ''Riders of Destiny'' (1933) he became one of the first singing cowboys of film, albeit via dubbing. Wayne also appeared in some of the ''Three Mesquiteers'' westerns, whose title was a play on the Dumas classic. He was mentored by stuntmen in riding and other western skills. He and famed stuntman Yakima Canutt developed and perfected stunts still used today.

Wayne's breakthrough role came with director John Ford's classic ''Stagecoach'' (1939). Because of Wayne's non-star status and track record in low-budget westerns throughout the 1930s, Ford had difficulty getting financing for what was to be an A-budget film. After rejection by all the top studios, Ford struck a deal with independent producer Walter Wanger in which Claire Trevor—a much bigger star at the time—received top billing. ''Stagecoach'' was a huge critical and financial success, and Wayne became a star. He later appeared in more than twenty of John Ford's films, including ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbon'' (1949), ''The Quiet Man'' (1952), ''The Searchers'' (1956), ''The Wings of Eagles'' (1957), and ''The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'' (1962).

Wayne's first color film was ''Shepherd of the Hills'' (1941), in which he co-starred with his longtime friend Harry Carey. The following year, he appeared in his only film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, the Technicolor epic ''Reap the Wild Wind'' (1942), in which he co-starred with Ray Milland and Paulette Goddard; it was one of the rare times he played a character with questionable values.

In 1949, director Robert Rossen offered the starring role of ''All the King's Men'' to Wayne. Wayne refused, believing the script to be un-American in many ways. Broderick Crawford, who eventually got the role, won the 1949 Oscar for best male actor, ironically beating out Wayne, who had been nominated for ''Sands of Iwo Jima.'' He lost the leading role in ''The Gunfighter'' (1950) to Gregory Peck due to his refusal to work for Columbia Pictures because its chief, Harry Cohn, had mistreated him years before when he was a young contract player. Cohn had bought the project for Wayne, but Wayne's grudge was too deep, and Cohn sold the script to Twentieth Century Fox, which cast Peck in the role Wayne badly wanted but for which he refused to bend.

One of Wayne's most popular roles was in ''The High and the Mighty'' (1954), directed by William Wellman, and based on a novel by Ernest K. Gann. His portrayal of a heroic copilot won widespread acclaim. Wayne also portrayed aviators in ''Flying Tigers (1942),'' ''Flying Leathernecks'' (1951), ''Island in the Sky'' (1953), ''The Wings of Eagles'' (1957), and ''Jet Pilot'' (1957).

''The Searchers'' (1956) continues to be widely regarded as perhaps Wayne's finest and most complex performance. In 2006, ''Premiere Magazine'' ran an industry poll in which Wayne's portrayal of Ethan Edwards was rated the 87th greatest performance in film history. He named his youngest son Ethan after the character. John Wayne won a Best Actor Oscar for ''True Grit'' (1969). Wayne was also nominated as the producer of Best Picture for ''The Alamo'' (1960), one of two films he directed. The other was ''The Green Berets'' (1968), the only major film made during the Vietnam War to support the war. During the filming of ''Green Berets'', the Degar or Montagnard people of Vietnam's Central Highlands, fierce fighters against communism, bestowed on Wayne a brass bracelet that he wore in the film and all subsequent films. His last film was ''The Shootist'' (1976), whose main character, J. B. Books, was dying of cancer—the illness to which Wayne himself succumbed three years later.

According to the Internet Movie Database, Wayne played the lead in 142 of his film appearances.

Batjac, the production company co-founded by Wayne, was named after the fictional shipping company Batjak in ''Wake of the Red Witch'' (1948), a film based on the novel by Garland Roark. (A spelling error by Wayne's secretary was allowed to stand, accounting for the variation.) Batjac (and its predecessor, Wayne-Fellows Productions) was the arm through which Wayne produced many films for himself and other stars. Its best-known non-Wayne production was the highly acclaimed ''Seven Men From Now'' (1956), which started the classic collaboration between director Budd Boetticher and star Randolph Scott.

In the ''Motion Picture Herald'' Top Ten Money- Making Western Stars poll, Wayne was listed in 1936 and 1939. He appeared in the similar ''Box Office'' poll in 1939 and 1940. While these two polls are really an indication only of the popularity of series stars, Wayne also appeared in the ''Top Ten Money Makers Poll'' of all films from 1949 to 1957 and 1958 to 1974, taking first place in 1950, 1951, 1954 and 1971 . With a total of 25 years on the list, Wayne has more appearances than any other star, beating Clint Eastwood (21) into second place.

In later years, Wayne was recognized as a sort of American natural resource, and his various critics, of his performances and his politics, viewed him with more respect. Abbie Hoffman, the radical of the 1960s, paid tribute to Wayne's singularity, saying, "I like Wayne's wholeness, his style. As for his politics, well—I suppose even cavemen felt a little admiration for the dinosaurs that were trying to gobble them up." Reviewing ''The Cowboys'' (1972), Vincent Canby of the ''New York Times'', who did not particularly care for the film, wrote: "Wayne is, of course, marvelously indestructible, and he has become an almost perfect father figure."

Filmography

1964 illness

Wayne had been a chain-smoker of cigarettes since young adulthood. In 1964, Wayne was diagnosed with lung cancer, and underwent successful surgery to remove his entire left lung and four ribs. Despite efforts by his business associates to prevent him from going public with his illness (for fear it would cost him work), Wayne announced he had cancer and called on the public to get preventive examinations. Five years later, Wayne was declared cancer-free. Despite the fact that Wayne's diminished lung capacity left him incapable of prolonged exertion and frequently in need of supplemental oxygen, within a few years of his operation he chewed tobacco and began smoking cigars until the day he died.

Politics

Wayne claimed in his ''Playboy'' interview to have been a socialist during his years at college, and he admitted voting for Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1936 presidential election. In the same interview, he also expressed admiration for Democratic President Harry S Truman. For most of his career, however, he was a vocally conservative Republican. He took part in creating the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals in February 1944 and was elected president of that organization in 1947. He was an ardent anti-communist and vocal supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committee. In 1952, he made ''Big Jim McLain'' to show his support for the anti-communist cause. A supporter of Vice President Richard Nixon's candidacy in the United States presidential election in 1960, he expressed his vision of patriotism when John F. Kennedy won the election: "I didn't vote for him but he's my president, and I hope he does a good job."

Wayne used his iconic status to support conservative causes, including rallying support for the Vietnam War by producing, co-directing, and starring in the critically panned ''The Green Berets'' in 1968. In the mid-1970s, however, he went against many fellow conservatives in supporting the Panama Canal Treaty.

Due to his enormous popularity, and his status as the most famous Republican star in Hollywood, wealthy Texas Republican Party backers asked Wayne to run for national office in 1968, as had his friend and fellow actor, Senator George Murphy. He declined, joking that he did not believe the public would seriously consider an actor in the White House. However, he did support his friend Ronald Reagan's runs for Governor of California in 1966 and 1970. He was also asked to be the running mate for Democratic Alabama Governor George Wallace in 1968. Wayne vehemently rejected the offer. Wayne actively campaigned for Richard Nixon, and addressed the Republican National Convention on its opening day in August 1968. Wayne also was a member of the conservative and anti-communist John Birch Society.

Wayne openly differed with the Republican Party over the issue of the Panama Canal. Conservatives wanted America to retain full control, but Wayne, believing that the Panamanians had the right to the canal, sided with President Jimmy Carter and the Democrats to win passage of the treaty returning the canal in the Senate. Mr. Wayne was a close friend of the late Panamanian leader, Brig. Gen. Omar Torrijos Herrera. Mr. Wayne's first wife, Josephine, whom he divorced in 1946, was a native of Panama.

Soviet documents released in 2003 revealed, despite being a fan of Wayne's movies, Joseph Stalin ordered Wayne's assassination due to his strong anti-communist politics. Stalin died before the killing could be accomplished. His successor, Nikita Khrushchev, reportedly told Wayne during a 1959 visit to the United States that he had personally rescinded the order.

Controversy

Military service

America's entry into World War II resulted in a deluge of support for the war effort from all sectors of society, and Hollywood was no exception. Many established stars rushed to sign up for military service.

As the majority of male leads left Hollywood to serve overseas, John Wayne saw his just-blossoming stardom at risk. Despite enormous pressure from his inner circle of friends, he put off enlisting. Wayne was exempted from service due to his age (34 at the time of Pearl Harbor) and family status, classified as 3-A (family deferment). Wayne's secretary recalled making inquiries of military officials on behalf of his interest in enlisting, "but he never really followed up on them". He repeatedly wrote to John Ford, asking to be placed in Ford's military unit, but consistently postponed it until "after he finished one more film", Republic Studios was emphatically resistant to losing Wayne, especially after the loss of Gene Autry to the Army.

Correspondence between Wayne and Herbert J. Yates (the head of Republic) indicates Yates threatened Wayne with a lawsuit if he walked away from his contract, though the likelihood of a studio suing its biggest star for going to war was minute. Whether or not the threat was real, Wayne did not test it. Selective Service records indicate he did not attempt to prevent his reclassification as 1-A (draft eligible), but apparently Republic Pictures intervened directly, requesting his further deferment. In May, 1944, Wayne was reclassified as 1-A (draft eligible), but the studio obtained another 2-A deferment (for "support of national health, safety, or interest"). He remained 2-A until the war's end. Thus, John Wayne did not illegally "dodge" the draft, but he never took direct positive action toward enlistment.

Wayne was in the South Pacific theater of the war for three months in 1943–44, touring U.S. bases and hospitals, as well as doing some work for OSS commander William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan, who "hoped that a celebrity like Wayne could provide information denied his own operatives. Donovan was particularly interested in Wayne's assessment of MacArthur himself. Wayne's mission was only partly successful. He never met MacArthur, and although he filed a report with Donovan when he got back to the States, he had nothing substantial to offer Donovan." Donovan gave him a plaque and commendation for serving with the OSS, but Wayne dismissed it as meaningless.

The foregoing facts influenced the direction of Wayne's later life. By many accounts, Wayne's failure to serve in the military during World War II was the most painful experience of his life. Some other stars, for various reasons, did not enlist, but Wayne, by virtue of becoming a celluloid war hero in several patriotic war films, as well as an outspoken supporter of conservative political causes and the Vietnam War, became the focus of particular disdain from both himself and certain portions of the public, particularly in later years. While some hold Wayne in contempt for the paradox between his early actions and his later attitudes, his widow suggests Wayne's rampant patriotism in later decades sprang not from hypocrisy but from guilt. Pilar Wayne wrote, "He would become a 'superpatriot' for the rest of his life trying to atone for staying home."

Statements to ''Playboy'' magazine

In an interview with ''Playboy'' magazine published on May 1, 1971, Wayne made several controversial remarks about race and class in the United States. The interview became a hot topic and many stores had trouble keeping the issue in stock. He noted that, as someone living in the 20th century, he was not responsible for the way people who lived one hundred years before him had treated Native Americans, stating:

I don't feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them if that's what you're asking. Our so called stealing of this country was just a question of survival. There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.... Look, I'm sure there have been inequalities. If those inequalities are presently affecting any of the Indians now alive, they have a right to a court hearing. But what happened 100 years ago in our country can't be blamed on us today. I'm quite sure that the concept of a Government-run reservation... seems to be what the socialists are working for now – to have everyone cared for from cradle to grave.... What happened between their forefathers and our forefathers is so far back – right, wrong or indifferent – that I don't see why we owe them anything. I don't know why the government should give them something that it wouldn't give me.

Wayne responded to questions about whether social programs like Medicare and Social Security were good for the country:

I know all about that. In the late Twenties, when I was a sophomore at USC, I was a socialist myself – but not when I left. The average college kid idealistically wishes everybody could have ice cream and cake for every meal. But as he gets older and gives more thought to his and his fellow man's responsibilities, he finds that it can't work out that way – that some people just won't carry their load.... I believe in welfare – a welfare work program. I don't think a fella should be able to sit on his backside and receive welfare. I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living. I'd like to know why they make excuses for cowards who spit in the faces of the police and then run behind the judicial sob sisters. I can't understand these people who carry placards to save the life of some criminal, yet have no thought for the innocent victim.

In the interview he previously had discussed race relations, including his response to Angela Davis's assertion that her removal from a position as an assistant professor in the UCLA philosophy department on the grounds that she was an active member the Communist party was actually because she was black:

With a lot of blacks, there's quite a bit of resentment along with their dissent, and possibly rightfully so. But we can't all of a sudden get down on our knees and turn everything over to the leadership of the blacks. I believe in white supremacy until blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don't believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people.

When asked how blacks could address their perceived lack of leadership experience and the inequities of the past, Wayne replied:

It's not my judgment. The academic community has developed certain tests that determine whether the blacks are sufficiently equipped scholastically. But some blacks have tried to force the issue and enter college when they haven't passed the tests and don't have the requisite background.... By going to school. I don't know why people insist that blacks have been forbidden to go to school. They were allowed in public schools wherever I've been. Even if they don't have the proper credentials for college, there are courses to help them become eligible. But if they aren't academically ready for that step, I don't think they should be allowed in. Otherwise, the academic society is brought down to the lowest common denominator.... What good would it do to register anybody in a class of higher algebra or calculus if they haven't learned to count? There has to be a standard. I don't feel guilty about the fact that five or 10 generations ago these people were slaves. Now, I'm not condoning slavery. It's just a fact of life, like the kid who gets infantile paralysis and has to wear braces so he can't play football with the rest of us. I will say this, though: I think any black who can compete with a white today can get a better break than a white man. I wish they'd tell me where in the world they have it better than right here in America.

Wayne later made controversial pro-war comments when asked why a North-South joint election in Vietnam could not have been administered in lieu of armed conflict:

That would be no more practical than if France, after coming to help us in the Revolution, suggested having an election to decide what we wanted to do. It would be an exact parallel. The majority of those living in the Colonies didn't want war at that time. If there had been a general election then, we probably wouldn't be here today. As far as Vietnam is concerned, we've made mistakes. I know of no country that's perfect. But I honestly believe that there's as much need for us to help the Vietnamese as there was to help the Jews in Germany. The only difference is that we haven't had any leadership in this war. All the liberal senators have stuck their noses in this, and it's out of their bailiwick. They've already put far too many barriers in the way of the military. Our lack of leadership has gone so far that now no one man can come in, face the issue and tell people that we ought to be in an all-out war.

Personal life

Wayne was married three times and divorced twice. His wives, all of them Hispanic women, were Josephine Alicia Saenz, Esperanza Baur, and Pilar Pallete. He had four children with Josephine:

Michael Wayne (film producer) - Born November 23, 1934 / Died April 2, 2003

Mary Antonia "Toni" Wayne LaCava - Born February 25, 1936 / Died December 6, 2000

Patrick Wayne (actor) - Born July 15, 1939

Melinda Wayne Munoz - Born December 3, 1940

and three with Pilar:

Aissa Wayne (actress, now attorney) - Born March 31, 1956

John Ethan Wayne (actor) - Born February 22, 1962

Marisa Wayne (actress) - Born February 22, 1966

Heavyweight boxer Tommy Morrison alleges that Wayne is his great-uncle. Wayne's son Ethan was billed as John Ethan Wayne in a few films, and played one of the leads in the 1990s update of the ''Adam-12'' television series.

His stormiest divorce was from Esperanza Baur, a former Mexican actress. She convinced herself that Wayne and co-star Gail Russell were having an affair. The night the film ''Angel and the Badman'' (1947) wrapped, there was the usual party for cast and crew, and Wayne came home very late. Esperanza was in a drunken rage by the time he arrived, and she attempted to shoot him as he walked through the front door.

Wayne's hair began thinning in the 1940s, and he started wearing a hairpiece by the end of that decade (though his receding hairline is quite evident in ''Rio Grande''). He was occasionally seen in public without the hairpiece (notably, according to ''Life Magazine'' photos, at Gary Cooper's funeral). The only time he unintentionally appeared on film without it was for a split second in ''North to Alaska.'' On the first punch of the climactic fistfight, Wayne's hat flies off, revealing a brief flash of his unadorned scalp. Wayne also has several scenes in ''The Wings of Eagles'' where he is without his hairpiece. (During a widely noted appearance at Harvard University, Wayne was asked by a student, "Is your hair real?" Wayne responded in the affirmative, then added, "It's not mine, but it's real!")

Wayne had several high-profile affairs, including one with Marlene Dietrich that lasted for three years. In the years prior to his death, Wayne was romantically involved with his former secretary Pat Stacy (1941–1995). She wrote a biography of her life with him, ''DUKE: A Love Story'' (1983).

A close friend of Wayne's, California Congressman Alphonzo Bell, wrote of him, "Duke's personality and sense of humor were very close to what the general public saw on the big screen. It is perhaps best shown in these words he had engraved on a plaque: 'Each of us is a mixture of some good and some not so good qualities. In considering one's fellow man it's important to remember the good things. . . We should refrain from making judgments just because a fella happens to be a dirty, rotten SOB.'"

During the early 1960s, John Wayne traveled extensively to Panama. During this time, the actor reportedly purchased the island of Taborcillo off the main coast of Panama. It was sold by his estate at his death and changed hands many times before being opened as a tourist attraction.

Wayne was a Freemason, a Master Mason in Marion McDaniel Lodge #56 F&AM;, in Tucson. He became a 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason and later joined the Al Malaikah Shrine Temple in Los Angeles. He became a member of the York Rite.

Wayne biographer Michael Munn writes of Wayne's love of alcohol. According to Sam O'Steen's memoir, ''Cut to the Chase'', studio directors knew to shoot Wayne's scenes before noon, because by afternoon Wayne "was a mean drunk".

John Wayne's height has been perennially described as at least 6'4" (193 cm), but claims abound that he was shorter. However, Wayne's high school athletic records indicate he was 6'3" at age 17, and his University of Southern California athletic records state that by age 18, he had grown to 6'4".

Death

Although he enrolled in a cancer vaccine study in an attempt to ward off the disease, John Wayne died of stomach cancer on June 11, 1979, at the UCLA Medical Center, and was interred in the Pacific View Memorial Park cemetery in Corona del Mar. According to his son Patrick, he converted to Roman Catholicism shortly before his death. He requested his tombstone read "Feo, Fuerte y Formal", a Mexican epitaph Wayne described as meaning "ugly, strong and dignified". However, the grave, unmarked for twenty years, is now marked with a quotation from his controversial 1971 ''Playboy'' interview: "Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday."

Among the 220 or so cast and crew who filmed the 1956 film, ''The Conqueror'', on location near St. George, Utah, 91 at various times developed some form of cancer (41%), including stars Wayne, Susan Hayward, and Agnes Moorehead, and director Dick Powell. The film was shot in southwestern Utah, east of and generally downwind from where the U.S. Government had tested nuclear weapons in southeastern Nevada. Although the 41% incidence of cancer in the cast and crew is identical to that of the general population, many contend radioactive fallout from these tests contaminated the film location and poisoned the film crew working there. Despite the suggestion Wayne’s 1964 lung cancer and his 1979 stomach cancer resulted from this nuclear contamination, he himself believed his lung cancer to have been a result of his six-pack-a-day cigarette habit.

Legacy

Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom

John Wayne's enduring status as an iconic American was formally recognized by the United States Congress on May 26, 1979, when he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Hollywood figures and American leaders from across the political spectrum, including Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Mike Frankovich, Katharine Hepburn, General and Mrs. Omar Bradley, Gregory Peck, Robert Stack, James Arness, and Kirk Douglas, testified to Congress of the merit and deservedness of this award. Most notable was the testimony of Robert Aldrich, then president of the Directors Guild of America: "It is important for you to know that I am a registered Democrat and, to my knowledge, share none of the political views espoused by Duke. However, whether he is ill disposed or healthy, John Wayne is far beyond the normal political sharp shooting in this community. Because of his courage, his dignity, his integrity, and because of his talents as an actor, his strength as a leader, his warmth as a human being throughout his illustrious career, he is entitled to a unique spot in our hearts and minds. In this industry, we often judge people, sometimes unfairly, by asking whether they have paid their dues. John Wayne has paid his dues over and over, and I'm proud to consider him a friend and am very much in favor of my Government recognizing in some important fashion the contribution that Mr. Wayne has made."

Maureen O'Hara, Wayne's close friend, initiated the petition for the medal and requested the words that would be placed onto the medal: "It is my great honor to be here. I beg you to strike a medal for Duke, to order the President to strike it. And I feel that the medal should say just one thing, 'John Wayne, American.'" The medal crafted by the United States Mint has on one side John Wayne riding on horseback, and the other side has a portrait of Wayne with the words, "John Wayne, American". This Congressional Gold Medal was presented to the family of John Wayne in a ceremony held on March 6, 1980, at the United States Capitol. Copies were made and sold in large numbers to the public.

On June 9, 1980, Wayne was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Jimmy Carter (at whose inaugural ball Wayne had appeared "as a member of the loyal opposition", as Wayne described it in his speech to the gathering). Thus Wayne received the two highest civilian decorations awarded by the United States government.

American icon

Wayne rose beyond the typical recognition for a famous actor to that of an enduring icon who symbolized and communicated American values and ideals. By the middle of his career, Wayne had developed a larger-than-life image, and as his career progressed, he selected roles that would not compromise his off-screen image. By the time of his last film ''The Shootist'' (1976), Wayne refused to allow his character to shoot a man in the back as was originally scripted, saying "I've made over 250 pictures and have never shot a guy in the back. Change it."

Wayne's rise to being the quintessential movie war hero began to take shape four years after World War II, when ''Sands of Iwo Jima'' (1949) was released. His footprints at Grauman's Chinese theater in Hollywood were laid in concrete that contained sand from Iwo Jima. His status grew so large and legendary that when Japanese Emperor Hirohito visited the United States in 1975, he asked to meet John Wayne, the symbolic representation of his country's former enemy.

Wayne was a popular visitor to the war zones in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. By the 1950s, perhaps in large part due to the military aspect of films such as the ''Sands of Iwo Jima'', ''Flying Tigers'', ''They Were Expendable'', and the Ford cavalry trilogy, Wayne had become an icon to all the branches of the U.S. Military, even in light of his actual lack of military service. Many veterans have said their reason for serving was in some part related to watching Wayne's movies. His name is attached to various pieces of gear, such as the P-38 "John Wayne" can opener, so named because "it can do anything", paper towels known as "John Wayne toilet paper" because "it's rough and it's tough and don't take shit off no one," and C-Ration crackers are called "John Wayne crackers" because presumably only someone as tough as Wayne could eat them. A rough and rocky mountain pass used by military tanks and jeeps at Fort Irwin in San Bernardino County, California, is aptly named "John Wayne Pass".

Various public locations, named in memory of John Wayne, include John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, where his nine-foot bronze statue graces the entrance; the John Wayne Marina that Wayne bequeathed the land for, near Sequim, Washington; John Wayne Elementary School (P.S. 380) in Brooklyn, NY, which boasts a 38-foot mosaic mural commission by New York artist Knox Martin entitled "John Wayne and the American Frontier"; and a 100-plus-mile trail named the "John Wayne Pioneer Trail" in Washington state's Iron Horse State Park. A larger than life-size bronze statue of Wayne atop a horse was erected at the corner of La Cienega Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California at the former offices of the Great Western Savings & Loan Corporation, for whom Wayne had done a number of commercials. (The building now houses Larry Flynt Enterprises.)

In the city of Maricopa, Arizona, part of AZ State Highway 347 is named John Wayne Parkway, which runs right through the center of town.

On December 5, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Wayne into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.

Celebrations and landmarks

Several celebrations took place on May 26, 2007, the centennial of John Wayne's birth.

At the John Wayne birthplace in Winterset, Iowa, the John Wayne Birthday Centennial Celebration was held on May 25–27, 2007. The celebration included chuck-wagon suppers, concerts by Michael Martin Murphey and Riders in the Sky, a Wild West Revue in the style of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, a Cowboy Symposium with John Wayne co-stars, Gregg Palmer, Ed Faulkner, and Dean Smith, along with Paramount producer A.C. Lyles and costumer Luster Bayless were all there to talk about their friendships with Wayne. They had cavalry and trick horse demonstrations, as well as many of John Wayne's films running at the local theater.

This event also included the groundbreaking for the New John Wayne Birthplace Museum and Learning Center at his birthplace house. Over 30 family members were there, including Melinda Wayne Munoz, Aissa, Ethan and Marisa Wayne. Several grandchildren and great-grandchildren were also present. An old gas station is being torn down to make way for the new museum. This groundbreaking was held with Ethan Wayne at the controls of the equipment.

In 2006, friends of Wayne's and his former Arizona business partner, Louis Johnson, inaugurated the "Louie and the Duke Classics" events benefiting the John Wayne Cancer Foundation and the American Cancer Society. The weekend long event each fall in Casa Grande, Arizona includes a golf tournament, an auction of John Wayne memorabilia and a team roping competition.

Missed roles

John Wayne desperately wanted the role of "Jimmy Ringo" in the 1950 film ''The Gunfighter,'' directed by Henry King. But the role went to Gregory Peck instead. John Wayne's final film, ''The Shootist'' (1976), directed by Don Siegel was very similar to ''The Gunfighter.''

An urban legend has it that John Wayne was offered the leading role of Matt Dillon in the longtime favorite television show ''Gunsmoke,'' but he turned it down, recommending instead James Arness for the role. The only part of this story that is true is that Wayne did indeed recommend Arness for the part. Wayne introduced Arness in a prologue to the first episode of ''Gunsmoke''.

Wayne was approached by Mel Brooks to play the part of the Waco Kid in the film ''Blazing Saddles.'' After reading the script he said, "I can't be in this picture, it's too dirty ... but I'll be the first in line to see it."

He reportedly had initially strongly considered taking the role of Major Reisman in ''The Dirty Dozen'', even asking MGM to make changes to the script to accommodate him. But ultimately, he turned it down to make ''The Green Berets''. The role went to Lee Marvin.

Wayne had lobbied to play the lead in ''Dirty Harry'', but Warner Bros. felt that at age 63, he was too old for the role. The role eventually went to Clint Eastwood.

Prior to his death, Wayne had bought the film rights to Buddy Atkinson's novel, ''Beau John'', and was in the pre-production stage of the movie when he took ill. The film was a comedy set in Kentucky during the 1920s, and would have co-starred Ron Howard and Hal Linden.

Quotations

Movie quotations

"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, I require the same from them." (''The Shootist'')

Speaking to his young cavalry lieutenants: "Don't apologize—it's a sign of weakness." (''She Wore a Yellow Ribbon'')

"Fill your hand, you son of a bitch!" (''True Grit'')

"That'll be the day!" (''The Searchers'' - Spoken several times; inspired Buddy Holly to write a song with that title.)

"Pilgrim". (''The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'' - Reportedly he used the expression "Pilgrim", as in "tenderfoot" or "dude" or "amateur", 23 times in that film, and once also in ''McLintock!''. It became a catchphrase for impressionists such as John Byner, and Rich Little)

"I haven't lost my temper in 40 years; but, Pilgrim, you caused a lot of trouble this morning; might have got somebody killed; and somebody oughta belt you in the mouth. But I won't. I won't. ''The hell I won't!''" (He belts him in the mouth). (To Leo Gordon in ''McLintock!'')

"Out here, due process is a bullet!" (To anti-war journalist David Janssen in ''The Green Berets'')

"Not hardly!" (''Big Jake'' - used several times throughout the movie when told by others "Jacob McCandles?! I thought you were dead!")

"It's a hard life!" (''The Cowboys'' - in response to "The 'long-haired man'" played by Bruce Dern saying "You're a hard man!")

"We're burning daylight!" ("The Cowboys")

"You want that gun, pick it up...I wish you would" (Rio Bravo)

Famous quotations outside the movies

"I eat as much as I ever did, I drink more than I should, and my sex life is none of your goddamned business." (May 1971, ''Playboy'' interview)

"If I had known this, I would've put that patch on thirty-five years earlier." (1969, Academy Awards speech for Best Actor in ''True Grit''.)

"We had a pretty good time together, when she wasn't trying to kill me!" (1954, in an interview with Hedda Hopper regarding his marriage to Esperanza "Chata" Baur.)

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry. Wayne was nominated for three competitive awards and won once.

Actor

{| |- | The winner for each year is in bold face text against a | style="background:yellow;"| yellow | background. |}

[[1969 in film
! Actor	! Film	! Actor	! Film
	style="background:yellow;"	[[Richard Burton">1949 in film
	[[1969 in film
! Actor	! Film	! Actor	! Film
	style="background:yellow;"	[[Richard Burton	''Anne of the Thousand Days''
Kirk Douglas		Dustin Hoffman
Gregory Peck	''Twelve O'Clock High''	Peter O'Toole'''	''Goodbye, Mr. Chips''
Richard Todd	''The Hasty Heart''	Jon Voight'''
John Wayne	''Sands of Iwo Jima''		style="background:yellow;"

Producer

{| class=wikitable | style="text-align:center; background:lightsteelblue;" colspan="2"|- 1960 - |- ! Producer ! Film |- | Bernard Smith | ''Elmer Gantry'' |- | Jerry Wald | ''Sons and Lovers'' |- | John Wayne | ''The Alamo'' |- | style="background:yellow;"|Billy Wilder | style="background:yellow;"|''The Apartment'' Best Picture} |- | Fred Zinnemann | ''The Sundowners'' |}

Golden Globes

The Golden Globe Awards are presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) to recognize outstanding achievements in the entertainment industry, both domestic and foreign, and to focus wide public attention upon the best in motion pictures and television. Wayne won a Golden Globe Award for his performance in "True Grit".

The Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures is an annual award given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at the Golden Globe Award ceremonies in Hollywood, California. It was named in honor of Cecil B. DeMille (1881–1959), one of the industry's most successful filmmakers; John Wayne won this particular award in 1966.

See also

Hall of Great Western Performers

List of film director and actor collaborations

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

Red Scare

References

Further reading

Baur, Andreas, and Bitterli, Konrad. "Brave Lonesome Cowboy. Der Mythos des Westerns in der Gegenwartskunst oder: John Wayne zum 100. Geburtstag". Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg. Nuremberg 2007 ISBN 978-3-939738-15-2.

Roberts, Randy, and James S. Olson. ''John Wayne: American''. New York: Free Press, 1995 ISBN 978-0029238370.

Campbell, James T. "Print the Legend: John Wayne and Postwar American Culture". ''Reviews in American History'', Volume 28, Number 3, September 2000, pp. 465–477.

Shepherd, Donald, and Robert Slatzer, with Dave Grayson. ''Duke: The Life and Times of John Wayne''. New York: Doubleday, 1985 ISBN 0-385-17893-X.

Carey, Harry Jr. ''A Company of Heroes: My Life as an Actor in the John Ford Stock Company''. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1994 ISBN 0-8108-2865-0.

Clark, Donald & Christopher Anderson. ''John Wayne's The Alamo: The Making of the Epic Film''. New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1995 ISBN 0-8065-1625-9. (pbk.)

Eyman, Scott. ''Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999 ISBN 0-684-81161-8.

McCarthy, Todd. ''Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood''. New York: Grove Press, 1997 ISBN 0-8021-1598-5.

Maurice Zolotow., ''Shooting Star: A Biography of John Wayne''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974 ISBN 0671829696.

Jim Beaver, "John Wayne". ''Films in Review'', Volume 28, Number 5, May 1977, pp. 265–284.

McGivern, Carolyn. ''John Wayne: A Giant Shadow''. Bracknell, England: Sammon, 2000 ISBN 0-9540031-0-1.

Davis, Ronald L. ''Duke: The Life and Times of John Wayne''. University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. ISBN 0806133295.

Raab, Markus, Beautiful Hearts, Laughers at the World, Bowlers. Worldviews of the Late Western; in: Baur/Bitterli: Brave Lonesome Cowboy. Der Myhos des Westerns in der Gegenwartskunst oder: John Wayne zum 100. Geburtstag, Nuremberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-939738-15-2.

External links

John Wayne Cancer Foundation

John Wayne Cancer Institute

FBI file on John Wayne

Birthplace of John Wayne official website

"On the Set of The Alamo": Behind-the-scenes footage from the production of the film, from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image.

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name	Dean Martin
background	solo_singer
birth name	Dino Paul Crocetti
alias	Dean MartinThe King of CoolDinoDino Martini
born	June 07, 1917Steubenville, Ohio, U.S.
died	December 25, 1995Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
genre	Big band, easy listening, pop standard, country
years active	1939–1995
occupation	Musician, singer-songwriter, actor, comedian, film producer
label	Capitol, Reprise }}

Dean Martin (June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995), born Dino Paul Crocetti, was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "Mambo Italiano", "Sway", "Volare" and smash hit "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?". Nicknamed the "King of Cool", he was one of the members of the "Rat Pack" and a major star in four areas of show business: concert stage/night clubs, recordings, motion pictures, and television.

Early life

Martin was born in Steubenville, Ohio, to Italian parents, Gaetano and Angela Crocetti (née Barra). His father was from Abruzzo, Italy, and his mother was an Italian of part Neapolitan and part Sicilian ancestry. Martin was the younger of two sons. His brother was named Bill. Martin spoke only Italian until he started school. He attended Grant Elementary School in Steubenville, and took up the drums as a hobby as a teenager. He was the target of much ridicule for his broken English and ultimately dropped out of Steubenville High School in the 10th grade because he thought that he was smarter than his teachers. He delivered bootleg liquor, served as a speakeasy croupier, was a blackjack dealer, worked in a steel mill and boxed as welterweight. He grew up a neighbor to Jimmy the Greek.

At the age of 15, he was a boxer who billed himself as "Kid Crochet". His prizefighting years earned him a broken nose (later straightened), a scarred lip, and many sets of broken knuckles (a result of not being able to afford the tape used to wrap boxers' hands). Of his twelve bouts, he would later say "I won all but eleven." For a time, he roomed with Sonny King, who, like Martin, was just starting in show business and had little money. It is said that Martin and King held bare-knuckle matches in their apartment, fighting until one of them was knocked out; people paid to watch.

Eventually, Martin gave up boxing. He worked as a roulette stickman and croupier in an illegal casino behind a tobacco shop where he had started as a stock boy. At the same time, he sang with local bands. Calling himself "Dino Martini" (after the then-famous Metropolitan Opera tenor, Nino Martini), he got his first break working for the Ernie McKay Orchestra. He sang in a crooning style influenced by Harry Mills (of the Mills Brothers), among others. In the early 1940s, he started singing for bandleader Sammy Watkins, who suggested he change his name to Dean Martin.

In October 1941, Martin married Elizabeth Anne McDonald. During their marriage (ended by divorce in 1949), they had four children. Martin worked for various bands throughout the early 1940s, mostly on looks and personality until he developed his own singing style. Martin famously flopped at the Riobamba, a high class nightclub in New York, when he succeeded Frank Sinatra in 1943, but it was the setting for their meeting.

Drafted into the United States Army in 1944 during World War II, Martin served a year stationed in Akron, Ohio. He was then reclassified as 4-F (possibly because of a double hernia; Jerry Lewis referred to the surgery Martin needed for this in his autobiography) and was discharged.

By 1946, Martin was doing relatively well, but was still little more than an East Coast nightclub singer with a common style, similar to that of Bing Crosby. He drew audiences to the clubs he played, but he inspired none of the fanatic popularity enjoyed by Sinatra.

Mafia connections

A biography on Martin entitled ''Dean Martin: King of the Road'' by Michael Freedland alleged he had links to the Mafia early in his career. According to this book, Martin was given help with his singing career by the Chicago Outfit who owned saloons in the city, and later performed in shows hosted by these bosses when he was a star. The mob bosses were Tony ("Joe Batters") Accardo and Sam Giancana. Freedland suggests Martin felt little sympathy for the Mafia and did them small favors only if it was not inconvenient for him. Another book, ''The Animal in Hollywood'' by John L. Smith, depicted Martin's longtime friendship with Mafia mobsters "Handsome Johnny" Roselli and Anthony ("The Animal") Fiato. Smith suggests that Fiato did Martin many favors, such as getting back money from two swindlers who had cheated Martin's ex-wife Betty out of thousands of dollars of her alimony.

Career

Teaming with Jerry Lewis

Martin attracted the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures, but a Hollywood contract was not forthcoming. He met comic Jerry Lewis at the Glass Hat Club in New York, where both men were performing. Martin and Lewis formed a fast friendship which led to their participation in each other's acts and the ultimate formation of a music-comedy team.

Martin and Lewis's official debut together occurred at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 24, 1946, and they were not well received. The owner, Skinny D'Amato, warned them that if they did not come up with a better act for their second show later that night, they would be fired. Huddling together in the alley behind the club, Lewis and Martin agreed to "go for broke", to throw out the pre-scripted gags and to improvise. Martin sang and Lewis came out dressed as a busboy, dropping plates and making a shambles of both Martin's performance and the club's sense of decorum until Lewis was chased from the room as Martin pelted him with breadrolls. They did slapstick, reeled off old vaudeville jokes, and did whatever else popped into their heads at the moment. This time, the audience doubled over in laughter. This success led to a series of well-paying engagements on the Eastern seaboard, culminating in a triumphant run at New York's Copacabana. Patrons were convulsed by the act, which consisted primarily of Lewis interrupting and heckling Martin while he was trying to sing, and ultimately the two of them chasing each other around the stage and having as much fun as possible. The secret, both said, is that they essentially ignored the audience and played to one another.

The team made its TV debut on the very first broadcast of CBS-TV network's ''Toast of the Town'' (later called ''The Ed Sullivan Show'') with Ed Sullivan and Rodgers & Hammerstein appearing on this same inaugural telecast of June 20, 1948. A radio series commenced in 1949, the same year Martin and Lewis were signed by Paramount producer Hal B. Wallis as comedy relief for the movie ''My Friend Irma''.

Their agent, Abby Greshler, negotiated for them one of Hollywood's best deals: although they received only a modest $75,000 between them for their films with Wallis, Martin and Lewis were free to do one outside film a year, which they would co-produce through their own York Productions. They also had complete control of their club, record, radio and television appearances, and it was through these endeavors that they earned millions of dollars.

In ''Dean & Me'', Lewis calls Martin one of the great comic geniuses of all time. But the harsh comments from the critics, as well as frustration with the formulaic similarity of Martin and Lewis movies, which producer Hal Wallis stubbornly refused to change, led to Martin's dissatisfaction. He put less enthusiasm into the work, leading to escalating arguments with Lewis. They finally could not work together, especially after Martin told his partner he was "nothing to me but a dollar sign". The act broke up in 1956, 10 years to the day from the first official teaming.

Martin's first solo film, ''Ten Thousand Bedrooms'' (1957), was a box office failure. He was still popular as a singer, but with rock and roll surging to the fore, the era of the pop crooner was waning.

The CBS film, ''Martin and Lewis'', a made-for-TV movie about the famous comedy duo, starred Jeremy Northam as Martin, and Sean Hayes as Lewis. It depicted the years from 1946–1956.

Solo career

Never totally comfortable in films, Martin wanted to be known as a real actor. Though offered a fraction of his former salary to co-star in a war drama, ''The Young Lions'' (1957), he was ecstatic to receive the part because it would be a dramatic showcase with the two most intriguing young actors of the period and he could learn from Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. Tony Randall already had the part, but talent agency MCA realized that with this movie, Martin would become a triple threat: they could make money from his work in night clubs, movies, and records. Martin replaced Randall and the film turned out to be the beginning of Martin's spectacular comeback. Success would continue as Martin starred alongside Frank Sinatra for the first time in a highly acclaimed Vincente Minnelli drama, ''Some Came Running'' (1958). By the mid '60s, Martin was a top movie, recording, and nightclub star, while Lewis' film career declined. Martin was acclaimed for his performance as Dude in ''Rio Bravo'' (1959), directed by Howard Hawks and also starring John Wayne and singer Ricky Nelson. He teamed up again with Wayne in ''The Sons of Katie Elder'' (1965), somewhat unconvincingly cast as brothers.

In 1960, Martin was cast in the motion picture version of the Judy Holliday hit stage play ''Bells Are Ringing''. Martin played a satiric variation of his own womanizing persona as Vegas singer "Dino" in Billy Wilder's comedy ''Kiss Me, Stupid'' (1964) with Kim Novak, and he was not above poking fun at his image in films such as the ''Matt Helm'' spy spoofs of the 1960s, in which he was a co-producer.

As a singer, Martin copied the styles of Harry Mills (of the Mills Brothers), Bing Crosby, and Perry Como until he developed his own and could hold his own in duets with Sinatra and Crosby. Like Sinatra, he could not read music, but he recorded more than 100 albums and 600 songs. His signature tune, "Everybody Loves Somebody", knocked The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" out of the number-one spot in the United States in 1964. This was followed by the similarly-styled "The Door is Still Open to My Heart", which reached number six later that year. Elvis Presley was said to have been influenced by Martin, and patterned "Love Me Tender" after his style. Martin, like Elvis, was influenced by country music. By 1965, some of Martin's albums, such as ''Dean "Tex" Martin,'' ''The Hit Sound Of Dean Martin,'' ''Welcome To My World'' and ''Gentle On My Mind'' were composed of country and western songs made famous by artists like Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and Buck Owens. Martin hosted country performers on his TV show and was named "Man Of the Year" by the Country Music Association in 1966. "Ain't That a Kick in the Head", a song Martin performed in ''Ocean's Eleven'' that never became a hit at the time, has enjoyed a spectacular revival in the media and pop culture.

For three decades, Martin was among the most popular acts in Las Vegas. Martin sang and was one of the smoothest comics in the business, benefiting from the decade of raucous comedy with Lewis. Martin's daughter, Gail, also sang in Vegas and on his TV show, co-hosting his summer replacement series on NBC. Though often thought of as a ladies' man, Martin spent a lot of time with his family; as second wife Jeanne put it, prior to the couple's divorce, "He was home every night for dinner."

The Rat Pack

As Martin's solo career grew, he and Frank Sinatra became close friends. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Martin and Sinatra, along with friends Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, and Sammy Davis, Jr. formed the legendary Rat Pack, so called by the public after an earlier group of social friends, the Holmby Hills Rat Pack centered on Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, of which Sinatra had been a member.

The Martin-Sinatra-Davis-Lawford-Bishop group referred to themselves as "The Summit" or "The Clan" and never as "The Rat Pack", although this has remained their identity in the popular imagination. The men made films together, formed an important part of the Hollywood social scene in those years, and were politically influential (through Lawford's marriage to Patricia Kennedy, sister of President John F. Kennedy).

The Rat Pack were legendary for their Las Vegas performances. For example, the marquee at the Sands Hotel might read DEAN MARTIN---MAYBE FRANK---MAYBE SAMMY. Las Vegas rooms were at a premium when the Rat Pack would appear, with many visitors sleeping in hotel lobbies or cars to get a chance to see the three men together. Their act (always in tuxedo) consisted of each singing individual numbers, duets and trios, along with much seemingly improvised slapstick and chatter. In the socially-charged 1960s, their jokes revolved around adult themes, such as Sinatra's infamous womanizing and Martin's legendary drinking, as well as many at the expense of Davis's race and religion. Davis famously practiced Judaism and used Yiddish phrases onstage, eliciting much merriment from both his stage-mates and his audiences. It was all good-natured male bonding, never vicious, rarely foul-mouthed, and the three had great respect for each other. The Rat Pack was largely responsible for the integration of Las Vegas. Sinatra and Martin steadfastly refused to appear anywhere that barred Davis, forcing the casinos to open their doors to African-American entertainers and patrons, and to drop restrictive covenants against Jews.

Posthumously, the Rat Pack has experienced a popular revival, inspiring the George Clooney/Brad Pitt "Ocean's" trilogy. An HBO film, ''The Rat Pack'', starred Joe Mantegna as Martin, Ray Liotta as Sinatra and Don Cheadle as Davis. It depicted their contribution to JFK's election in 1960.

The 1960s to 1980s

In 1965, Martin launched his weekly NBC comedy-variety series, ''The Dean Martin Show'', which exploited his public image as a lazy, carefree boozer. There he perfected his famous laid-back persona of the half-drunk crooner suavely hitting on beautiful women with hilarious remarks that would get anyone else slapped, and making snappy if slurred remarks about fellow celebrities during his famous roasts. During an interview he stated, and this may have been tongue-in-cheek, that he had someone record them on cassette tape so he could listen to them; this is evidenced by his comments to this effect on the British TV documentary 'Wine, Women and Song' which was aired in 1983.

The TV show was a success. Martin prided himself on memorizing whole scripts – not merely his own lines. He disliked rehearsing because he firmly believed his best performances were his first. The show's loose format prompted quick-witted improvisation from Martin and the cast. On occasion, he made remarks in Italian, some mild obscenities that brought angry mail from offended, Italian-speaking viewers. This prompted a battle between Martin and NBC censors, who insisted on more scrutiny of the show's content. The show was often in the Top Ten. Martin, deeply appreciative of the efforts of the show's producer, his friend Greg Garrison, later made a handshake deal giving Garrison, a pioneer TV producer in the 1950s, 50% ownership of the show. However, the validity of that ownership is currently the subject of a lawsuit brought by NBC Universal.

Despite Martin's reputation as a heavy drinker – a reputation perpetuated via his vanity license plates reading "DRUNKY" – he was remarkably self-disciplined. He was often the first to call it a night, and when not on tour or on a film location, liked to go home to see his wife and children. Phyllis Diller has said that Martin was indeed drinking alcohol onstage and not apple juice. She also commented that although he was not drunk, he was not really sober either, but had very strict rules when it came to performances. He borrowed the lovable-drunk shtick from Joe E. Lewis, but his convincing portrayals of heavy boozers in ''Some Came Running'' and Howard Hawks's ''Rio Bravo'' led to unsubstantiated claims of alcoholism. More often than not, Martin's idea of a good time was playing golf or watching TV, particularly westerns – not staying with Rat Pack friends Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. into the early hours of the morning.

Martin starred in and co-produced a series of four Matt Helm superspy comedy adventures. A fifth, ''The Ravagers'', was planned starring Sharon Tate and Martin in a dual role, one as a serial killer, but due to the murder of Tate and the decline of the spy genre the film was never made.

By the early 1970s, ''The Dean Martin Show'' was still earning solid ratings, and although he was no longer a Top 40 hitmaker, his record albums continued to sell steadily. His name on a marquee could guarantee casinos and nightclubs a standing-room-only crowd. He found a way to make his passion for golf profitable by offering his own signature line of golf balls. Shrewd investments had greatly increased Martin's personal wealth; at the time of his death, Martin was reportedly the single largest minority shareholder of RCA stock. Martin even managed to cure himself of his claustrophobia by reportedly locking himself in the elevator of a tall building and riding up and down for hours until he was no longer panic-stricken.

Martin retreated from show business. The final (1973–74) season of his variety show would be retooled into one of celebrity roasts, requiring less of Martin's involvement. After the show's cancellation, NBC continued to air the ''Dean Martin Celebrity Roast'' format in a series of TV specials through 1984. In those 11 years, Martin and his panel of pals successfully ridiculed and made fun of these legendary stars in this order: Ronald Reagan, Hugh Hefner, Ed McMahon, William Conrad, Kirk Douglas, Bette Davis, Barry Goldwater, Johnny Carson, Wilt Chamberlain, Hubert Humphrey, Carroll O'Connor, Monty Hall, Jack Klugman & Tony Randall, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Leo Durocher, Truman Capote, Don Rickles, Ralph Nader, Jack Benny, Redd Foxx, Bobby Riggs, George Washington, Dan Rowan & Dick Martin, Hank Aaron, Joe Namath, Bob Hope, Telly Savalas, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, Sammy Davis Jr, Michael Landon, Evel Knievel, Valerie Harper, Muhammad Ali, Dean Martin, Dennis Weaver, Joe Garagiola, Danny Thomas, Angie Dickinson, Gabe Kaplan, Ted Knight, Peter Marshall, Dan Haggerty, Frank Sinatra, Jack Klugman, Jimmy Stewart, George Burns, Betty White, Suzanne Somers, Joan Collins, and Mr T. For nearly a decade, Martin had recorded as many as four albums a year for Reprise Records. That stopped in November 1974, when Martin recorded his final Reprise album - ''Once In A While,'' released in 1978. His last recording sessions were for Warner Brothers Records. An album titled ''The Nashville Sessions'' was released in 1983, from which he had a hit with "(I Think That I Just Wrote) My First Country Song", which was recorded with Conway Twitty and made a respectable showing on the country charts. A followup single "L.A. Is My Home" / "Drinking Champagne" came in 1985. The 1975 film ''Mr. Ricco'' marked Martin's final starring role, and Martin limited his live performances to Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

Martin seemed to suffer a mid-life crisis. In 1972, he filed for divorce from his second wife, Jeanne. A week later, his business partnership with the Riviera was dissolved amid reports of the casino's refusal to agree to Martin's request to perform only once a night. He was quickly snapped up by the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, and signed a three-picture deal with MGM Studios. Less than a month after his second marriage had been legally dissolved, Martin married 26-year-old Catherine Hawn on April 25, 1973. Hawn had been the receptionist at the chic Gene Shacrove hair salon in Beverly Hills. They divorced November 10, 1976. He was also briefly engaged to Gail Renshaw, Miss World-U.S.A. 1969.

Eventually, Martin reconciled with Jeanne, though they never remarried. He also made a public reconciliation with Jerry Lewis on Lewis' Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon in 1976. Frank Sinatra shocked Lewis and the world by bringing Martin out on stage. As Martin and Lewis embraced, the audience erupted in cheers and the phone banks lit up, resulting in one of the telethon's most profitable years. Lewis reported the event was one of the three most memorable of his life. Lewis brought down the house when he quipped, "So, you working?" Martin, playing drunk, replied that he was "at the Meggum" – this reference to the MGM Grand Hotel convulsed Lewis. This, along with the death of Martin's son Dean Paul Martin a few years later, helped to bring the two men together. They maintained a quiet friendship but only performed together again once, in 1989, on Martin's 72nd birthday.

Personal life

Martin was married three times. Martin's first wife, Betty McDonald, tried by all accounts to be a good wife and mother to their four children, but her efforts were ultimately undone by her alcoholism . It remains a matter of speculation whether her alcoholism led to the failure of the marriage, or whether Martin's infidelities led to Betty's alcoholism. Subsequent to their divorce, Martin gained custody of their children; Betty lived out her life in quiet obscurity in San Francisco. Their children were Stephen Craig (born June 29, 1942), Claudia Dean (March 16, 1944 - 2001 from breast cancer), Barbara Gail (born April 11, 1945) and Deana (Dina) (born August 19, 1948).

Martin's second wife was Jeanne Biegger. A stunning blonde, Jeanne could sometimes be spotted in Martin's audience while he was still married to Betty. Their marriage lasted twenty-four years (1949–1973) and produced three children. Their children were Dean Paul (November 17, 1951 - March 21, 1987; plane crash), Ricci James (born September 20, 1953) and Gina Caroline (born December 20, 1956).

Martin's third marriage, to Catherine Hawn, lasted three years. One of Martin's managers had spotted her at the reception desk of a hair salon on Rodeo Drive, then arranged a meeting. Martin adopted Hawn's daughter, Sasha, but their marriage also failed. Martin initiated divorce proceedings.

Martin's uncle was Leonard Barr, who appeared in several of his shows.

Later years and death

On December 1, 1983 while gambling at the Golden Nugget casino in Atlantic City, Martin and Sinatra intimidated the dealer and several employees into breaking New Jersey law by making the dealer deal the cards by hand instead of from a shoe. Although Sinatra and Martin were implicated as the cause of the violation, neither was fined by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission. The Golden Nugget received a $25,000 fine (which Sinatra paid, stating that it was his responsibility as he and Martin were the cause of the fine) and four employees including the dealer, a supervisor and pit boss were suspended from their jobs without pay.

Martin returned to films briefly with appearances in the two star-laden yet critically panned Cannonball Run movies. He also had a minor hit single with "Since I Met You Baby" and made his first music video, which appeared on MTV. The video was created by Martin's youngest son, Ricci.

On March 21, 1987, Martin's son, Dean Paul (formerly Dino of the '60s "teeny-bopper" rock group Dino, Desi & Billy), was killed when his F-4 Phantom II jet fighter crashed while flying with the California Air National Guard. A much-touted tour with Davis and Sinatra in 1988 sputtered. On one occasion, he infuriated Sinatra when he turned to him and muttered "Frank, what the hell are we doing up here?" Martin, who always responded best to a club audience, felt lost in the huge stadiums they were performing in (at Sinatra's insistence), and he was not interested in drinking until dawn after performances. His final Vegas shows were at Bally's Hotel in 1990. There he had his final reunion with Jerry Lewis on his 72nd birthday. Martin's last two TV appearances involved tributes to his former Rat Pack members. On December 8, 1989, he joined many stars of the entertainment industry in Sammy Davis, Jr's 60th anniversary celebration, which aired only a few weeks before Davis died from throat cancer. In December 1990, he congratulated Frank Sinatra on his 75th birthday special. By early 1995, Martin had officially retired from performing.

Martin, a life-long smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer at Cedars Sinai Medical Center on 16 September 1993. He died of acute respiratory failure resulting from emphysema at his Beverly Hills home on Christmas morning 1995, at age 78. The lights of the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honor.

Tributes and legacy

In 1996, Ohio Rte. 7, through Steubenville, was re-dedicated as "Dean Martin Boulevard." Road signs bearing an Al Hirschfeld caricature of Martin's likeness officially designate the stretch, along with a state historical marker, in the Gazebo Park at Route 7 and North Fourth Street.

An annual "Dean Martin Festival" celebration is held in Steubenville. Impersonators, friends and family of Martin, and various entertainers, many of Italian ancestry, appear.

In 2005, Las Vegas renamed Industrial Road as ''Dean Martin Drive.'' A similarly named street was dedicated in 2008 in Rancho Mirage, California.

Martin's family was presented a gold record in 2004 for ''Dino: The Essential Dean Martin'', his fastest-selling album ever, which also hit the iTunes Top 10. For the week ending December 23, 2006, the Dean Martin and Martina McBride duet of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" reached #7 on the R&R; AC chart. It also went to #36 on the R&R; Country chart - the last time Martin had a song this high in the charts was in 1965, with the song "I Will", which reached #10 on the Pop chart.

An album of duets, ''Forever Cool'', was released by Capitol/EMI in 2007. It features Martin's voice with Kevin Spacey, Shelby Lynne, Joss Stone, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Robbie Williams, McBride and others.

His footprints were immortalized at Grauman's Chinese Theater in 1964. Martin has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: One at 6519 Hollywood Boulevard, for movies; one at 1817 Vine, for recordings; and one at 6651 Hollywood Boulevard, for television.

In February 2009, Martin was honored with a posthumous Grammy award for Lifetime Achievement. Four of his surviving children, Gail, Deana, Ricci and Gina, were on hand to accept on his behalf. In 2009, Martin was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Popular culture

A number of Dean Martin songs have constantly been featured across popular culture for decades. Hit songs such as "Ain't That a Kick in the Head", "Sway", "That's Amore", and Martin's signature song "Everybody Loves Somebody" (and many more) have been used in films (such as the Oscar-winning ''Logorama'', ''A Bronx Tale'', ''Casino'', ''Goodfellas'', and ''Return to Me''), television series (such as ''American Dad!'', ''Friends'', and ''House MD''), video games (such as ''The Godfather: The Game'', ''The Godfather II'', ''Fallout: New Vegas'', and ''Mafia II''), and even fashion shows (such as the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2008).

In film and television

In That '70s show episode, S-6/E-2 "Join Together." When the Forman's were throwing away all of their bad foods and drinks, because of Red's Heart Attack. Red's beloved beer and his meats were taken away and Red's Fresh mouth son, Eric said,"Whoa look at this, it looks like Dean Martin exploded!"

In the movie ''A Bronx Tale'', Martin's song, "Ain't That A Kick In The Head?", was featured during the scene when C was playing dice.

A Budweiser TV commercial that premiered during Super Bowl XLI featured Martin's "Ain't That A Kick In The Head?".

British actor Jeremy Northam portrayed the entertainer in a made-for-TV movie called, ''Martin and Lewis'', alongside Will & Grace's Sean Hayes as Jerry Lewis.

Martin was portrayed by Joe Mantegna in an HBO movie about Sinatra and Martin titled ''The Rat Pack''. Mantegna was nominated for both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the role.

In the movie ''Return to Me'', three of his recordings are featured: "Good Morning, Life," "Buona Sera" and "Return to Me".

Danny Gans portrayed Martin in the miniseries ''Sinatra''.

In the pilot episode of ''White Collar'', Peter refers to Neal as "Dino", referencing the newly-found Sy Devore suits that Neal now wears – made famous by the "Rat Pack".

In the movie ''Pulp Fiction'', Mia Wallace and Vincent Vega go out to dinner at "Jack Rabbit Slim's" – she chooses "Martin and Lewis", and a $5 milkshake shows up.

In the movie ''Moonstruck'', Martin's recording of "That's Amore" plays over both the opening and closing credits.

In a Royal Automobile Club commercial, "Memories are Made of This" is sung.

In games and gambling

Martin is the subject of "Dean Martin's Wild Party", a video slot machine found in some casinos. The game features songs sung by Martin during the bonus game and the count-up of a player's winnings.

The 2010 video game, ''Fallout: New Vegas'', features Martin's "Ain't that a Kick in the Head?" throughout the game. It can be listened to on the "New Vegas" radio channel and heard on the loud speakers when you enter the Vegas Strip. The first quest of the game is also ironically named after the same song, as the player character is inflicted with a headshot wound.

Dean Martin's music is featured on the radios in the game Mafia II and Godfather II.

In music

A compilation album called, ''Amore!'', debuted at Number One on ''Billboard magazine'''s Top Pop Catalog Albums chart in its February 21, 2009 issue.

Other

In the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2008, "Ain't That A Kick In The Head?" was the opening song from the show.

Discography

Filmography

Features: {|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: #f9f9f9; |- align="center" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |1946 |''Film Vodvil: Art Mooney and Orchestra'' | |Short |- |1949 |''My Friend Irma'' |Steve Laird | |- |rowspan=3|1950 |''My Friend Irma Goes West'' |Steve Laird | |- |''At War with the Army'' |1st Sgt. Vic Puccinelli | |- |''Screen Snapshots: Thirtieth Anniversary Special'' | |Short |- |1951 |''That's My Boy'' |Bill Baker | |- |rowspan=4|1952 |''Sailor Beware'' |Al Crowthers | |- |''Jumping Jacks'' |Corp. Chick Allen | |- |''Road to Bali'' |Man in Lala's dream |Cameo (uncredited) |- |''The Stooge'' |Bill Miller | |- |rowspan=3|1953 |''Scared Stiff'' |Larry Todd | |- |''The Caddy'' |Joe Anthony | |- |''Money from Home'' |Herman 'Honey Talk' Nelson | |- |rowspan=2|1954 |''Living It Up'' |Dr. Steve Harris | |- |''3 Ring Circus'' |Peter 'Pete' Nelson | |- |rowspan=2|1955 |''You're Never Too Young'' |Bob Miles | |- |''Artists and Models'' |Rick Todd | |- |rowspan=3|1956 |''Screen Snapshots: Hollywood, City of Stars'' | |Short |- |''Pardners'' |Slim Mosely Jr. / Slim Mosely Sr. | |- |''Hollywood or Bust'' |Steve Wiley | |- |1957 |''Ten Thousand Bedrooms'' |Ray Hunter | |- |rowspan=2|1958 |''The Young Lions'' |Michael Whiteacre | |- |''Some Came Running'' |Bama Dillert (professional gambler) | |- |rowspan=2|1959 |''Rio Bravo'' |Dude ('Borachón') | |- |''Career'' |Maurice 'Maury' Novak | |- |rowspan=4|1960 |''Who Was That Lady?'' |Michael Haney |Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |- |''Bells Are Ringing'' |Jeffrey Moss | |- |''Ocean's Eleven'' |Sam Harmon | |- |''Pepe'' | |Cameo |- |rowspan=2|1961 |''All in a Night's Work'' |Tony Ryder | |- |''Ada'' |Bo Gillis | |- |rowspan=4|1962 |''Something's Got to Give'' |Nicholas 'Nick' Arden |(unfinished) |- |''Sergeants 3'' |Sgt. Chip Deal | |- |''The Road to Hong Kong'' |The 'Grape' on plutonium |Cameo (uncredited) |- |''Who's Got the Action?'' |Steve Flood | |- |rowspan=5|1963 |''38-24-36'' |Self | |- |''Come Blow Your Horn'' |The Bum |(uncredited) |- |''Toys in the Attic'' |Julian Berniers | |- |''4 for Texas'' |Joe Jarrett | |- |''Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?'' |Jason Steel | |- |rowspan=3|1964 |''What a Way to Go!'' |Leonard 'Lennie' Crawley | |- |''Robin and the 7 Hoods'' |Little John | |- |''Kiss Me, Stupid'' |Dino | |- |rowspan=2|1965 |''The Sons of Katie Elder'' |Tom Elder | |- |''Marriage on the Rocks'' |Ernie Brewer | |- |rowspan=3|1966 |''The Silencers'' |Matt Helm | |- |''Texas Across the River'' |Sam Hollis | |- |''Murderers' Row'' |Matt Helm | |- |rowspan=2|1967 |''Rough Night in Jericho'' |Alex Flood | |- |''The Ambushers'' |Matt Helm | |- |rowspan=4|1968 |''How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life'' |David Sloane | |- |''Bandolero!'' |Dee Bishop | |- |''Rowan & Martin at the Movies'' | |Short |- |''5 Card Stud'' |Van Morgan | |- |1969 |''The Wrecking Crew'' |Matt Helm | |- |1970 |''Airport'' |Capt. Vernon Demerest | |- |1971 |''Something Big'' |Joe Baker | |- |1973 |''Showdown'' |Billy Massey | |- |1975 |''Mr. Ricco'' |Joe Ricco | |- |1981 |''The Cannonball Run'' |Jamie Blake | |- |rowspan=2|1984 |''Cannonball Run II'' |Jamie Blake | |- |''Terror in the Aisles'' | |archival footage |}

References

Further reading

Arthur Marx. ''Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime (Especially Himself): The story of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis'', New York, NY: Hawthorn Books, 1974, ISBN 978-0801524301

Lewis, Jerry and James Kaplan. ''Dean & Me (A Love Story)''. Doubleday, New York, 2005. ISBN 0-7679-2086-4

Tosches, Nick. ''Dino: Living High in the Dirty Business of Dreams''. Delta Trade Paperbacks, New York, 1992 (1st edition). ISBN 0-385-33429-X

Smith, John L. ''The Animal in Hollywood: Anthony Fiato's Life in the Mafia''. Barricade Books, New York, 1998. ISBN 1-56980-126-6

External links

Dean Martin at The Biography Channel

Cleveland.com: Homegrown Heroes: Dean Martin Timeline

Dean Works the room at the Sands

Jerry Lewis interview for the Archive of American Television

Dean Martin biography/discography on The Interlude Era site

Radio interview with Deana Martin WSLR

Dean Martin Roasts Johnny Carson

Dean Martin Roast Frank Sinatra

Dean Martin Roasts Don Rickles

Category:1917 births Category:1995 deaths Category:Actors from Ohio Category:Actors from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:American baritones Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:American comedians Category:American crooners Category:American film actors Category:American jazz musicians of Italian descent Category:American people of Sicilian descent Category:Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery Category:California Republicans Category:Cancer deaths in California Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Deaths from emphysema Category:Deaths from lung cancer Category:Deaths from respiratory failure Category:Musicians from Ohio Category:Musicians from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Category:Ohio Republicans Category:People from Steubenville, Ohio Category:Traditional pop music singers

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name	Billy Idol
background	solo_singer
birth name	William Michael Albert Broad
alias	B.I.
born	November 30, 1955Stanmore, Middlesex, England, UK
instrument	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar
genre	Punk rock, New Wave,
occupation	Musician, actor, songwriter, performer
years active	1972–present
label	Chrysalis, EMI, Sanctuary
associated acts	Generation X, Digital Underground, Mister Pusha
website	BillyIdol.net }}

William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), better known by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English rock musician. He first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X. He then embarked on a successful solo career, aided by a series of stylish music videos, making him one of the first MTV stars. Idol continues to tour with guitarist Steve Stevens and has a worldwide fan base.

Life and career

Early life and Generation X

Idol was born in Stanmore, Middlesex, the son of a salesman. He attended Tideway School in Newhaven, East Sussex. The name ''Billy Idol'' was inspired by a schoolteacher's description of Broad as "idle".

In 1958, when Idol was two years old, his parents moved to Patchogue, New York, on Long Island. The family returned to England four years later with Idol and a younger child Jane (who had been born in the US), settling in Dorking, Surrey. In 1971 the family moved to Bromley, where Idol attended Ravensbourne School for Boys. Idol (rather William Broad) also attended Worthing High School for Boys (later becoming Worthing College). In October 1975, Idol went to Sussex University to pursue an English degree and lived on campus (East Slope) but left after year one (1976). He then went on to join the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans. Idol first joined the punk rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees (before the band had decided on that name) in 1976, but soon quit and joined Chelsea in 1977 as a guitarist. However, he and Chelsea bandmate Tony James soon quit that group and co-founded Generation X, with Idol switching from guitarist to lead singer. Generation X signed to Chrysalis Records and released three albums and performed in the 1980 film, ''D.O.A.'', before disbanding. Idol moved to New York in 1981 and began working as a solo artist working with Steve Stevens, Phil Feit and Steve Missal, for Idol's debut solo album, "Billy Idol", which was released in July 1982.

Early solo success

Idol's solo career began with the EP titled ''Don't Stop'', which included the Generation X song "Dancing with Myself", originally recorded for their last album ''Kiss Me Deadly'', and a cover of Tommy James & The Shondells' song "Mony Mony". Both songs became his first singles and remain part of his classic live setlists as of 2010. In 1982 Idol instantly became an MTV staple with "White Wedding" and "Dancing with Myself". In 1983, in an effort to introduce Idol to American audiences not yet as familiar with him as those in England, Idol's label released "Dancing with Myself" in the US in conjunction with a music video (directed by Tobe Hooper, produced by Jeffrey Abelson, and conceptualised by Keith Williams) that played in heavy rotation on MTV for six months. That video sparked a new era of feature film directors trying their hand at music videos. Along with "White Wedding", the "Dancing with Myself" and "Eyes Without a Face" videos helped make Idol a household name in America.

''Rebel Yell'' and superstar years

Idol's second LP, ''Rebel Yell'' (1983) was a major success and established Idol's superstar status in the United States with hits like "Eyes Without a Face," "Flesh For Fantasy", and the title cut. Idol also became very popular in Europe thanks to this album and its singles, particularly in Germany, Italy, Switzerland and later in the UK. Tracks from the album featured in the 1988 Hollywood comedy film ''Big'', which starred Tom Hanks.

Idol released ''Whiplash Smile'' in 1986, which sold very well. The album included the hits "To Be a Lover," "Don't Need a Gun" and the country-flavoured "Sweet Sixteen". Idol filmed a video featuring "Sweet Sixteen" (which he also wrote) in Florida's Coral Castle. The song was inspired by the story of Edward Leedskalnin's former love, Agnes Scuffs, who was the main reason Leedskalnin built the structure over a period of decades, starting years after she jilted him the day before their scheduled wedding in their native Latvia. Stevens parted ways with Idol after ''Whiplash Smile''. In 1986, Stevens appeared with Harold Faltermeyer on the ''Top Gun'' soundtrack. Their contribution was the Grammy winning instrumental, "Top Gun Anthem." Stevens decided to go solo, creating his own band, Steve Stevens and the Atomic Playboys. A remix album was released in 1987 called, ''Vital Idol''. The album featured a live rendition of his cover of Tommy James' "Mony Mony" ; as a single it topped the US charts in 1987.

In 1989, Idol appeared on stage with The Who as Cousin Kevin as part of the live version of ''Tommy'', which would be aired as an HBO special and released on home video and later as a DVD. In later years, Idol also stood in as a guest performer with The Who on Bell Boy, a hit from their rock opera album ''Quadrophenia'', and provided the lead vocals that were originally sung by the band's late drummer Keith Moon. On these brief appearances, Idol would dress in a full bell boy's uniform to reflect upon Moon's eccentricity on stage.

Idol was involved in a serious motorcycle accident which nearly cost him a leg in February 1990 in Hollywood. He was hit by a car while driving home from the studio one night when he ran a stop sign, requiring a steel rod to be placed in his leg. Shortly prior to this, film director James Cameron had chosen Idol to play the T-1000 character in ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' and had drawn storyboards to resemble him, but the accident prevented Idol from accepting.

The new release, ''Charmed Life'', was due for release and a video for the single, "Cradle of Love" had to be shot. The song had been featured in the Andrew Dice Clay film, ''The Adventures of Ford Fairlane''. Since Idol was unable to walk, he was shot from the waist up. The video would feature video footage of him singing in large frames throughout an apartment while Betsy Lynn George was trying to seduce a businessman. The video was a hit and was placed in heavy rotation on MTV. Idol and Betsy Lynn George recreated the opening of the video for the 1991 American Music Awards. Against his doctors' advice, he also managed to make appearances to promote ''Charmed Life''.

Idol made a cameo appearance in the 1998 film "The Wedding Singer" with Adam Sandler, in which Idol ultimately saved the relationship between characters Robbie Hart (Sandler) and Julia Sullivan (played by Drew Barrymore). Idol also had a small part in the movie ''The Doors'', directed by Oliver Stone. Idol played Jim Morrison's drinking buddy, Cat. Idol also performed at Roger Waters' live concert The Wall Live in Berlin in 1990.

Crisis and resurgence

In 1993, Idol released ''Cyberpunk'', which was largely ignored. Music had changed and many of the bands that were popular in the '80s were being pushed aside. Regarded as experimental, it was recorded in a home studio using a Macintosh computer, which was a fairly new concept at the time. Idol recorded the album with Younger-Smith and producer Robin Hancock. Special editions of the album were issued with a floppy disc which contained a screensaver. It was the first album which listed the e-mail address of the artist (idol@well.sf.ca.us, which is now inactive) in its booklet. The album has become something of a cult favourite today. In 1996, Idol appeared in a live version of The Who's ''Quadrophenia''. He returned to the public eye in 1998, when he played himself in ''The Wedding Singer'', in which "White Wedding" was also the title track. The film was a smash hit worldwide. He was also considered for the role of the villain, Jacob Kell in Highlander: Endgame. Ultimately Bruce Payne was cast. Idol also released three new tracks on Internet - a move which elicited much concern from the RIAA.. He also shared the stage with the band Third Eye Blind.

VH1 aired ''Billy Idol - Behind the Music'' on 16 April 2001. The ''Behind the Music'' series was very popular at the time, and each band or artist that was featured on that program usually gained a resurgence of interest after the show had aired. Idol and Stevens were no exceptions, taking part in a ''VH1 Storytellers'' show three days later. The reunited duo set out to play a series of acoustic/storytellers shows before recording the VH1 special. The acoustic tour was a big success, and Idol eventually started adding new material into the show. Another ''Greatest Hits'' CD was issued in 2001, with Keith Forsey's "Don't You (Forget About Me)" appearing on the compilation. Forsey had originally written it with Idol in mind, but the singer turned it down and eventually the song was given to Simple Minds, who made it a worldwide hit in 1985. The album also includes a live acoustic version of "Rebel Yell" taken from a performance at Los Angeles station KROQ's 1993 Acoustic Christmas concert. The compilation sold about 4,000,000 copies worldwide.

In 2000, Idol was invited to be a guest vocalist on Tony Iommi's album. His contribution was on the song "Into The Night", which he also co-wrote. That year he voice acted the role of Odin, a mysterious alien character, in the animated fantasy film ''Heavy Metal 2000''. In the 2002 NRL Grand Final in Sydney, Idol entered the playing field for the post-match entertainment on a hovercraft-type stage to the intro of White Wedding, when he managed to sing only two words before a power failure ended the performance. "White Wedding" appeared on popular video game ''Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', playing on fictional Classic rock radio station, K-DST.

''Devil's Playground'' and beyond

''Devil's Playground'', which came out in March 2005, was Idol's first new studio album in nearly 12 years. It reached #46 on the Billboard 200. The album included a cover of "Plastic Jesus". Idol played a handful of dates on the 2005 Vans Warped Tour and also appeared at the UK's Download Festival at Donington Park and the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans. In 2006, as his only UK live date, he appeared headlining the Sunday night of GuilFest. That same year he made an appearance on ''Viva La Bam'' where he helped Bam Margera succeed in "creating" a sunroof for his $250,000 Lamborghini Gallardo and performed live for April Margera for her birthday. In 2006, Idol guested on his keyboardist Derek Sherinian's solo album ''Blood of the Snake'', covering the 1970 Mungo Jerry hit "In the Summertime". A video was made featuring Idol and guitarist Slash. In November 2006, Idol released a Christmas album called ''Happy Holidays''.

In 2008, "Rebel Yell" appeared as a playable track on the video game ''Guitar Hero World Tour'' and "White Wedding" on ''Rock Band 2'', the Rock Band 2 platform later gaining "Mony Mony" and "Rebel Yell" as downloadable tracks. On 24 June 2008 Idol released a new greatest hits album, ''The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself''. The compilation featured two previously unreleased tracks, "John Wayne" and "New Future Weapon". A third track, "Fractured", was available for download on iTunes. He embarked on a successful tour across the world, co-headlining with Def Leppard. In May 2009 Idol donated his time for Music Education in schools by playing along Steve Stevens & Stephen McGrath and the band Venice as backup band and vocals. They were accompanied by a large String & Brass section and chorale group of Santa Monica High School students. The whole event was hosted by AFTA, Artists for the Arts foundation, (aftafoundation.org). The entire event was shot by Touring Video and Post by On the WAVE Productions. Harry Rabin from "On the WAVE" produced the video, which can be seen on billyidol.net and the audio was mixed and Mastered by Steve Miles and Harry Rabin.

In July 2009, Idol performed at the Congress Theater, Chicago for the US TV series ''Soundstage''. This performance was recorded and was released on DVD as ''In Super Overdrive Live'', on 17 November 2009.

Recent events

On 16 February 2010, Idol was announced as one of the acts to play the Download Festival in Donington Park. He was quoted: ''"With all of these great heavyweight and cool bands playing Download this year, I'm going to have to come armed with my punk rock attitude, Steve Stevens, and all of my classic songs plus a couple of way out covers. Should be fun!"'' In March 2010, Idol added Camp Freddy guitarist Billy Morrison and drummer Jeremy Colson to his touring line-up.

In 2010 Billy was working on a new album entitled, "Keep Out of Reach of Children." Billy started debuting new songs like "Kings and Queen of the Underground" "Love Is Strange" "Don't Shoot The Messager" "Cry" and "Scarred For Life" in concert.

Live band

''Billy Idol's current band consists of:''

Steve Stevens - lead guitar(1981–1986, 2001–present)

Stephen McGrath - bass guitar(2001–present)

Derek Sherinian - keyboards(2002–present)

Billy Morrison - rhythm guitar(2010–present)

Jeremy Colson - drums, percussion(2010–present)

Former members

Gregg Gerson - Drums, Percussion(1981–1983)

Steve Missal - Drums, Percussion(1981)

Phil Feit - Bass Guitar(1981–1983)

Thommy Price - Drums, Percussion(1983–1988)

Steve Webster - Bass Guitar(1983–1985)

Judi Dozier - Keyboards(1982–1985)

Kenny Aaronson - Bass Guitar(1986–1988)

Mark Younger-Smith - Lead Guitar(1990–1996)

Mark Schulman - Drums, Percussion(1993–2001)

Brian Tichy - Drums, Percussion(2001–2009)

Tal Bergman - Drums, Percussion(1990–1993)

Danny Sadownik - Drums, Percussion(1993)

Zane Fix - Bass Guitar(1980s)

Jennifer Blakeman - Keyboards(1993)

Julie Greaux - Keyboards(1993)

Discography

''Don't Stop (EP)'' (1981)

''Billy Idol'' (1982)

''Rebel Yell'' (1983)

''Vital Idol'' (1985)

''Whiplash Smile'' (1986)

''Idol Songs: 11 of the Best'' (1988)

''Charmed Life'' (1990)

''Cyberpunk'' (1993)

''Greatest Hits'' (2001)

''VH1 Storytellers'' (2002)

''Devil's Playground'' (2005)

''Happy Holidays'' (2006)

''The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself'' (2008)

List of Billy Idol awards and nominations

Grammys

|- | align="center"| ||"Rebel Yell"|| Best Male Rock Vocal Performance|| |- | align="center"| ||"To Be A Lover" || Best Male Rock Vocal Performance || |- | align="center"| ||"Cradle of Love" || Best Male Rock Vocal Performance ||

MTV Video Music Awards

The MTV Video Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony established in 1984 by MTV.

|- | align="center"| ||"Dancing With Myself" || Best Art Direction || |- | align="center"| ||"Dancing With Myself" || Best Special Effects || |- | align="center"| ||"Eyes Without a Face" || Best Cinematography || |- | align="center"| ||"Eyes Without a Face" || Best Editing || |- | align="center"| || "Cradle of Love" || Best Video from a Film || |- | align="center"| ||"Cradle of Love" || Best Male Video || |- | align="center"| ||"Cradle of Love" || Best Special Effects || |- | align="center"| ||"Shock To The System" || Best Special Effects || |- | align="center"| ||"Shock To The System" || Best Editing || |-

BRIT Awards

The BRIT Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. |- | || Billy Idol || Best British Video || |-

See also

Coral Castle, a stone structure where Idol got his inspiration for his song "Sweet Sixteen".

Bromley Contingent

References

External links

Official Site

Billy Idol MySpace page

Interview @ Legends

Billy Idol at ''Rolling Stone''

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name	John Ford
birth name	John Martin Feeney
birth date	February 01, 1894
birth place	Cape Elizabeth, ME, U.S.
death date	August 31, 1973
death place	Palm Desert, CA, U.S.
occupation	Film director/producer
influences	D.W. Griffith
influenced	Orson Welles,Michael Cimino
years active	1917–66
allegiance	United States
branch	U.S. NavyU.S. Naval Reserve
serviceyears	1942–45 (active)1946–62 (reserve)
rank	Commander (active)Rear Admiral (reserve)
battles	World War II Battle of Midway Battle of Normandy }}

}} John Ford (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973) was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as ''Stagecoach'', ''The Searchers'', and ''The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'', and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as ''The Grapes of Wrath''. His four Academy Awards for Best Director (1935, 1940, 1941, 1952) is a record, and one of those films, ''How Green Was My Valley'', also won Best Picture.

In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Ford directed more than 140 films (although nearly all of his silent films are now lost) and he is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. Ford's films and personality were held in high regard by his colleagues, with Ingmar Bergman and Orson Welles among those who have named him as one of the greatest directors of all time.

In particular, Ford was a pioneer of location shooting and the long shot which frames his characters against a vast, harsh and rugged natural terrain.

Early life

Ford was born John Martin "Jack" Feeney (though he later often gave his given names as Sean Aloysius, sometimes with surname O'Feeny or O'Fearna; an Irish language equivalent of Feeney) in Cape Elizabeth, Maine to John Augustine Feeney and Barbara "Abbey" Curran, on February 1, 1894 (though he occasionally said 1895 and that date is erroneously inscribed on his tombstone). His father, John Augustine, was born in Spiddal, County Galway, Ireland in 1854. Barbara Curran had been born in the Aran Islands, in the town of Kilronan on the island of Inishmore (Inis Mór). John A. Feeney's grandmother, Barbara Morris, was said to be a member of a local (impoverished) gentry family, the Morrises of Spiddal, headed at present by Lord Killanin.

John Augustine and Barbara Curran arrived in Boston and Portland respectively within a few days of each other in May and June 1872. They were married in 1875, and became American citizens five years later on September 11, 1880. They had eleven children: Mamie (Mary Agnes), born 1876; Delia (Edith), 1878–1881; Patrick; Francis Ford, 1881–1953; Bridget, 1883–1884; Barbara, born and died 1888; Edward, born 1889; Josephine, born 1891; Hannah (Joanna), born and died 1892; John Martin, 1894–1973; and Daniel, born and died 1896 (or 1898). John Augustine lived in the Munjoy Hill neighborhood of Portland, Maine with his family, and would try farming, fishing, working for the gas company, running a saloon, and being an alderman.

Feeney attended Portland High School, Portland, Maine. He moved to California and began acting and working in film production for his older brother Francis in 1914, taking "Jack Ford" as a stage name. In addition to credited roles, he appeared uncredited as a Klansman in D.W. Griffith's 1915 classic, ''The Birth of a Nation'', as the man who lifts up one side of his hood so he can see clearly. He married Mary McBryde Smith, on July 3, 1920, and they had two children. His daughter Barbara was married to singer and actor Ken Curtis from 1952 to 1964. The Ford marriage lasted until his death, although he had many extramarital relationships.

Directing career

John Ford began his career in film after moving to California in July 1914. He followed in the footsteps of his multi-talented older brother Francis Ford, twelve years his senior, who had left home years earlier and had worked in vaudeville before becoming a movie actor. Francis played in hundreds of silent pictures for Thomas Edison, Georges Melies and Thomas Ince, eventually progressing to become a prominent Hollywood actor-writer-director with his own production company (101 Bison) at Universal.

Jack Ford started out in his brother's films as an assistant, handyman, stuntman and occasional actor, frequently doubling for his brother, whom he closely resembled. Francis gave his younger brother his first acting role in ''The Mysterious Rose'' (November 1914). Despite an often combative relationship, within three years Jack had progressed to become Francis' chief assistant and often worked as his cameraman. By the time Jack Ford was given his first break as a director, Francis' profile was declining and he ceased working as a director soon afterward.

One notable feature of John Ford's films is that he used a 'stock company' of actors, far more so than many directors. Many famous stars appeared in at least two or more Ford films, including Harry Carey, Sr., (the star of 25 Ford silents), Will Rogers, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara, James Stewart, Woody Strode, Richard Widmark, Victor McLaglen, Vera Miles and Jeffrey Hunter. Many of his supporting actors appeared in multiple Ford films, often over a period of several decades, including Ben Johnson, Chill Wills, Andy Devine, Ward Bond, Grant Withers, Mae Marsh, Anna Lee, Harry Carey, Jr., Ken Curtis, Frank Baker, Dolores del Río, Pedro Armendariz, Hank Worden, John Qualen, Barry Fitzgerald, Arthur Shields, John Carradine, O.Z. Whitehead and Carleton Young. Core members of this extended 'troupe', including Ward Bond, John Carradine, Harry Carey, Jr., Mae Marsh, Frank Baker and Ben Johnson, were informally known as the John Ford Stock Company.

Likewise, Ford enjoyed extended working relationships with his production team, and many of his crew worked with him for decades. He made numerous films with the same major collaborators, including producer and business partner Merian C. Cooper, scriptwriters Nunnally Johnson, Dudley Nichols and Frank S. Nugent, and cinematographers Ben F. Reynolds, John W. Brown and George Schneiderman (who between them shot most of Ford's silent films), Joseph H. August, Gregg Toland, Winton Hoch, Charles Lawton Jr., Bert Glennon, Archie Stout and William H. Clothier.

Silent era

During his first decade as a director Ford honed his craft on dozens of features (including many westerns) but fewer than a dozen of the more than sixty silent films he made between 1917 and 1928 still exist in any form and only ten have survived in their entirety. However prints of several Ford 'silents' previously thought lost have been rediscovered in foreign film archives over recent years—in 2009 a trove of 75 Hollywood silent films was rediscovered in the New Zealand Film Archive, among which was the only surviving print of Ford's 1927 silent comedy ''Upstream''. The print was restored in New Zealand by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences before being returned to America, where it was given a "repremiere" at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills on August 31, 2010, featuring a newly-comissioned score by Michael Mortilla.

Throughout his career Ford was one of the busiest directors in Hollywood, but he was extraordinarily productive in his first few years as a director—he made ten films in 1917, eight in 1918 and fifteen in 1919—and he directed a total of 62 shorts and features between 1917 and 1928, although he was not given a screen credit on most of his earliest films.

There is some uncertainty about the identity of Ford's first film as director—film writer Ephraim Katz notes that Ford might have directed the four-part film ''Lucille the Waitress'' as early as 1914—but most sources cite his directorial debut as the silent two-reeler ''The Tornado'', released in March 1917. According to Ford's own story, he was given the job by Universal boss Carl Laemmle who supposedly said, "Give Jack Ford the job—he yells good". ''The Tornado'' was quickly followed by a string of two-reeler and three-reeler "quickies" - ''The Trail of Hate'', ''The Scrapper'', ''The Soul Herder'' and ''Cheyenne's Pal''; these were made over the space of a few months and each typically shot in just two or three days; all are now presumed lost. ''The Soul Herder'' is also notable as the beginning of Ford's four-year, 25-film association with veteran writer-actor Harry Carey, who (with Ford's brother Francis) was a strong early influence on the young director, as well as being one of the major influences on the screen persona of Ford's protege John Wayne. Carey's son Harry "Dobe" Carey Jr, who also became an actor, was one of Ford's closest friends in later years and featured in many of his most celebrated westerns.

Ford's first feature-length production was ''Straight Shooting'' (August 1917), which is also his earliest complete surviving film as director, and one of only two survivors from his twenty-five film collaboration with Harry Carey. In making the film Ford and Carey ignored studio orders and turned in five reels instead of two, and it was only through the intervention of Carl Laemmle that the film escaped being cut for its first release, although it was subsequently edited down to two reels for re-release in the late 1920s. Ford's last film of 1917, ''Bucking Broadway'', was long thought to have been lost, but in 2002 the only known surviving print was discovered in the archives of the French National Center for Cinematography and it has since been restored and digitized.

Ford directed around thirty-six films over three years for Universal before moving to the William Fox studio in 1920; his first film for them was ''Just Pals'' (1920). His 1923 feature ''Cameo Kirby'', starring screen idol John Gilbert—another of the few surviving Ford silents—marked his first directing credit under the name "John Ford", rather than "Jack Ford", as he had previously been credited.

Ford's first major success as a director was the historical drama ''The Iron Horse'' (1924), an epic account of the building of the First Transcontinental Railroad. It was a large, long and difficult production, filmed on location in the Sierra Nevada. The logistics were enormous—two entire towns were constructed, there were 5000 extras, 100 cooks, 2000 rail layers, a cavalry regiment, 800 Indians, 1300 buffalo, 2000 horses, 10,000 cattle and 50,000 properties, including the original stagecoach used by Horace Greeley, Wild Bill Hickok's derringer pistol and replicas of the "Jupiter" and "119" locomotives that met at Promontory Point when the two ends of the line were joined on 10 May 1869.

Ford's brother Eddie was a crew member and they fought constantly; on one occasion Eddie reportedly "went after the old man with a pick handle". There was only a short synopsis written when filming began and Ford wrote and shot the film day by day. Production fell behind schedule, delayed by constant bad weather and the intense cold, and Fox executives repeatedly demanded results, but Ford would either tear up the telegrams or hold them up and have stunt gunman Edward "Pardner" Jones shoot holes through the sender's name. Despite the pressure to halt the production, studio boss William Fox finally backed Ford and allowed him to finish the picture and his gamble paid off handsomely—''The Iron Horse'' became one of the top-grossing films of the decade, taking over US$2 million worldwide, against a budget of $280,000. Murnau's influence can be seen in many of Ford's films of the late 1920s and early 1930s — his penultimate silent feature ''Four Sons'' (1928), starring Victor McLaglen, was filmed on some of the lavish sets left over from Murnau's production. Ford's last silent feature ''Hangman's House'' (1928) is notable as one of the first credited screen appearances by John Wayne.

''Napoleon's Barber'' was followed by ''Riley the Cop'' (1928) and ''Strong Boy'' (1929), starring Victor McLaglen, both of which are now lost (although Tag Gallagher's book records that the only surviving copy of ''Strong Boy'', a 35 mm nitrate print, was rumored to be held in a private collection in Australia). ''The Black Watch'' (1929), a colonial army adventure set in the Khyber Pass starring Victor McLaglen and Myrna Loy is Ford's first complete surviving talking picture; it was remade in 1954 by Henry King as ''King of the Khyber Rifles''.

Ford's output was fairly constant from 1928 to the start of World War II; he made five features in 1928 and then made either two or three films every year from 1929-1942 inclusive. Three films were released in 1929 -- ''Strong Boy'', ''The Black Watch'' and ''Salute''. His three films of 1930 were ''Men Without Women'', ''Born Reckless'' and ''Up the River'', which is notable as the debut film for both Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart, who were both signed to Fox on Ford's recommendation (but subsequently dropped). Ford's films in 1931 were ''Seas Beneath'', ''The Brat'' and ''Arrowsmith''; the last-named, adapted from the Sinclair Lewis novel and starring Ronald Colman and Helen Hayes, marked Ford's first Academy Awards recognition, with five nominations including Best Picture.

Ford's legendary efficiency and his ability to craft films combining artfulness with strong commercial appeal won him increasing renown and by 1940 he was acknowledged as one of the world's foremost movie directors. His growing prestige was reflected in his remuneration—in 1920, when he moved to Fox, he was being paid $300–600 per week, but as his career took off in the mid-Twenties his annual income significantly increased. He earned nearly $134,000 in 1929, and he made over $100,000 per annum ''every year'' from 1934 to 1941, earning a staggering $220,068 in 1938 - more than double the salary of the U.S. President at that time (although this was still less than half the income of Carole Lombard, Hollywood's highest-paid star of the 1930s, who was earning around $500,000 per year at the time).

With film production affected by the Depression, Ford made two films each in 1932 and 1933 - ''Airmail'' (made for Universal) with a young Ralph Bellamy and ''Flesh'' (for MGM) with Wallace Beery. In 1933, he returned to Fox for ''Pilgrimage'' and ''Doctor Bull'', the first of his three films with Will Rogers.

The World War I desert drama ''The Lost Patrol'' (1934), based on the book ''Patrol'' by Philip MacDonald, was a superior remake of the 1929 silent film ''Lost Patrol''. It starred Victor McLaglen as The Sergeant—the role played by his brother Cyril McLaglen in the earlier version—with Boris Karloff, Wallace Ford, Alan Hale and Reginald Denny (who went on to found a company that made radio-controlled target aircraft during World War II). It was one of Ford's first big hits of the sound era—it was rated by both the National Board of Review and ''The New York Times'' as one of the Top 10 films of that year and won an Oscar nomination for its stirring Max Steiner score. It was followed later that year by ''The World Moves On'' with Madeleine Carroll and Franchot Tone, and the highly successful ''Judge Priest'', his second film with Will Rogers, which became one of the top-grossing movies of the year.

Ford's first film of 1935 (made for Columbia) was the mistaken-identity comedy ''The Whole Town's Talking'' with Edward G. Robinson and Jean Arthur, released in the UK as ''Passport to Fame'', and it drew critical praise. ''Steamboat Round The Bend'' was his third and final film with Will Rogers; it is probable they would have continued working together, but their collaboration was cut short by Rogers' untimely death in a plane crash in May 1935, which devastated Ford.

Ford confirmed his position in the top rank of American directors with the Murnau-influenced Irish Republican Army drama ''The Informer'' (1935), starring Victor McLaglen. It earned great critical praise, was nominated for Best Picture, won Ford his first Academy Award for Best Director, and was hailed at the time as one of the best films ever made, although its reputation has diminished considerably compared to other contenders like ''Citizen Kane'', or Ford's own later ''The Searchers'' (1956).

The politically charged ''The Prisoner of Shark Island'' (1936) -- which marked the debut with Ford of long-serving "Stock Company" player John Carradine -- explored the little-known story of Samuel Mudd, a physician who was caught up in the Abraham Lincoln assassination conspiracy and consigned to an offshore prison for treating the injured John Wilkes Booth. Other films of this period include the South Seas melodrama ''The Hurricane'' (1937) and the lighthearted Shirley Temple vehicle ''Wee Willie Winkie'' (1937), each of which had a first-year US gross of more than $1 million. The longer revised version of ''Directed by John Ford'' shown on Turner Classic Movies in November, 2006 features directors Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, and Martin Scorsese, who suggest that the string of classic films Ford directed during 1936 to 1941 was due in part to an intense six-month extra-marital affair with Katharine Hepburn, the star of ''Mary of Scotland'' (1936), an Elizabethan costume drama.

1939-1941

''Stagecoach'' (1939) was Ford's first western since ''3 Bad Men'' in 1926, and it was his first with sound. Reputedly Orson Welles watched ''Stagecoach'' forty times in preparation for making ''Citizen Kane''. It remains one of the most admired and imitated of all Hollywood movies, not least for its climactic stagecoach chase and the hair-raising horse-jumping scene, performed by the stuntman Yakima Canutt.

The Dudley Nichols–Ben Hecht screenplay was based on an Ernest Haycox story that Ford had spotted in ''Collier's'' magazine and he purchased the screen rights for just $2500. Production chief Walter Wanger urged Ford to hire Gary Cooper and Marlene Dietrich for the lead roles, but eventually accepted Ford's decision to cast Claire Trevor as Dallas and a virtual unknown, his friend John Wayne, as Ringo; Wanger reportedly had little further influence over the production.

In making ''Stagecoach'' Ford faced entrenched industry prejudice about the now-hackneyed genre which, ironically, he had helped to make so popular. Although low-budget western features and serials were still being churned out in large numbers by 'Poverty Row' studios, the genre had fallen out of favor with the big studios during the 1930s and they were regarded as B-grade 'pulp' movies at best. As a result, Ford shopped the project around Hollywood for almost a year, offering it unsuccessfully to both Joseph Kennedy and David O. Selznick before finally linking with Walter Wanger, an independent producer working through United Artists.

''Stagecoach'' is significant for several reasons—it exploded industry prejudices by becoming both a critical and commercial hit, grossing over US$1 million in its first year (against a budget of just under $400,000), and its success singlehandedly revitalized the moribund genre, showing that Westerns could be "intelligent, artful, great entertainment -- and profitable". It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won two Oscars, for Best Supporting Actor (Thomas Mitchell) and Best Score. ''Stagecoach'' became the first in the series of seven classic Ford Westerns filmed on location in Monument Valley.

John Wayne had good reason to be grateful for Ford's support, ''Stagecoach'' provided the actor with the career breakthrough that elevated him to international stardom. Over 35 years Wayne appeared in twenty-four of Ford's films (and three TV episodes). Ford is credited with playing a major role in shaping Wayne's screen image.

''Stagecoach'' marked the beginning of the most consistently successful phase of Ford's career—in just two years between 1939 and 1941 he created a string of classics films that won numerous Academy Awards. Ford's next film, the biopic ''Young Mr Lincoln'' (1939) starring Henry Fonda, was less successful than ''Stagecoach'', attracting little critical attention and winning no awards. It was not a major box-office hit although it had a respectable domestic first year gross of $750,000, but Ford scholar Tag Gallagher describes it as "a deeper, more multi-leveled work than ''Stagecoach'' .... (which) seems in retrospect one of the finest prewar pictures".

''Drums Along the Mohawk'' (1939) was a lavish frontier drama co-starring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert; it was also Ford's first movie in color and included uncredited script contributions by William Faulkner. It was a big box-office success, grossing $1.25 million in its first year in the US and earning Edna May Oliver a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance.

Despite its uncompromising communist political stance, Ford's screen adaptation of John Steinbeck's ''The Grapes of Wrath'' (scripted by Nunnally Johnson and photographed by Gregg Toland) was both a big box office hit and a major critical success, and it is still widely regarded as one of the best Hollywood films of the era. Noted critic Andrew Sarris described it as the movie that transformed Ford from "a storyteller of the screen into America's cinematic poet laureate". Ford's third movie in a year and his third consecutive film with Fonda, it grossed $1.1 million in the USA in its first year and won two Academy Awards—Ford's second 'Best Director' Oscar, and 'Best Supporting Actress' for Jane Darwell's tour-de-force portrayal of Ma Joad.

''The Grapes of Wrath'' was followed by two less successful and lesser known films. ''The Long Voyage Home'' (1940) was, like ''Stagecoach'', made with Walter Wanger through United Artists. Adapted from four plays by Eugene O'Neill, it was scripted by Dudley Nichols and Ford, in consultation with O'Neill himself. Although not a significant box-office success (it grossed only $600,000 in its first year) it was critically praised and was nominated for seven Academy Awards—Best Picture, Best Screenplay, (Nichols), Best Music (Best Photography (Gregg Toland), Best Editing (Sherman Todd), Best Effects (Ray Binger & R.T. Layton), and Best Sound (Robert Parrish). It was one of Ford's personal favorites; stills from it decorated his home and O'Neill also reportedly loved the film and screened it periodically.

''Tobacco Road'' (1941) was a rural comedy scripted by Nunnally Johnson, adapted from the long-running Jack Kirkland stage version of the novel by Erskine Caldwell. It starred veteran actor Charley Grapewin and the supporting cast included Ford regulars Ward Bond and Mae Marsh, with Francis Ford in an uncredited bit part; it is also notable for early screen appearances by future stars Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews. Although not highly regarded by some critics (Tag Gallagher devotes only one short paragraph to it in his book on Ford) it was fairly successful at the box office, grossing $900,000 in its first year. According to IMDb, the film was banned in Australia for unspecified reasons.

Ford's last feature before America entered World War II was his screen adaptation of ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1941), starring Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara and Roddy McDowell in his career-making role as Huw. The script was written by Philip Dunne from the best-selling novel by Robert Llewellyn. It was originally planned as a four-hour epic to rival ''Gone with the Wind'' -- the screen rights alone cost Fox $300,000—and was to have been filmed on location in Wales, but this was abandoned due to the heavy German bombing of Britain, so it was shot at Fox's San Fernando Valley ranch instead; another reported factor was the nervousness of Fox executives about the pro-union tone of the story. William Wyler was originally engaged to direct, but he left the project when Fox decided to film it in California; Ford was hired in his place and production was postponed for several months until he became available. Producer Darryl F. Zanuck had a strong influence over the movie and made several key decisions, including the idea of having the character of Huw narrate the film in voice-over (then a novel concept), and the decision that Huw's character should not age (Tyrone Power was originally slated to play the adult Huw).

''How Green Was My Valley'' became one of the biggest films of 1940. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards including Best Supporting Actress (Sara Allgood), Best Editing, Best Script, Best Music and Best Sound and it won five Oscars—Best Director, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Donald Crisp), Best B&W; Cinematography (Arthur C. Miller) and Best Art Direction/Interior Decoration. It was a huge hit with audiences, coming in behind ''Sergeant York'' as the second-highest grossing film of the year in the USA and taking almost $3 million against its sizable budget of $1,250,000. Ford was also named Best Director by the New York Film Critics, and this was one of the few awards of his career that he collected in person (he generally shunned the Oscar ceremony).

War years

During World War II, Commander John Ford, USNR, served in the United States Navy and as head of the photographic unit for the Office of Strategic Services, made documentaries for the Navy Department. He won two more Academy Awards during this time, one for the semi-documentary ''The Battle of Midway'' (1942), and a second for the propaganda film ''December 7th'' (1943). Commander Ford was a veteran of the Battle of Midway, where he was wounded in the arm by shrapnel while filming the Japanese attack from the power plant of Sand Island on Midway.

Ford was also present on Omaha Beach on D-Day. He crossed the English Channel on the , anchored off Omaha Beach at 0600 where he observed the first wave land on the beach from the ship, landing on the beach himself later with a team of US Coast Guard cameramen who filmed the battle from behind the beach obstacles, with Ford directing operations. The film was edited in London, but very little was released to the public. Ford explained in a 1964 interview that the US Government was "afraid to show so many American casualties on the screen", adding that all of the D-Day film "still exists in color in storage in Anacostia near Washington, D.C." Thirty years later, historian Stephen E. Ambrose reported that the Eisenhower Center had been unable to find the film. Ford eventually rose to become a top adviser to OSS head William Joseph Donovan. According to records released in 2008, Ford was cited by his superiors for bravery, taking a position to film one mission that was "an obvious and clear target". He survived "continuous attack and was wounded" while he continued filming, one commendation in his file states.

His last wartime film was ''They Were Expendable'' (MGM, 1945), an account of America's disastrous defeat in The Philippines, told from the viewpoint of a PT boat squadron and its commander. Ford repeatedly declared that he disliked the film and had never watched it, complaining that he had been forced to make it, although it was strongly championed by filmmaker Lindsay Anderson. Released several months after the end of the war, it was among the year's top 20 box-office draws, although Tag Gallagher notes that many critics have incorrectly claimed that it lost money.

Post-war career

After the war, Ford became a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy Reserve.Ford directed sixteen features and several documentaries in the decade between 1946 and 1956. As with his prewar career, his films alternated between (relative) box office flops and major successes, but most of his later films made a solid profit, and ''Fort Apache'', ''The Quiet Man'', ''Mogambo'' and ''The Searchers'' all ranked in the Top 20 box-office hits of their respective years.

Ford's first postwar movie ''My Darling Clementine'' (Fox, 1946) was a romanticized retelling of the primal Western legend of Wyatt Earp and the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, with exterior sequences filmed on location in the visually spectacular (but geographically inappropriate) Monument Valley. It reunited Ford with Henry Fonda (as Earp) and co-starred Victor Mature in one of his best roles as the consumptive, Shakespeare-loving Doc Holliday, with Ward Bond and Tim Holt as the Earp brothers, Linda Darnell as sultry saloon girl Chihuahua, a strong performance by Walter Brennan (in a rare villainous role) as the venomous Old Man Clanton, with Jane Darwell and an early screen appearance by John Ireland as Billy Clanton. In contrast to the string of successes in 1939-41, it won no major American awards, although it was awarded a silver ribbon for Best Foreign Film in 1948 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists, and it was a solid financial success, grossing $2.75 million in the USA and $1.75 million internationally in its first year of release. Ford launched himself as an independent director-producer and made many of his films in this period with Argosy Productions, a partnership between Ford and his old friend and colleague Merian C. Cooper, originally founded after the success of ''Stagecoach''. ''The Fugitive'' (1946), again starring Fonda, was the first project of the Argosy Productions enterprise. It was a loose adaptation of Grahame Greene's ''The Power and the Glory'', which Ford had originally intended to make at Fox before the war, with Thomas Mitchell as the priest. Filmed on location in Mexico, it was photographed by distinguished Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa (who later worked with Luis Buñuel). The supporting cast included Dolores Del Rio, J. Carroll Naish, Ward Bond, Leo Carillo and Mel Ferrer (making his screen debut) and a cast of mainly Mexican extras. Ford reportedly considered this his best film but it fared relatively poorly compared to its predecessor, grossing only $750,000 in its first year. It also caused a rift between Ford and scriptwriter Dudley Nichols that brought about the end of their highly successful collaboration. Greene himself had a particular dislike of this adaptation of his work.

''Fort Apache'' (Argosy/RKO, 1948) was the first part of Ford's so-called 'Cavalry Trilogy', all of which were based on stories by James Warner Bellah. It featured many of his 'Stock Company' of actors, including John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Ward Bond, Victor McLaglen, Mae Marsh, Francis Ford (as a bartender), Frank Baker, Ben Johnson and also featured Shirley Temple, in her final appearance for Ford and one of her last film appearances. It also marked the start of the long association between Ford and scriptwriter Frank S. Nugent, a former ''New York Times'' film critic who (like Dudley Nichols) had not written a movie script until hired by Ford. It was a big commercial success, grossing nearly $5 million worldwide in its first year and ranking in the Top 20 box office hits of 1948. ''Fort Apache'' was followed by another Western, ''3 Godfathers'', a remake of a 1916 silent film starring Harry Carey (to whom Ford's version was dedicated), which Ford had himself already remade in 1919 as ''Marked Men'', also with Carey and thought lost. It starred John Wayne, Pedro Armendáriz and Harry "Dobe" Carey Jr (in one of his first major roles) as three outlaws who rescue a baby after his mother (Mildred Natwick) dies giving birth, with Ward Bond as the sheriff pursuing them.

In 1949 Ford briefly returned to Fox to direct ''Pinky''. He prepared the project but worked only one day before being taken ill, supposedly with shingles, and Elia Kazan replaced him (although Tag Gallagher suggests that Ford's illness was a pretext for leaving the film, which Ford disliked).

His only completed film of that year was the second installment of his Cavalry Trilogy, ''She Wore A Yellow Ribbon'' (Argosy/RKO, 1949), starring John Wayne and Joanne Dru, with Victor McLaglen, John Agar, Ben Johnson, Mildred Natwick and Harry Carey Jr. Again filmed on location in Monument Valley, it was widely acclaimed for its stunning Technicolor cinematography (including the famous cavalry scene filmed in front of an oncoming storm); it won Winton Hoch the 1950 Academy Award for Best Color Cinematography and it did big business on its first release, grossing more than $5m worldwide. John Wayne, then 41, also received wide praise for his role as the 60-year-old Capt. Nathan Brittles.

1950s

Ford's first film of 1950 was the offbeat military comedy ''When Willie Comes Marching Home'', starring Dan Dailey and Corinne Calvet, with William Demarest, from Preston Sturges 'stock company', and early (uncredited) screen appearances by Alan Hale Jr and Vera Miles. It was followed by ''Wagon Master'', starring Ben Johnson and Harry Carey Jr, which is particularly noteworthy as the only Ford film since 1930 that he scripted himself. It was subsequently adapted into the long-running TV series ''Wagon Train'' (with Ward Bond reprising the title role until his sudden death in 1960). Although it did far smaller business than most of his other films in this period, Ford cited ''Wagon Master'' his personal favorite of all his films, telling Peter Bogdanovich that it "came closest to what I had hoped to achieve".

''Rio Grande'' (Republic, 1950), the third part of the 'Cavalry Trilogy', co-starred John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, with Wayne's son Patrick Wayne making his screen debut (he appeared in several subsequent Ford pictures including ''The Searchers''). It was made at the insistence of Republic Pictures who demanded a profitable Western as the condition of backing Ford's next project, ''The Quiet Man''. A testament to Ford's legendary efficiency, ''Rio Grande'' was shot in just 32 days, with only 352 takes from 335 camera setups, and it was a solid success, grossing $2.25m in its first year.

Republic's anxiety was erased by the resounding success of ''The Quiet Man'' (Republic, 1952), a pet project which Ford had wanted to make since the 1930s (and almost did so in 1937 with an independent cooperative called Renowned Artists Company). It became his biggest grossing picture to date, taking nearly $4 million in the USA alone in its first year and ranking in the top 10 box office films of its year. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won Ford his fourth Oscar for Best Director, as well a second Best Cinematography Oscar for Winton Hoch. It was followed by ''What Price Glory?'' (1952), a World War I drama, the first of two films Ford made with James Cagney (''Mister Roberts'' was the other) which also did good business at the box office ($2m).

''The Sun Shines Bright'' (1953), Ford's first entry in the Cannes Film Festival, was a western comedy-drama with Charles Winninger reviving the Judge Priest role made famous by Will Rogers in the 1930s. Ford later referred to it as one of his favorites, but it was poorly received, and was drastically cut (from 90 mins to 65 mins) by Republic soon after its release, with some excised scenes now presumed lost. It fared poorly at the box office and its failure contributed to the subsequent collapse of Argosy Pictures.

Ford's next film was the romance-adventure ''Mogambo'' (MGM, 1953), a loose remake of the celebrated 1932 film ''Red Dust''. Filmed on location in Africa, it was photographed by British cinematographer Freddie Young and starred Ford's old friend Clark Gable, with Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly (who replaced an ailing Gene Tierney) and Donald Sinden. Although the production was difficult (exacerbated by the irritating presence of Gardner's then husband Frank Sinatra), ''Mogamabo'' became one of the biggest commercial hits of Ford's career, with the highest domestic first-year gross of any of his films ($5.2m); it also revitalized Gable's waning career and earned Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominations for Gardner and Kelly (who was rumored to have had a brief affair with Gable during the making of the film).

In 1955, Ford made the lesser-known West Point drama ''The Long Gray Line'' for Columbia Pictures, the first of two Ford films to feature Tyrone Power, who had originally been slated to star as the adult Huw in ''How Green Was My Valley'' back in 1941. Later in 1955 Ford was hired by Warner Bros to direct the Naval comedy ''Mister Roberts'', starring Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, William Powell, and James Cagney, but there was conflict between Ford and Fonda, who had been playing the lead role on Broadway for the past seven years and had misgivings about Ford's direction. During a three-way meeting with producer Leland Hayward to try and iron out the problems, Ford became enraged and punched Fonda on the jaw, knocking him across the room, an action that created a lasting rift between them. After the incident Ford became increasingly morose, drinking heavily and eventually retreating to the ''Araner'' and refusing to eat or see anyone. Production was shut down for five days and Ford sobered up, but soon after he suffered a ruptured gallbladder, necessitating emergency surgery, and he was replaced by Mervyn LeRoy.

Ford also made his first forays into television in 1955, directing two half-hour dramas for network TV. In the summer of 1955 he made ''Rookie of the Year'' (Hal Roach Studios) for the TV series ''Studio Directors Playhouse''; scripted by Frank S. Nugent, it featured Ford regulars John and Pat Wayne, Vera Miles and Ward Bond, with Ford himself appearing in the introduction. In November he made ''The Bamboo Cross'' (Lewman Ltd-Revue, 1955) for the ''Fireside Theatre'' series; it starred Jane Wyman with an Asian-American cast and Stock Company veterans Frank Baker and Pat O'Malley in minor roles.

Ford returned to the big screen with ''The Searchers'' (Warner Bros, 1956), the only Western he made between 1950 and 1959, which is now widely regarded as not only one of his best films, but also regarded by many as the greatest western ever made, and one of the best performances of John Wayne's career. Shot on location in Monument Valley, it tells of the embittered Civil War veteran Ethan Edwards who spends years tracking down his niece, kidnapped by Comanches as a young girl. The supporting cast included Jeffrey Hunter, Ward Bond, Vera Miles and rising star Natalie Wood (Hunter's first film for Ford). It was very successful upon its first release and became one of the top 20 films of the year, grossing $4.45m, although it received no Academy Award nominations. However its reputation has grown greatly over the intervening years—it was named the Greatest Western of all time by the American Film Institute in 2008 and also placed 12th on the Institute's 2007 list of the Top 100 greatest movies of all time. ''The Searchers'' has exerted a wide influence on film and popular culture—it has inspired (and been directly quoted by) many filmmakers including David Lean and George Lucas, Wayne's character's catchphrase "That'll be the day" inspired Buddy Holly to pen his famous hit song of the same name, and the British pop group The Searchers also took their name from the film.

''The Searchers'' was accompanied by one of the first "making of" documentaries, a four-part promotional program created for the "Behind the Camera" segment of the weekly ''Warner Brothers Presents'' TV show, (the studio's first foray into TV) which aired on the ABC network in 1955-56. Presented by Gig Young, the four segments included interviews with Jeffrey Hunter and Natalie Wood and behind-the-scenes footage shot during the making of the film.

''The Wings of Eagles'' (MGM, 1957) was a fictionalized biography of Ford's old friend, aviator-turned-scriptwriter Frank "Spig" Wead, who had scripted several of Ford's early sound films. It starred John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, with Ward Bond as John Dodge (a character based on Ford himself). It was followed by one of Ford's least known films, ''The Growler Story'', a 29-minute dramatized documentary about the ''USS Growler''. Made for the US Navy and filmed by the Pacific Fleet Command Combat Camera Group, it featured Ward Bond and Ken Curtis alongside real Navy personnel and their families.

Ford's next two films stand somewhat apart from the rest of his films in terms of production, and he notably took no salary for either job. ''The Rising of the Moon'' (Warner Bros, 1957) was a three-part 'omnibus' movie shot on location in Ireland and based on Irish short stories. It was made by Four Province Productions, a company established by British tycoon Lord Killanin, who had recently become Chair of the International Olympic Committee, and to whom Ford was distantly related. Killanin was also the actual (but uncredited) producer of ''The Quiet Man''. The film failed to recoup its costs, earning less than half ($100k) its negative cost of just over $256,000 and it stirred up some controversy in Ireland.

Both of Ford's 1958 films were made for Columbia Pictures and both were significant departures from Ford's norm. ''Gideon's Day'' (titled ''Gideon of Scotland Yard'' in the USA) was adapted from the novel by British writer John Creasey. It is Ford's only police genre film, and one of the few Ford films set in the present day of the 1950s. It was shot in England with a British cast headed by Jack Hawkins, whom Ford (unusually) lauded as "the finest dramatic actor with whom I have worked". It was poorly promoted by Columbia, who only distributed it in B&W;, although it was shot in color, although cast member Anna Lee stated that Ford was "disappointed with the picture" and that Columbia had not permitted him to supervise the editing.

''Korea: Battleground for Liberty'' (1959), Ford's second documentary on the Korean War, was made for the U.S. Department of Defense as an orientation film for US soldiers stationed there. It was followed by his next feature, ''The Horse Soldiers'' (Mirisch Company-United Artists, 1959), a Civil War story starring John Wayne and William Holden. Although Ford professed unhappiness with the project, it was a commercial success, ranking in the year's Top 20 box-office hits, grossing $3.6m in its first year, and earning Ford his highest-ever fee -- $375,000, plus 10% of the gross.

''Two Rode Together'' (Ford Productions-Columbia, 1961) co-starred James Stewart and Richard Widmark, with Shirley Jones and Stock Company regulars Andy Devine, Henry Brandon, Harry Carey Jr, Anna Lee, Woody Strode, Mae Marsh and Frank Baker, with an early screen appearance by Linda Cristal, who went on to star in the Western TV series ''The High Chaparral''. It was a fair commercial success, grossing $1.6m in its first year.

''The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'' (Ford Productions-Paramount, 1962) is frequently cited as the last great film of Ford's career. It co-starred John Wayne and James Stewart, with Vera Miles, Edmund O'Brien, Andy Devine as the inept marshal, Denver Pyle, John Carradine and Lee Marvin in one of his first major roles as the brutal Valance, with Lee Van Cleef and Strother Martin as his henchmen. It is also notable as the film in which Wayne first used his trademark phrase "Pilgrim" (his nickname for James Stewart's character). It was very successful, grossing over $3m in its first year, although the lead casting stretched credibility—the characters played by Stewart (then 53) and Wayne (then 54) were meant to be in their early 20s, and Ford reportedly considered casting a younger actor in Stewart's role but feared it would highlight Wayne's age. Budget constraints meant that most of the film was shot on sets on the Paramount lot, although it was still one of Ford's most expensive films at US$3.2 million.

After completing ''Liberty Valance'', Ford was hired to direct the Civil War section of MGM's epic ''How The West Was Won'', the first non-documentary film to use the Cinerama wide-screen process. Ford's segment featured George Peppard, with Andy Devine, Russ Tamblyn, Harry Morgan as Ulysses S. Grant and John Wayne as William Tecumseh Sherman. Also in 1962, Ford directed his fourth and last TV production, ''Flashing Spikes'', a baseball story made for the ''Alcoa Premiere'' series and starring James Stewart, Jack Warden, Patrick Wayne and Tige Andrews, with Harry Carey, Jr. and a lengthy surprise appearance by John Wayne, billed in the credits as "Michael Morris."

''Donovan's Reef'' (Paramount, 1963) was Ford's last film with John Wayne. Filmed on location on the Hawaiian island of Kauai (doubling for a fictional island in French Polynesia), it was a morality play disguised as an action-comedy, which subtly but sharply engaged with issues of racial bigotry, corporate connivance, greed and American beliefs of societal superiority. The supporting cast included Elizabeth Allen, Lee Marvin, Jack Warden, Dorothy Lamour, and Cesar Romero. It was also Ford's last commercial success, grossing $3.3m against a budget of $2.6m.

''Cheyenne Autumn'' (Warner Bros, 1964) was Ford's epic farewell to the West, which he publicly declared to be an elegy to the Native American. It was his last Western, his longest film and the most expensive movie of his career ($4.2m), but it failed to recoup its costs at the box office and lost about $1m on its first release. The all-star cast was headed by Richard Widmark, with Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, Dolores del Río, Ricardo Montalbán, Gilbert Roland, Sal Mineo, James Stewart as Wyatt Earp, Arthur Kennedy as Doc Holliday, Edward G. Robinson, Patrick Wayne, Elizabeth Allen, Mike Mazurki and many of Ford's faithful Stock Company, including John Carradine, Ken Curtis, Willis Bouchey, James Flavin, Danny Borzage, Harry Carey Jr, Chuck Hayward, Ben Johnson, Mae Marsh and Denver Pyle. William Clothier was nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar and Gilbert Roland was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Cheyenne elder Dull Knife.

In 1965 Ford began work on ''Young Cassidy'' (MGM), a biographical drama based upon the life of Irish playwright Sean O'Casey, but he fell ill early in the production and was replaced by Jack Cardiff.

Ford's last completed feature film was ''7 Women'' (MGM, 1966), a drama about missionary women in China ca. 1935 trying to protect themselves from the advances of a barbaric Mongolian warlord. Anne Bancroft took over the lead role from Patricia Neal, who suffered a near-fatal stroke two days into shooting. The supporting cast included Margaret Leighton, Flora Robson, Sue Lyon, Mildred Dunnock, Anna Lee, Eddie Albert, Mike Mazurki and Woody Strode, with music by Elmer Bernstein. Unfortunately it was a commercial flop, grossing only about half of its $2.3m budget. Unusually for Ford it was shot in continuity for the sake of the performances and he therefore exposed about four times as much film as he usually shot. Anna Lee recalled that Ford was "absolutely charming" to everyone, and that the only major blow-up came when Flora Robson complained that the sign on her dressing room door did not include her title ("Dame") and as a result Robson was "absolutely shredded" by Ford in front of the cast and crew.

Ford's next project, ''The Miracle of Merriford'' was scrapped by MGM less than a week before shooting was to have begun. His last completed work was ''Chesty: A Tribute to a Legend'', a documentary on the most decorated U.S. Marine, General Lewis B. Puller, with narration by John Wayne, which was made in 1970 but not released until 1976, three years after Ford's death.

Ford's health deteriorated rapidly in the early 1970s; he suffered a broken hip in 1970 which put him in a wheelchair, and had to move from his Bel Air home to a single-level house in Palm Desert, near Eisenhower Medical Center, where he was being treated for cancer. In October 1972 the Screen Directors Guild staged a tribute to Ford and in March 1973 the American Film Institute honored him with its first Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony which was telecast nationwide, with President Richard Nixon promoting Ford to full Admiral and presenting him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Ford died on 31 August 1973 at Palm Desert, California, and his funeral was held on 5 September at Hollywood's Church of the Blessed Sacrament. He was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Personality and directing style

Personality

Ford was renowned for his intense personality and his many idiosyncrasies and eccentricities. From the early Thirties onwards, he always wore dark glasses and a patch over his left eye, which was only partly to protect his poor eyesight. He was an inveterate pipe-smoker and while he was shooting he would chew on a linen handkerchief—each morning his wife would give him a dozen fresh handkerchiefs, but by the end of a day's filming the corners of all of them would be chewed to shreds. He always had music played on the set and would routinely break for tea (Earl Grey) at mid-afternoon every day during filming. He discouraged chatter and disliked bad language on set; its use—especially in front of a woman—would typically result in the offender being thrown off the production. He rarely drank during the making of a film, but when a production wrapped he would often lock himself in his study, wrapped only in a sheet, and go on a solitary drinking binge for several days, followed by routine contrition and a vow never to drink again. He was extremely sensitive to criticism and was always particularly angered by any comparison between his work and that of his older brother Francis. He almost never attended premieres or award ceremonies, although his Oscars and other awards were proudly displayed on the mantle in his home.

He was famously untidy, and his study was always littered with books, papers and clothes. He bought a brand new Rolls Royce in the 1930s, but never rode in it because his wife Mary would not let him smoke in it. His own car, a battered Ford roadster, was so dilapidated and messy that he was once late for a studio meeting because the guard at the studio gate did not believe that he was John Ford the famous director, and refused to let him in. He was also notorious for his antipathy towards studio executives — on one early film for Fox he is said to have ordered a guard to keep studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck off the set, and on another occasion he brought an executive in front of the crew, stood him in profile and announced, "This is an associate producer - take a good look because you won't be seeing him on this picture again".

His pride and joy was his yacht, ''Araner'', which he bought in 1934 and on which he lavished hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs and improvements over the years; it became his chief retreat between films and a meeting place for his circle of close friends, including John Wayne and Ward Bond.

Ford was highly intelligent, erudite, sensitive and sentimental, but to protect himself in the cutthroat atmosphere of Hollywood he cultivated the image of a "tough, two-fisted, hard-drinking Irish sonofabitch" (Harry "Dobe" Carey Jr). One famous event, witnessed by Ford's friend actor Frank Baker, strikingly illustrates the tension between the public persona and the private man. During the Depression, Ford — by then a very wealthy man — was accosted outside his office by a former Universal actor who was destitute and needed $200 for an operation for his wife. As the man related his misfortunes, Ford appeared to become enraged and then, to the horror of onlookers, he launched himself at the man, knocked him to the floor and shouted "How dare you come here like this? Who do think you are to talk to me this way?" before storming out of the room. However, as the shaken old man left the building, Frank Baker saw Ford's business manager Fred Totman meet him at the door, where he handed the man a cheque for $1,000 and instructed Ford's chauffeur to drive him home. There, an ambulance was waiting to take the man's wife to the hospital where a specialist, flown in from San Francisco at Ford's expense, performed the operation. Some time later, Ford purchased a house for the couple and pensioned them for life. When Baker related the story to Francis Ford, he declared it the key to his brother's personality:

:"Any moment, if that old actor had kept talking, people would have realized what a softy Jack is. He couldn't have stood through that sad story without breaking down. He's built this whole legend of toughness around himself to protect his softness."

Although Ford had many affairs with women, there were occasional rumors about his sexual preferences,

In contrast to his contemporary Alfred Hitchcock, Ford never used storyboards, composing his pictures entirely in his head, without any written or graphic outline of the shots he would use. Script development could be intense but, once approved, his screenplays were rarely rewritten; he was also one of the first filmmakers to encourage his writers and actors to prepare a full back story for their characters. He hated long expository scenes and was famous for tearing pages out of a script to cut dialogue. During the making of one film, when challenged by a studio executive about falling behind schedule, Ford responded by tearing an entire scene out of the script and declaring "There, now we're all caught up!", and indeed he never filmed the scene. While making ''Drums Along the Mohawk'', Ford neatly sidestepped the challenge of shooting a large and expensive battle scene—he had Henry Fonda improvise a monologue while firing questions from behind the camera about the course of the battle (a subject on which Fonda was well-versed) and then simply editing out the questions.

He was relatively sparing in his use of camera movements and close-ups, preferring static medium or long shots, with his players framed against dramatic vistas or interiors lit in an Expressionistic style, although he often used panning shots and sometimes used a dramatic zoom-in (e.g. John Wayne's first appearance in ''Stagecoach''). Ford is justly famous for his exciting tracking shots, such as the chase sequence in ''Stagecoach'' or the attack on the Comanche camp in ''The Searchers''.

Recurring visual motifs include trains and wagons—many Ford films begin and end with a linking vehicle such as a train or wagon arriving and leaving—doorways, roads, flowers, rivers, gatherings (parades, dances, meetings, bar scenes, etc.); he also employed gestural motifs in many films, notably the throwing of objects and the lighting of lamps, matches or cigarettes. If a doomed character was shown playing poker (such as Liberty Valance or gunman Tom Tyler in ''Stagecoach''), the last hand he plays is the "death hand"—two eights and two aces, one of them the ace of spades—so-called because Wild Bill Hickok is said to have held this hand when he was murdered. Many of his sound films include renditions or quotations of his favorite hymn, "Shall We Gather at the River?", such as its parodic use to underscore the opening scenes of ''Stagecoach'', when the prostitute Dallas is being run out of town by local matrons. Character names also recur in many Ford films — the name Quincannon, for example, is used in several films including ''The Lost Patrol'', ''Rio Grande'', ''She Wore A Yellow Ribbon'' and ''Fort Apache''.

Ford was legendary for his discipline and efficiency on-set and was notorious for being extremely tough on his actors, frequently mocking, yelling and bullying them; he was also infamous for his sometimes sadistic practical jokes. Any actor foolish enough to demand star treatment would receive the full force of his relentless scorn and sarcasm. He once referred to John Wayne as a "big idiot" and even punched Henry Fonda. Henry Brandon (who played Chief Scar from ''The Searchers'') once referred to Ford as: "The only man who could make John Wayne cry." . He likewise belittled Victor McLaglen, on one occasion reportedly bellowing through the megaphone: "D'ya known, McLaglen, that Fox are paying you $1200 a week to do things that I could get any child off the street to do better?". Stock Company veteran Ward Bond was reportedly one of the few actors who were impervious to Ford's taunting and sarcasms.

Ford usually gave his actors little explicit direction, although on occasion he would casually walk through a scene himself, and actors were expected to note every subtle action or mannerism; if they did not, Ford would make them repeat the scene until they got it right, and he would often berate and belittle those who failed to achieve his desired performance. On ''The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'', Ford ran through a scene with Edmund O'Brien and ended by drooping his hand over a railing. O'Brien noticed this but deliberately ignored it, placing his hand ''on'' the railing instead; Ford would not explicitly correct him and he reportedly made O'Brien play the scene forty-two times before the actor relented and did it Ford's way.

Despite his often difficult and demanding personality, many actors who worked with Ford acknowledged that he brought out the best in them. John Wayne remarked that "Nobody could handle actors and crew like Jack." and Dobe Carey stated that "He had a quality that made everyone almost kill themselves to please him. Upon arriving on the set, you would feel right away that something special was going to happen. You would feel spiritually awakened all of a sudden." Carey credits Ford with the inspiration of Carey's final film, ''Comanche Stallion'' (2005).

Ford's favorite location for his Western films was southern Utah's Monument Valley. Although not generally appropriate geographically as a setting for his plots, the expressive visual impact of the area enabled Ford to define images of the American West with some of the most beautiful and powerful cinematography ever shot, in such films as ''Stagecoach'', ''The Searchers'', ''Fort Apache''. A notable example is the famous scene in ''She Wore a Yellow Ribbon'' in which the cavalry troop is photographed against an oncoming storm. The influence on the films of classic Western artists such as Frederic Remington and others has been examined. Ford's evocative use of the territory for his Westerns has defined the images of the American West so powerfully that Orson Welles once said that other film-makers refused to shoot in the region out of fears of plagiarism.

Ford typically shot only the footage he needed and often filmed in sequence, minimizing the job of his film editors. In the opinion of Joseph McBride, Ford's technique of cutting in the camera enabled him to retain creative control in a period where directors often had little say on the final editing of their films. Ford noted:

:"I don’t give ‘em a lot of film to play with. In fact, Eastman used to complain that I exposed so little film. I do cut in the camera. Otherwise, if you give them a lot of film ‘the committee’ takes over. They start juggling scenes around and taking out this and putting in that. They can’t do it with my pictures. I cut in the camera and that's it. There's not a lot of film left on the floor when I’m finished."

Awards and honors

Ford won a total of six Academy Awards. Four of these were for Best Director for ''The Informer'' (1935), ''The Grapes of Wrath'' (1940), ''How Green Was My Valley'' (1941), and ''The Quiet Man'' (1952) - none of them Westerns (also starring in the last two was Maureen O'Hara, "his favorite actress"). He was also nominated as Best Director for ''Stagecoach'' (1939). He won two Oscars for Best Documentary for The Battle of Midway and December 7th. To this day Ford holds the record for winning the most Best Director Oscars, having won the award on four occasions. William Wyler and Frank Capra come in second having won the award three times. Ford was the first director to win consecutive Best Director awards, in 1940 and 1941. This feat was later matched by Joseph L. Mankiewicz exactly ten years later, when he won consecutive awards for Best Director in 1950 and 1951. As a producer he received nominations for Best Picture for ''The Quiet Man'' and ''The Long Voyage Home''. He was the first recipient of the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award in 1973. Also in that year, Ford was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon.

Ford directed 10 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Victor McLaglen, Thomas Mitchell, Edna May Oliver, Jane Darwell, Henry Fonda, Donald Crisp, Sara Allgood, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Jack Lemmon. McLaglen, Mitchell, Darwell, Crisp and Lemmon won Oscar for one of their roles in one of Fords movies.

A television special featuring Ford, John Wayne, James Stewart, and Henry Fonda was broadcast over the CBS network on December 5, 1971 called ''The American West of John Ford'', featuring clips from Ford's career interspersed with interviews conducted by Wayne, Stewart, and Fonda, who also took turns narrating the hourlong documentary.

In 2007, Twentieth Century Fox released "Ford at Fox", a DVD boxed set of 24 of Ford's films. ''Time'' magazine's Richard Corliss named it one of the "Top 10 DVDs of 2007", ranking it at #1.

A statue of Ford in Portland, Maine depicts him sitting in a director's chair. The statue made by New York sculptor George M. Kelly and commissioned by Louisiana philanthropst Linda Noe Laine was unveiled on the 12th of July 1998 at Gorham's Corner in Portland, Maine, United State, as part of a celebration of Ford that was later to include renaming the auditorium of Portland High School the John Ford Auditorium.

Academy Awards

! Year	! Awards	! Film	! Won
			Irving Thalberg
			[[Irving Thalberg
		''[[The Long Voyage Home''
		''The Battle of Midway''
		''The Quiet Man''	Cecil B. DeMille – ''The Greatest Show on Earth''
		''The Quiet Man''

Politics

Ford's politics were conventionally progressive; his favorite presidents were Democrats Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy and Republican Abraham Lincoln. But despite these leanings, many thought he was a Republican because of his long association with actors John Wayne, James Stewart, Maureen O'Hara and Ward Bond. ''Time'' magazine editor Whittaker Chambers wrote a harsh review of ''The Grapes of Wrath'' as left-wing propaganda, assuming Steinbeck, the author, and Ford to be of that political stripe.

Ford's attitude to McCarthyism in Hollywood is expressed by a story told by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. A faction of the Directors Guild of America led by Cecil B. DeMille had tried to make it mandatory for every member to sign a loyalty oath. A whispering campaign was being conducted against Mankiewicz, then President of the Guild, alleging he had communist sympathies. At a crucial meeting of the Guild, DeMille's faction spoke for four hours until Ford spoke against DeMille and proposed a vote of confidence in Mankiewicz, which was passed. His words were recorded by a court stenographer:

:"My name's John Ford. I make Westerns. I don't think there's anyone in this room who knows more about what the American public wants than Cecil B. DeMille — and he certainly knows how to give it to them.... [looking at DeMille] But I don't like you, C.B. I don't like what you stand for and I don't like what you've been saying here tonight."

As time went on, however, Ford became more publicly allied with the Republican Party, declaring himself a 'Maine Republican' in 1947. He voted for Barry Goldwater in 1964 and Richard Nixon in 1968 and became a supporter of the Vietnam War. In 1973, he was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Nixon, whose campaign he had publicly supported.

Ford scholar Tag Gallagher asserts that Ford was "essentially apolitical", although he also notes that the director became an ardent supporter of the Irish Republican Army after his first visit to Ireland in the 1920s and that he channelled funds to the IRA for the rest of his career.

Influence

Ford is widely considered to be among the most influential of Hollywood's filmmakers. He was listed as the fifth most influential director of all time by ''MovieMaker''. Below are some of the people who were directly influenced by Ford, or greatly admired his work:

Ingmar Bergman - Said of Ford, "the best director in the world." Peter Bogdanovich Frank Capra - Referred to Ford as the "king of directors" Federico Fellini Jean-Luc Godard - Once compared the ending of ''The Searchers'' to "Ulysses being reunited with Telemachus" Howard Hawks Alfred Hitchcock - "A John Ford film was a visual gratification"

Lloyd Kaufman

Elia Kazan Akira Kurosawa - "I have respected John Ford from the beginning. Needless to say, I pay close attention to his productions, and I think I am influenced by them."

David Lean took inspiration from ''The Searchers'' for his film ''Lawrence of Arabia''

Sergio Leone

Satyajit Ray - "A hallmark is never easy to describe, but the nearest description of Ford's would be a combination of strength and simplicity. The nearest equivalent I can think of is a musical one: middle-period Beethoven." Jean Renoir - After seeing ''The Informer'', he reportedly told George Seaton: "I learned so much today ... I learned how to not move my camera." Martin Scorsese Steven Spielberg François Truffaut Orson Welles - When asked to name the directors who most appealed to him, he replied: "I like the old masters, by which I mean John Ford, John Ford and John Ford." Wim Wenders

Filmography

See also

List of film collaborations

Notes

References

Lindsay Anderson, ''Never Apologise: The Collected Writings'', London: Plexus, 2004. Republication of "Meeting in Dublin with John Ford: ''The Quiet Man''", ''Sequence'' 14, 1952.

Lindsay Anderson, ''About John Ford'', London: Plexus, 1981, 1999 edition.

Peter Bogdanovich, ''John Ford'', Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967, revised 1978.

Peter Cowie, ''John Ford and the American West'', New York: Harry Abrams Inc., 2004.

Serge Daney, "John Ford", in Dictionnaire du cinéma, Paris, Éditions universitaires, 1966, ripubblicato in Serge Daney, ''La Maison cinéma et le monde'', 1. Le Temps des Cahiers, 1962–1982, Paris: P.O.L., 2001.

Toni D'Angela, ''John Ford. Un pensiero per immagini'', Milano, Edizioni Unicopli, 2010.

Scott Eyman, ''Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford'', New York, 1999.

Dan Ford, ''The Unquiet Man: The Life of John Ford'', London: Kimber. 1982 (1979).

Tag Gallagher. ''John Ford: The Man and His Films''. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.

«La furia umana», n. 3, 2010, Special about John Ford, texts (in French, Italian, English, Portuguese) by Julio Bressane, Paul Vecchiali, Raymond Bellour, Art Redding, Toni D'Angela, Juan Gorostidi Munguia, Tag Gallagher, Joseph McBride, Jacques Aumont, John Zorn, Barry Gifford, Giulio Giorello, Alberto Abruzzese, Eva Truffaut and others; http://www.lafuriaumana.it/index.php?option=com_content&view;=category&id;=25&Itemid;=27

Jean Mitry, ''John Ford'', Paris, 1954.

Joseph McBride, ''Searching for John Ford: A Life'', New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001.

Pippin, Robert B. ''Hollywood Westerns and American Myth: The Importance of Howard Hawks and John Ford for Political Philosophy'' (Yale University Press, 2010) 208 pp.

Patrice Rollet and Nicolás Saada, ''John Ford'', Paris: Editions de l'Etoile/Cahiers du cinéma, 1990.

Andrew Sinclair, ''John Ford'', New York: Dial Press/J. Wade, 1979.

«Trafic», n. 56, 2005.

External links

''La furia umana'' n ° 3, winter 2010, special about John Ford, texts (in French, Italian, English, Portuguese) by Julio Bressane, Paul Vecchiali, Raymond Bellour, Art Redding, Toni D'Angela, Juan Gorostidi Munguia, Tag Gallagher, Joseph McBride, Jacques Aumont, John Zorn, Barry Gifford, Giulio Giorello, Alberto Abruzzese, Eva Truffaut and others; on www.lafuriaumana.it

Ford biography - at Yahoo! Movies

''"Ford Till '47"'' - by Tag Gallagher - at SensesofCinema.com

''"John Ford"'' - by Richard Franklin - at SensesofCinema.com

Ford biography (with film poster illustration) - at ReelClassics.com

Biography of Rear Admiral John Ford; U.S. Naval Reserve - at Naval Historical Center

''"Oral History - Battle of Midway:Recollections of Commander John Ford"'' - at Naval Historical Center

John Ford Bibliography - at Film.Virtual-History.com

''"John Ford"'' - at TheyShootPictures.com

John Ford papers at the Lilly Library, Indiana University Bloomington

John Ford document collection - at the Edmonton Public Library

Talk on Ford in Portland, Maine, by Michael C. Connolly and Kevin Stoehr, editors of ''John Ford in Focus''

Ford's Depth by Miguel Marías

The Eloquence of Gesture by Shigehiko Hasumi

Lost John Ford movie unearthed in New Zealand, The Guardian, 7 June 2010

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name	Gail Russell
birth name	Elizabeth L. Russell
birth date	September 21, 1924
birth place	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
death date
death place	Brentwood, California, U.S.
occupation	Actress
years active	1943–1961
spouse	Guy Madison (1949–1954) (divorced) }}

Gail Russell (September 21, 1924 – August 26, 1961) was an American film and television actress.

Career

She was born Elizabeth L. Russell to George and Gladys (Barnet) Russell in Chicago, Illinois, and then moved to the Los Angeles, California, area when she was a teenager. Russell's extraordinary beauty brought her to the attention of Paramount Pictures in 1942. Although she was almost clinically shy and had no acting experience, Paramount had great expectations for her and employed an acting coach to work with her.

At the age of 19 she appeared in her first film, ''Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour'' (1943). Russell appeared in several more films in the early and mid 1940s, the most notable being ''The Uninvited'' (1944) with Ray Milland and ''Our Hearts Were Young and Gay'' (1944), in which she co-starred with Diana Lynn. Russell later appeared in the more popular films ''Calcutta'' (1947) with Alan Ladd and the two with John Wayne, ''Angel and the Badman'' (1947) and ''Wake of the Red Witch'' (1948).

Later career and personal life

She continued working after 1947, and married actor Guy Madison in 1949, but by 1950 it was well known that she had become a victim of alcoholism, and Paramount did not renew her contract. She started drinking on the set of ''The Uninvited'' to ease her paralyzing stage fright and lack of self-confidence. Alcohol made a shambles of her career and personal life. She was divorced by Madison in 1954 and, after a five-year absence, returned to work in a co-starring role with Randolph Scott in the western ''Seven Men from Now'' (1956), produced by her friend Wayne, and had a substantial role in ''The Tattered Dress'' (1957).

On July 5, 1957, she was photographed by a ''Los Angeles Times'' photographer after she drove her convertible into the front of Jan's coffee shop at 8424 Beverly Blvd. Russell was driving under the influence.

She appeared in two more films after that but was not able to control her addiction, and on August 26, 1961, Russell was found dead in her apartment in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, at the age of 36. She died from liver damage attributed to alcohol. She was found to have been suffering from malnutrition at the time of her death. She was buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California.

Filmography

Film
! Year	! Film	! Role	! Notes
1943	''Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour''	Virginia Lowry	Alternative title: ''Henry Gets Glamour''
		Barbara (at 17)
	Stella Meredith
''Our Hearts Were Young and Gay''	Cornelia Otis Skinner
	''Salty O'Rourke''	Barbara Brooks
	Elizabeth Howard
	''Our Hearts Were Growing Up''	Cornelia Otis Skinner
''The Bachelor's Daughters''	Eileen	Alternative title: ''Bachelor Girls''
	''Angel and the Badman''	Penelope Worth	Alternative title: ''Angel and the Outlaw''
''Calcutta''	Virginia Moore
		Gilly Johnson
''Night Has a Thousand Eyes''	Jean Courtland
''Wake of the Red Witch''	Angelique Desaix
	''Song of India''	Princess Tara
''El Paso''	Susan Jeffers
''The Great Dan Patch''	Cissy Lathrop	Alternative title: ''Ride a Reckless Mile''
	''Captain China''	Kim Mitchell
''The Lawless''	Sunny Garcia	Alternative title: ''The Dividing Line''
1951		Janet Page	Alternative title: ''Jet Men of the Air''
1956	''Seven Men from Now''	Annie Greer
1957	''The Tattered Dress''	Carol Morrow
1958	''No Place to Land''	Lynn Dillon	Alternative title: ''Man Mad''
1961	''The Silent Call''	Flore Brancato
Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
1956	''Studio 57''		1 episode
		Cassandra	1 episode
	Mrs. Clarke	1 episode

References

External links

Category:Actors from Chicago, Illinois Category:Alcohol-related deaths in California Category:American film actors Category:American television actors Category:Burials at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery Category:People from Chicago, Illinois Category:1924 births Category:1961 deaths

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