1969: John Wayne, in his Oscar winning performance as Rooster Cogburn, in scene from the movie 'True Grit' directed by Henry Hathaway in 1969. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
circa 1955: Studio headshot portrait of American actor John Wayne smiling in front of a red background, dressed in Western garb, with his head turned to the side. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - CIRCA 1926: John Wayne, offensive lineman of the University of Southern California Trojans football team poses for a photo at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by University of Southern California/Collegiate Images via Getty Images)
(Original Caption) 06/28/1933-Los Angeles, CA-: John Wayne, motion picture actor, and his bride, the former Miss Josephine Saenz, daughter of Dr. Jose Saenz, Panamanian Counsul in Los Angeles, are shown here soon after their marriage at the home of screen star Loretta Young in Los Angeles. Wayne's real name is Marion Morrison and he played football at the University of Southern California until he made his movie debut.
1951: EXCLUSIVE American actor John Wayne (1907 - 1979) smiles with his second wife Esperanza Bauer while attending a party for American comedian Red Skelton's television debut, Hollywood, California. They both hold cigarettes. She wears a fur shawl over a satin evening dress. (Photo by M. Garrett/Murray Garrett/Getty Images)
1941: John Wayne (1907 - 1979) and Frances Dee star as Lynn Hollister and Sabra Cameron in 'A Man Betrayed' (aka 'Citadel of Crime' or 'Wheel of Fortune'), directed by John H Auer for Republic Pictures Corporation. (Photo via John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images)
1941: John Wayne (1907 - 1979) and Frances Dee star as Lynn Hollister and Sabra Cameron in 'A Man Betrayed' (aka 'Citadel of Crime' or 'Wheel of Fortune'), directed by John H Auer for Republic Pictures Corporation. (Photo via John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images)
Actor John Wayne and Director John Ford sit and talk while on location for the film The Horse Soldiers. (Photo by �� John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
View of the audience, seated in rows and listening during a demolition class, in England, 1944. Office of Strategic Services photo. (Photo by Interim Archives/Getty Images)
American actor John Wayne and British actress Anna Lee on the set of Flying Tigers, directed by David Miller. (Photo by Republic Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
American film director John Ford (1894 - 1973) in uniform as a Rear Admiral in the United States Naval Reserve, circa, 1957. (Photo by Pictorial Parade/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
George Bancroft (1882-1956), US actor, John Wayne (1907-1979), US actor, and Louise Platt (1915-2003), US actress, riding a horse-drawn carriage in a publicity still issued for the film, 'Stagecoach', 1939. The Western, directed by John Ford (1894-1973), starred Bancroft as 'Marshal Curly Wilcox', Wayne as 'The Ringo Kid', and Platt as 'Lucy Mallory'. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
American actor John Wayne (1907 - 1979) as Cole Thorton on the set of the western movie 'El Dorado', based on the novel by Harry Brown and directed by Howard Hawks, 1966. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
(Original Caption) American actors John Wayne (L), as U.S. General Randolph, and Kirk Douglas, as US Colonel David Marcus, with helmets and military uniforms during a pause of film "Cast a Giant Shadow" at Cinecitta movie town today.
(Original Caption) 11/05/1968-Des Moines, IA- Participants in a Students for a Democratic Society-sponsored demonstration display signs protesting the general election as a "hoax" and calling for peace in Vietnam. The demonstration was staged on the steps of the Iowa capitol building after a three-mile march under police supervision.
JOHN WAYNE: On this day in 1931 John Wayne was dropped by Fox Film Studios. Film-actor John Wayne. John Wayne is back at war with the Indians. The battleground this time is a road stretching 30 miles through the desert south of Phoenix, Arizona in the USA which the county wants to name after the actor who owned a ranch on a section of Highway 347 until his death in 1979. But Indian leaders will not agree. Upset by the portrayal of American Indians in Wayne's films as less than civilised and aware that even in reality, Wayne was no great friend, having made racist comments in an infamous interview in Playboy interview in 1971, they do not want him associated with their reservation. PA Photo. See PA story US Wayne. **Available black and white only.** (Photo by PA Images via Getty Images)
ROME ITALY - CIRCA 1966: John Wayne on the set of "Cast a Giant Shadow" directed by Melville Shavelson circa 1966 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
John Wayne (1907 - 1979), US actor wearing a tan leather waistcoat, a pink shirt and a white neckerchief, in a studio portrait, against a light blue background, circa 1970. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
American actor John Wayne (1907 - 1979), circa 1960. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
(Original Caption) 9/29/1960-Hollywood, CA-: John Wayne holds his daughter, Aissa, on the set of "The Alamo."
1942: American actor John Wayne sitting on a chair and reading a Prince Valiant comic with his four children, Hollywood, California. From left: Patrick, Melinda, Toni, and Michael. Patrick and Melinda are leaning on their father, while the other two children listen from a desk and the floor. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Portrait of American actor John Wayne (1907 - 1979), a cigarette in one hand, as he relaxes, feet up on the arm of a couch, 1950s. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
