April 7, 1970
John Wayne won his first, and only, Oscar for his role in True Grit.
"Wayne appeared in some 150 movies over the course of his long and storied career. He established his tough, rugged, uniquely American screen persona most vividly in the many acclaimed films he made for the directors John Ford and Howard Hawks from the late 1940s into the early 1960s. He earned his first Oscar nomination, in the Best Actor category, for
Sands of Iwo Jima (1949).
The Alamo (1960), which Wayne produced, directed and starred in, earned a Best Picture nomination.
Wayne’s Oscar for
True Grit at the 42nd annual Academy Awards in 1970 was generally considered to be a largely sentimental win, and a long-overdue reward for one of Hollywood’s most enduring performers. The Academy had failed to even nominate Wayne for any of his most celebrated performances, in films such as
Stagecoach (1939),
Red River (1948),
The Quiet Man (1952),
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and especially Ford’s
The Searchers (1956), considered by many to be the greatest Western ever made. In
True Grit, Wayne played a drunken, foul-tempered but endearing U.S. marshal named Rooster Cogburn, who becomes an unlikely hero when he helps a young girl avenge the murder of her father. He would reprise the role in the film’s sequel,
Rooster Cogburn (1975), opposite Katharine Hepburn."
Wayne was my grandfathers favorite actor, and his idol. He collected all but 4 of his movies and has over 120 "lobby cards" from his movies as well. He sent letters to all of the living co-stars of Wayne's movies and asked them to send autographed photos for a scrapbook. In total, he got back over 300...............including Frank Sinatra, Maureen O'Hara, Jimmy Stewart, Shirley Temple, Dean Martin, and Katharine Hepburn. Wayne's son came to visit my grandfather to see his collection. Upon his passing, my grandfather gave his collection to me.
RIP John Wayne........
