John Wayne was an American actor, director and producer. Famous for his roles in Western films, he was among the top box office draws for three decades.
Wayne’s first leading role was in Raoul Walsh’s Western The Big Trail (1930). He became a mainstream star with John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939). He starred in a total of 142 motion pictures including Red River (1948), The Quiet Man (1952), The Searchers (1956), Rio Bravo (1959), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), The Longest Day (1962), and True Grit (1969). For True Grit, he received the Academy Award for Best Actor.
On June 9, 1980, Wayne was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter. In 1985, the John Wayne Cancer Foundation was founded in his honour. John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California is named after him. A nine-foot-tall bronze statue of him stands at the entrance of the airport. In 1999, the American Film Institute listed Wayne as the 13th Greatest Male Screen Legends of Classic Hollywood cinema.