American Titan: Searching for John Wayne

Summary

From the veteran New York Times bestsellingbiographer comes a major, in-depth look at one of the most enduring Americanicons of all time, “the Duke,” John Wayne

As he did in his bestselling biographies of JimmyStewart and Clint Eastwood, acclaimed Hollywood biographer Marc Eliot digs deepbeneath the myth in this revealing look at the most legendary Western film heroof all time, the man with the distinctive voice, walk, and demeanor who was aninspiration to many and a symbol of American masculinity, power, andpatriotism.

Eliot pays tribute to the man and the myth,identifying and analyzing the many interesting contradictions that made JohnWayne who he was: an Academy Award–winning actor associated with cowboys andsoldiers who didn’t like horses and never served in a war; a Republican iconwho voted for Democrats Roosevelt and Truman; a white man often accused ofracism who married three Mexican wives. Here are stories of the movies he madefamous as well as numerous friends and legendary colleagues such as John Ford,Maureen O’Hara, Natalie Wood, and Dean Martin.

A top box-office draw for more than threedecades—starring in 142 films from Stagecoach and True Grit, forwhich he won the Oscar, to The Quiet Man and The Green Berets—JohnWayne’s life and career paralleled nearly the entire twentieth century, fromthe Depression through World War II to the upheavals of the 1960s. Setting hislife within the sweeping political and social transformations that defined thenation, Eliot’s masterful portrait of the man they called Duke is a remarkablein depth look at a life and the “American Century” itself.