Synopses & Reviews
John Wayne was one of Hollywoodand#8217;s most famous and most successful actors, but he was more than that. He became a symbol of America itself. He epitomized the Western film, which for many people epitomized America. He identified with conservative political causes from the early 1930s to his death in 1979, making him a hero to one generation of Americans and a villain to another. But unlike fellow actor Ronald Reagan, Wayne had no interest in politics as a career. Like many stars, he altered his life story, claiming to have become an actor almost by accident when in fact he had studied drama and aspired to act for most of his youth. He married three times, all to Latina women, and conducted a lengthy affair with Marlene Dietrich, as unlikely a romantic partner as one could imagine for the Duke. Wayne projected dignity, integrity, and strength in all his films, even when his characters were flawed, and whatever character he played was always prepared to confront injustice in his own way. More than thirty years after his death, he remains the standard by which male stars are judged and an actor whose morally unambiguous films continue to attract sizeable audiences.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Scott Eyman interviewed Wayne, as well as many family members, and he has drawn on previously unpublished reminiscences from friends and associates of the Duke in this biography, as well as documents from his production company that shed light on Wayneand#8217;s business affairs. He traces Wayne from his childhood to his stardom in andlt;I andgt;Stagecoachandlt;/Iandgt; and dozens of films after that. Eyman perceptively analyzes Wayneand#8217;s relationship with John Ford, the director with whom heand#8217;s most associated and who made some of Wayneand#8217;s greatest films, among them andlt;I andgt;She Wore a Yellow Ribbonandlt;/Iandgt;, andlt;I andgt;The Quiet Manandlt;/Iandgt;, and andlt;I andgt;The Searchersandlt;/Iandgt;. His evaluation of Wayne himself is shrewd: a skilled actor who was reluctant to step outside his comfort zone. Wayne was self-aware; he once said, and#8220;Iand#8217;ve played the kind of man Iand#8217;d like to have been.and#8221; Itand#8217;s that man and the real John Wayne who are brilliantly profiled in Scott Eymanand#8217;s insightful biography of a true American legend.
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and#8220;Scott Eyman has taken a legend and a statue and given us an odd, decent, muddled but deeply likeable man. Thatand#8217;s what makes this book so readable and so touching.and#8221;
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and#8220;Drawing deeply on interviews with family and friends, acclaimed biographer Eyman colorfully chronicles Wayneand#8217;s life and work. . . . Compulsively readable.and#8221;
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"A fine show-biz biography, delivering what fans want about the starand#8217;s career but probing with uncommon depth into his personality.and#8221;
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and#8220;[An] authoritative and enormously engaging new biography. . . . [Eyman] takes you through Wayneand#8217;s life, his death and his legend in a detailed, remarkably knowledgeable yet extremely readable way.and#8221;
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and#8220;A spirited portrait of John Wayne and the Hollywood he worked in. . . . Traces his transition from the eager, boyish roles he played in early movies to confident leading man.and#8221;
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and#8220;We all think we know John Wayne, in part because he seemed to be playing himself in movie after movie. Yet as Eyman carefully lays out, and#8216;John Wayneand#8217; was an invention, a persona created layer by layer by an ambitious young actor.and#8221;
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and#8220;[A] splendid biography of Hollywoodand#8217;s most enduring movie star. . . . Eyman offers perceptive views of Wayneand#8217;s many films and a wagonand#8217;s worth of revealing and entertaining anecdotes. If you think you know John Wayne, youand#8217;ll know him even better as a movie star and#8212; and appreciate him even more as a personand#8212;after reading andlt;iandgt;John Wayne: The Life and Legend.and#8221;andlt;/iandgt;
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and#8220;Eymanand#8217;s take is . . . eye-opening and astute, bolstered by access to the archives of Wayneand#8217;s production company and a host of interview sources, and the fine way he utilizes oral histories and other research materials.and#8221;
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and#8220;Eyman . . . does an expert job in nailing Wayne's enduring appeal: On screen and off, he presented a man of action, confidence, self-determination and, sometimes, compassion.and#8221;
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and#8220;A comprehensive and compelling examination of The Duke. . . . Insightful, exhaustive and engrossingand#8212;a definitive portrait of the man and the legend.and#8221;
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and#8220;[Written] with deep research, clear, strong prose and unfailing good humor. The great strength of andlt;a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/scott-eyman/" itxtNodeId="615" itxtHarvested="0"andgt;Mr. Eymanandlt;/aandgt;and#8217;s book derives from the strength of its subject.and#8220;
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and#8220;No Wayne biography until now has ridden the defile between the reverential and the tendentious with quite the graceful equilibrium of this one. . . . Eyman gets at the details that the bean-counters and myth-spinners miss. . . . Wayne's intimates have told Eyman things here that they've never told anyone else.and#8221;
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and#8220;Deeply researched and totally absorbing.and#8221;
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and#8220;One of the greatest movie star biographies ever written.and#8221;
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and#8220;In comprehensive detail, this new biography chronicles a great star at work. . . . Like a cinematographer, Mr. Eyman offers readers Wayne from many angles, in his own words and the words of those who worked with him. . . . An engrossing record of how the Duke stayed top dog for so long.and#8220;
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and#8220;Eymanand#8217;s exhaustively informative biography is, in essence, a tribute. One ends it liking Duke a lot more.and#8221;
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and#8220;[An] exemplary biography. . . . Eyman appears to have had broad access to Wayneand#8217;s business and family life, and the result is a book with a compelling claim to being definitive.and#8221;
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"Full of historical detail and fan facts, andlt;Iandgt;John Wayneandlt;/Iandgt; tracks shy andlt;a href="http://www.sfgate.com/?controllerName=searchandamp;action=searchandamp;channel=booksandamp;search=1andamp;inlineLink=1andamp;query=%22Marion+Robert+Morrison%22" nodeIndex="1"andgt;Marion Robert Morrisonandlt;/aandgt;'s path to the screen hero who got scant credit for his own craft in creating the John Wayne that rallied audiences."
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and#8220;It would be hard to find a more complete picture of a public figureand#8217;s life and legend than Eyman gives us of the Duke.and#8221;
Synopsis
Drawing on interviews that author Scott Eyman conducted with John Wayne before his death and more than 100 interviews with the actorand#8217;s family, co-stars, and close associates, this revelatory biography shows how both the facts and fictions about Wayne illuminate his singular life.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;John Wayne died more than thirty years ago, but he remains one of the five favorite movie stars of contemporary audiences. Yet, there has never been a comprehensive biography worthy of the man as well as the star. Until now.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;The beloved Hollywood icon comes fully to life in this complex portrait by a master biographer whose skillful prose has been hailed as and#8220;outstandingand#8221; and and#8220;compulsive readingand#8221; by reviewers from andlt;Iandgt;The New York Timesandlt;/Iandgt; to andlt;Iandgt;The Hollywood Reporterandlt;/Iandgt;.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;The Washington Post Book Worldandlt;/Iandgt; called Scott Eyman and#8220;one of the most distinguished and reliable of popular film historians.and#8221; In Eymanand#8217;s hands, this enduring symbol of American grit gets the biography he deserves.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Exploring Wayneand#8217;s early life with a difficult mother and a feckless father, Eyman makes startling connections to his later days as an anti-Communist conservative, his stormy marriages to Latina women, and his notoriousand#8212;and surprisingly long-livedand#8212;extra-marital affair with Marlene Dietrich.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;In addition to his interviews with those who knew Wayne bestand#8212;many of whom had never spoken on the record beforeand#8212;Eyman draws on the actorand#8217;s own business records to weave a rich tapestry of American cultural history: the story of a man who went from college football to romantic lead on the silver screen, and who ultimately became the dominantand#8212;and often domineeringand#8212;symbol of his country at mid-century, the quintessential American male against which all other screen heroes are compared.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;Through it all, the author provides a nuanced and sympathetic portrait that is as charming, compelling, and complicated as the Duke himself.
About the Author
Scott Eyman has written thirteen books, including biographies of Hollywood legends such as John Wayne (a andlt;iandgt;New York Timesandlt;/iandgt; bestseller), Ernst Lubitsch, Cecil B. DeMille, and Louis B. Mayer. He also collaborated with Robert Wagner on two books. He has written for andlt;iandgt;The New York Times, The Washington Post,andlt;/iandgt; and andlt;iandgt;The Wall Street Journalandlt;/iandgt;. He was formerly books editor of andlt;iandgt;The Palm Beach Post.andlt;/iandgt; He lives with his wife, Lynn, in West Palm Beach. Follow@ScottEyman1.