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Dickinson became a household name when she co-starred with John Wayne. – My Blog

In her long and celebrated career, the North Dakota-born actress stood toe-to-toe on screen with the biggest leading men of the day — names like Frank Sinatra, Lee Marvin, Marlon Brando, Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Rock Hudson. But her first splash was perhaps her biggest. Dickinson became a marquee name when she co-starred with John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan and Ricky Nelson in Howard Hawks’ 1959 Western classic, Rio Bravo.

Dickinson will be on hand Thursday at the Austin Film Society’s annual Texas Film Hall of Fame Award induction ceremony at the ACL Live’s Moody Theater to accept the Star of Texas award on behalf of gambling of the film.As “Feathers,” the traveling lady who excites John Wayne’s attention (in more ways than one), Dickinson excelled in a role that called for her to face down the Duke — the biggest star in the world at that point — with a subtle combination of flirtation, comedy, romance and resolve.
A tall order for a woman who’d only been in the business for four years at that point. Dickinson continued to act on film and television (where her mid-70s hit series Police Woman was the first hour-long drama to star a female lead) for the next half-century.CultureMap spoke with the actress about her early roles, her future projects and the women she’s watching now.
CM: You were in town last April to screen Rio Bravo at the Paramount Theater as part of TCM’s “Road To Hollywood” series. Are you looking forward to coming back?AD: It’s a terrific night. And I did not realize that it was such a beautiful town. I don’t know what I expected, maybe Dallas. Not that there’s anything wrong with Dallas. But when I flew in, I said, oh my God, this is a gorgeous town. I’ve got a couple of great friends there and they just love it. It’s a great university town, too.

CM: Why does Rio Bravo hold up so well these many years later?: AD: Number One, John Wayne. It’s one of the roles where he is so different, in that he’s, how can we say, adorable? He’s not defending the fort, so to speak. I think it’s a side of him we didn’t see in a lot of his movies. He’s enjoying this young woman. And while he’s enchanted with her, he’s also adorable with Walter Brennan. And he’s charming and loving with Dean Martin, and with Ricky Nelson. So we see a warmth and a cuteness about him that we don’t see in many of his other movies.
CM: One also doesn’t always see a John Wayne movie where he confronts a strong female character. How did you two create that rapport?AD: Oh, it was in the writing. The writing is not only underrated but ignored in this movie, because it looks so natural. You forget those words were all written (by Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett). It was romantic. Billy Wilder called Rio Bravo a suspense movie, but the suspense was also there in the romance.
CM: In life and in your characters, there was a big age difference between you and Wayne. Was it hard to convey that onscreen romance credibly?AD: No, it never entered my mind. It just didn’t occur to any of us. I think it was a maturity that we all had, that what was most important. The age didn’t matter because we were all mature people. I was never an ingénue.

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‘Black movie queen’ Maureen O’Hara – a close colleague of John Wayne passed away in front of the audience’s mourning. – My Blog

The star of the movie “Miracle on 34th Street”, a familiar co-star of actor John Wayne, has passed away due to old age and weakness. Maureen O’Hara, an Irish star, was once known as “the queen of movies. color”, died at his home in Boise, Idaho, USA, on October 24, at the age of 95.


The information was confirmed by Johnny Nicoletti, her long-time manager. “She passed away in the loving arms of her family, as well as on the soundtrack of the movie The Quiet Man that she loved so much,” one Maureen O’Hara’s relatives shared.

During her illustrious career, O’Hara had five times played the screen lover of actor John Wayne. She appeared in many classic Hollywood films, such as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), How Green Was My Valley (1941), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), Rio Grande (1950), The Quiet Man (1952). , Our Man in Havana (1959) and The Parent Trap (1961).

However, she never received an Oscar nomination. A year before Maureen O’Hara’s death, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to present her with an honorary Oscar for her service to Hollywood.

During the 1940s, when color film began to flourish, Maureen O’Hara appeared in a series of compelling works such as To the Shores of Tripoli (1942), The Black Swan (1942), The Spanish Main (1945). and The Quiet Man.

Possessing fair skin, red hair, as well as green eyes, she “shines like the sun on a silver screen,” as the New York Times described it. It was Dr. Herbert Kalmus, the inventor of color film, who gave Maureen O’Hara the nickname “color film queen”.

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The reason why John Wayne is labeled ‘Draft Dodger’ in Wor ւ ԁ War II . – My Blog

When actor John Wayne visited American soldiers in Vietnam in the summer of 1966, he was warmly welcomed. As he spoke to groups and individuals, he was presented gifts and letters from American and South Vietnamese troops alike. This was not the case during his USO tours in 1942 and ’43.According to author Garry Wills’ 1998 book, “John Wayne’ America: the Politics of Celebrity,” the actor received a chorus of boos when he walked onto the USO stages in Australia and the Pacific Islands. Those audiences were filled with combat veterans. Wayne, in his mid-30s, was not one of them.


Around the time the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Wayne was not the big-name actor we remember him being today. He was fresh off the box-office success of the 1939 film “Stagecoach.”Being drafted or enlisting was going to have a serious impact on his rising star. Depending on how long the ԝаr lasted, Wayne reportedly worried he might be too old to be a leading man when he came home.

Other actors, both well-established and rising in fame, rushed off to do their part. Clark Gable joined the Army Air Forces and, despite the studios’ efforts to get him into a motion picture unit, served as an aerial ɡսոոеr over Europe. Jimmy Stewart was initially ineligible for the draft, given his low weight, but like some amazing version of Captain America, he drank beer until he qualified.In his 2014 book, “American Titan: Searching for John Wayne,” author Marc Eliot alleges Wayne was having an affair with actress Marlene Dietrich. He says the possibility of losing this relationship was the real reason Wayne didn’t want to go to ԝаr.

But even Dietrich would do her part, smuggling Jewish people out of Europe, entertaining troops on the front lines (she crossed into Germany alongside Gen. George S. Patton) and maybe even being an operative for the Office of Strategic Services.Wayne never enlisted and even filed for a 3-A draft deferment, which meant that if the sole provider for a family of four were drafted, it would cause his family undue hardship. The closest he would ever come to Worւԁ Wаr II service would be portraying the actions of others on the silver screen.

With his leading man competition fighting the ԝаr and out of the way, Wayne became Hollywood’s top leading man. During the ԝаr, Wayne starred in a number of western films as well as Worւԁ Wаr II movies, including 1942’s “Flying Tigers” and 1944’s “The Fighting Seabees.” According to Eliot, Wayne told friends the best thing he could do for the ԝаr was make movies to support the troops. Eventually, the government agreed.

At one point during the ԝаr, the need for more men in uniform caused the U.S. military brass to change Wayne’s draft status to 1-A, fit for duty. But Hollywood studios intervened on his behalf, arguing that the actor’s star power was a boon for ԝаrtime propaganda and the morale of the troops. He was given a special 2-A status, which back then meant he was deferred in “support of national interest.”The decision not to serve or to avoid it entirely (depending on how you look at the actor) haunted Wayne for the rest of his life. His third wife, Pilar Wayne, says he became a “super-patriot for the rest of his life trying to atone for staying at home.”

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John Wayne Wanted to Make His Home Alarm a Hilarious Tape Recording of His Voice: ‘I See You, You Son of a B****’

John Wayne Wanted to Make His Home Alarm a Hilarious Tape Recording of His Voice: ‘I See You, You Son of a B****’

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