Yesterday, while we were adding some trivia nuggets to our John Wayne Trivia Page, we read that the first article written about John Wayne, the actor, not the football star, appeared in the December issue of Photoplay in 1930. Today, we tracked down that article and we are presenting it here.
So if this was the first article on John Wayne the movie actor….I wonder what number we are on now? Could there have been a million John Wayne articles in the last 88 years?
he got the part because of the “john wayne walk” after the ankle injury. thank God for football. thank the Duke he didn’t go Hollywood. I like him playing himself movie after movie.
Hey bob cox…..Wayne breaking that ankle changed lots of history. I always viewed Wayne’s 9 year B movie stint……as the way he defined the role he would play for 40 years…..it was like his college for acting. Good feedback as always.
bruce, i agree about Wayne’s learning to act. I hope they bring back b movies. then there might be hope to help future generations learn to act instead of mostly flexing muscles, wearing less or more(as in super hero costumes) . they may already exist in made for tv shows/movies and indies. where our bruce willis, clint eastwood, will smith, robin Williams, tom hanks, eddie murphy, jon belushi, bill murray, joseph Gordon-levitt and so many others learned the trade.
Hey bob cox…I think movies are now called direct to home entertainment movies……this is where actors like Nicolas Cage, Bruce Willis, John Cusack, Christian Slater and Danny Trejo now live. Good points about them learning their trade. As always your visit, your thoughts and comment are greatly appreciated.
Interesting that hair cutting would be the focus of the first article on John Wayne as an actor. Fan magazines have focused on all sorts of personal aspects of actors’ lives. Actors do have to change their appearances all the time to fit their roles. Rare find. Thanks for sharing it. Beautiful magazine cover.
Hey Flora….good point about his hair and what the angles magazine work. I figured you would enjoy Kay Francis being on the cover. Glad you lliked this page…..it was something different.
I like this. I am curious about the cover of the magazine. It says “The Fifty Men Who Rule The Movies”. Kind you list those 50? I loved when Premiere did their annual “Power” list. Seeing the titans in 1930 could be interesting?
Hey Steve….here you go.
Joe Brandt
Hiram S. Brown
Charlie Chaplin
Harvey Clarke
RH Cochrane
Harry Cohn
Cecil B. DeMille
William C. DeMille
Ned Depinet
Walt Disney
George Eastman
Claude Ezell
Douglas Fairbanks
Felix Feist
William Fox
Samuel Goldwyn
James R. Grainger
Earle Hammonds
Will Hays
William Randolph Hearst
Howard Hughes
Dr. Herbert T. Kalmus
Sam Katz
Joseph P. Kennedy
Sidney R. Kent
Carl Laemmle Sr.
Carl Laemmle Jr.
Jesse L. Lasky
William LeBaron
Al Lichtman
Harold Lloyd
Louis B. Mayer
Sam E. Morris
Conrad Nagel
J.E. Otterson
S.L. Rothafel
David Sarfnoff
Joseph Schenck
Nicolas M. Schenck
Joseph I. Schnitzer
B.P. Schulberg
Mack Sennett
Winfield Sheehan
Herman Starr
Irving Thalberg
Walter Wanger
Albert Warner
H.M. Warner
J.L. Warner
Adolph Zukor
Thank you for first turn around. Fascinating list. Heard of about 75% of these people. Surprised Mary Pickford got left off list.
Hey Steve….you are welcome….I think Pickford was indeed one of the Top 50……it was just another day back then….they probably did not even think about her……but she was very very powerful in 1930.
Thanks for sharing this wonderful Wayne find. I remember seeing a copy of this magazine article from another huge Wayne fan. Good to know that it can now be easily found and read. Thanks again.
Hey Duke Fan….That sounds awesome to have the actual article….88 years old….can’t imagine the magazine has held up too well. Good stuff.
Who would have guessed John Wayne’s hair would have been the first article on John Wayne? Good job putting this together.
Hey SteinHoF16…..I think Wayne was best known for his long flowing hair…..so I did not find the subject of his first movie article unusual at all…lol. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.