John Wayne: The Life and Legend
This is a fine biography of two men: Marion “Duke” Morrison, the jock who wound up working on a movie lot and eventually stepped hesitantly in front of the camera, and John Wayne, Morrison’s alter ego, the movie star who bore only a passing resemblance to Morrison himself. A studio chief gave Morrison, then a young, mostly unknown actor, his new name, and over the next several decades, Morrison built a persona around it; but, as the author points out, he never legally changed his name, never really thought of himself as John Wayne. Eyman tracks Morrison’s life and Wayne’s career, showing how one impacted the other (Morrison became a better actor as he became comfortable with the Wayne mannerisms and performance style). The book nicely balances the personal and the professional and offers us an opportunity to get to know the man who stood, not in John Wayne’s shadow (not that, by any means) but sort of beside him. A fine show-biz biography, delivering what fans want about the star’s career but probing with uncommon depth into his personality. --David Pitt