John Wayne-Early Life

John Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison on May 26, 1907 in Winterset, Iowa. His middle name was soon change afterwards to Michael because his parents decided to name their next son Robert.

John Wayne's father, Clyde Leonard Morrison, was of Irish, Scot-Irish, and English decent. Clyde is the son of American Civil War Veteran, Marion Mitchell Morrison (1845-1915).

John Wayne's mother, Mary Alberta Brown, was from Lancaster, Nebraska.

John Wayne's family moved to Palmsdale, California. In 1911, they moved to Glendale, California.

It was at this time John got this nick name, Duke. On his way to school, he past a firestation. One of the fireman started to call him 'Little Duke' because John never went anywhere without his Airedale Terrier dog named Duke. John preferred the name 'Duke' to 'Marion' so the name Duke stuck with him for the rest of his life.

As a teen, John worked in an ice cream shop for a man, who shod horses for Hollywood studios. He was also an active member of a youth organization associated with the freemasons called the 'Order of De Molay'. John went to Wilson Middle School, played football for Glendale High School. He applied at the U.S. Naval Academy but wasn't accepted. Instead John attended the University of Southern California. He majored in pre-law. He was a member of the Trojan Knight, Sigma Chi fraternities, and the USC football team.

John sustained an injury bodysurfing at the 'Wedge' at the tip of Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach. The injury caused him to loose his athletic scholarship. Without the funds, he had to leave the university.

The silent western star, Tom Mix, had gotten John a summer job in the prop department in exchange for football tickets. Later, John moved on to little parts in films, leading him into a friendship with John Ford. John Ford provided most of Wayne's roles. John appeared in 'Brown Of Harvard' (1926), 'The Dropkick' (1927), 'Salute' (1929), and 'Maker Of Men' (1931).

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I put this section here for people who came from the tribute page I have up on my main website, "Midnight Angel's Place". Home will take you back to the tribute page of John Wayne on my main website. The other links will take you to the other segments about John Wayne.

Home

John Wayne-Film Career

John Wayne-Personal Life

John Wayne-Politics

John Wayne-Military Conterversy

John Wayne-Death

John Wayne-Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom

Winds Of The Wasteland-This is a movie John Wayne starred in.

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People's Describing John Wayne

     "I liked Wayne's wholeness, his style. As for his politics,-well-I suppose even cave men felt a little admiration for the dinosaurs that were trying to gobble them up."    

Abbie Hoffman, a radical of the 1960's

     "Wayne is, of course, marvelously indestructible, and has become an almost perfect father figure."

Vincent Canby, reviewing 'The Cowboys' for the New York Times

     "He would become a 'superpatriot' for the rest of his live trying to atone for staying home."

Pilar Wayne, John Wayne's third wife

     "It is important for you to know that I am a registered Democrat and, to my knowledge, share none of the political views espoused by Duke. However, whether he is ill disposed or healthy, John Wayne is far beyond the normal because of his talents as an actor, his strength as a leader, his warmth as a human being throughout his illustrious career, he is entitled to a unique spot in our hearts and minds. In this industry, we often judge people, sometimes unfairly, by asking whether they have paid their dues. John Wayne has paid his dues over and over, and I'm proud to consider him a friend, and am very much in favor of my Government recognizing in some important fashion the contribution that Mr. Wayne has made."

Robert Aldrich, then president of the Directors Guild Of America, testifying to Congress of the merit and deservedness of the Congressional Gold Medal for John Wayne

Tribute to John Wayne

The song on the video is 'Big Bad John' sung by James Dean. This video was put together by TheFantaC, who did the video as a tribute to John Wayne's 100th birthday.

These words aren't the original words to 'Big Bad John' by Jimmy Dean. This is a different version of lyrics sang to the same tune as 'Big Bad John'. It was a tribute to John Wayne.

John Wayne in Wake of the Red Witch (1948).

Born: Marion Robert Morrison
May 26, 1907
Winterset, Iowa
Died: June 11, 1979 (aged 72)
Los Angeles, CA
Links:

John Wayne Official Website
Wikipedia-John Wayne
John Wayne Tribute Website
Biography: John Wayne

Three of my favorite movies starring John Wayne were
'The Searchers', 'Cowboys', and 'The Green Berets'. These three movies had me shouting hooray during a victory part of the movies. I cried during the death scene of John Wayne in 'Cowboys'. I was in tears at the end of 'The Green Berets' when John Wayne told the little Vietnamese boy of the
death of the boy's mentor.

The Ballad Of Danny Bailey

The clips in this video are from various old movies and TV series to the song 'The Ballad of Danny Bailey' sung by Elton John.

This video was put together by g2no2000

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Living Colour

Living Colour was formed in 1983 by Vernon Reid, a guitarist. Living Colour grew out of the Block Rock Coalition (A non-profit organization found by Reid and others for black musicians interested in playing rock music). Reid is British born but has been a long time resident of New York.




Reid assembled a number of bands under the name of Living Colour from 1983-1986. Alex Mosley, Jerome Harris, Carl James, Greg Carter, Pheeran Aklaff, J.T. Lewis, Gere Allen, D.K. Dyson, Mark Ledford were some of the early members of Living Colour. Reid would occassionally sing lead in the band. The Band's sound was different back then before their major recordings.



In 1986, Living Colour consisted of Vocalist Corey Glover, bassist Muzz Skillings, drummer Will Calhoun, and Reid. Living Colour became experienced in touring, did performances at the seminal club CBGB. Mick Jagger aided Living Colour in producing demo. Afterward, Living Colour scored a record deal with Epic Records and release their first album 'Vivid' in 1988. 'Vivid' hit #6 on the Billboard 200. The album gathered a increase of sales when MTV began playing the video to 'Cult Of Personality.



On April 1, 1989, Living Colour performed on 'Saturday Night Live' (NBC). Four months later, Living Colour gained an increase in exposure as an opening act for groups like Guns N' Roses, and the Rolling Stones.



In 1992, Skillings left the group due to creative differences. Skillings was replaced by Doug Wimbish.



In 1993, Living Colour released their third album 'Stain'. The album revealed an emotionally darker and personal side of the group. The album reached #26 in the U.S.



In January of 1995, Living colour disbanded after failing to settle on a common music goal for their fourth album. Following the break up, each individual band members released a variety of solo efforts.



Living Colour Between 2000-Present

• Living Colour reformed on December 22, 2000 at a gig called 'Head Fake w/special guests' at the CBGB.


• In 2003, Living Colour released another record 'Collideoscope'. 'Collideoscope' didn't make it on the charts though the album was highly praised.


• In 2005, Sony released 'Live From CBGB', a live album recorded on December 19, 1989 at the legendary CBGB. Sony later released a 'best of' compilation 'Everything Is Possible: The Very Best Of Living Colour'.


• In August 2006, Glover took the role of Judas in tour of 'Jesus Christ Superstar'.


• On September 22, 2006, Skillings joined the band for the first time in 14 years.


• On December 12, 2006, Living Colour performed a week long tour in Europe.


• In May of 2007, Living Colour released their first live DVD, 'On Stage At World Cafe Live'.


• On July 11, 2008, Living Colur played at the 1980's hard rock-theme, Rocklahoma, in Pryor, Okalahoma.


• In Augst of 2008, Living Colour in a tribute to Harlem called BRC Band of Gypsys. Skillings performed with them.


• On October 25, 2008, MVD Audio and CBGB's records released 'CBGB OMFUG MASTERS: August 19 2005 The Bowery Collection. It was collection of songs from the Saved CBGB's benefit show.


• On November 25, 2008, Inakustik and MVD released 'The Paris Concert'. 'The Paris Concert' is a DVD recorded at New Morning, in Paris, France, during Living Colour's Summer 2007 European Tour.


• Currently, the band is writing and recording songs for their new album 'Chair in the Doorway'. The album will be released between mid to late 2009.

Acclaim and Legacy

• Living Colour's biggest hit, 'Cult of Personality', is part of the repertoire of radio songs at Radio X in 'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'.


• Professional wrestler, CM Punk, uses 'Cult of Personality' as his theme song.


• The 'Cult of Personality' was the very first song to be confirmed for the tracklist of 'Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock'. The band had to re-record the song for the game because sony never responded to Guitar Hero's reguest for a license. Living Colour was happy to re-record the song because they were admittedly fans of the gane and it allowed Living Colour to issue the master use license directly.

Awards

• 1989 - Best New Artist ("Cult of Personality")


• 1990 - Best Hard Rock Performance ("Cult of Personality")


• 1991 - Best Hard Rock Performance (Time's Up)

Leverage

'Leverage' is a new drama series that premiered in 2008 on TNT. Director/Executive Producer Dean Devlin's production company (Electric Television) produces the show.



'Leverage is about a team of thieves, computer experts, and cons led by a former insurance investigator, Nate Ford. Nate Ford uses the thieves skills to right corporate wrongs and governmental injustices visited on the little people.



In the summer of 2009, 'Leverage' will be going into a second season. The team will be in Portland, Oregon instead of Los Angeles (due to their headquarters being destroyed in the episode before the season finally).



The Main Cast:

• Timothy Hutton plays Nate Ford, a former insurance fraud investigator for the IYS Insurance. Nate Ford is also the leader of the Leverage team.


• Gina Bellman plays Sophie Devereaux. As an actress she sucks but in a con her acting is great. Nate Ford calls her "the best actress you've everseen...when she is breaking the law.".


• Christian Kane plays Eliot Spencer a highly skilled martial artist, weapons and retrieval expert.


• Beth Riesgraf plays Parker, a thief, cat burglar, and explosive expert.


• Aldis Hodge plays Alec Hardison, a computer/internet specialist, hacker, and gadget guy.

Notable Guest Stars:

• Saul Rubinek played Victer Dubenich in the pilot episode.


• David S. Lee (Get Smart) played Serbian arms dealer, Nicolas Obiovic, in 'The Stork Job'.


• Jeremy Roenick (forward for the San Jose Sharks of the NHL) played a security guard in 'The Mile High Job'.


• Sara Rue (Gypsy 83) also played in 'The Mile High Job'.


• In the episode 'The Juror #6 Job', Brent Spinner (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Armin Shimerman (Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and Lauren Holly (NCIS) guest starred.

Leverage-Cult Of Personality

When I heard the song 'Cult Of Personality', I thought of the TV show 'Leverage' so I put together a music video. This is what I came up with.