The Originals: John Wayne

The Originals: John Wayne

When it comes to tough, All-American men, the term has no better definition than John Wayne, the man who is the very image of the cowboy, a man a major world leader wanted dead at one point, and another wanted to meet as the embodiment of his enemy. All this, and so much more, makes "The Duke" a true Original.

Born Marion Morrison on May 26, 1907, in Winterset, Iowa, the icon would soon find himself in the state that would be his home the rest of his days when the family moved west, first to Lancaster, and then Glendale, both in California. Here, Marion would pick up the nickaname that would follow him forever, and he got it from his big Airedale dog, Duke. The Glendale firefighters would call Marion "Little Duke," and, since he liked that name better, that's what he was called from then on.

Following a high school career marked with academic and athletic success, he received a scholarship to USC to play football under legendary coach Howard Jones. However, a bodysurfing accident left him unable to play football, and the man who had military-issue paper towels named after him since they were "rough and tough and took (expletive deleted) off no one" never told his coach the true reason, afraid of Jones' reaction.

Having lost his scholarship, he had to find other ways to pay his tuition. Luckily, he had an in, as during his playing days, he gave Western film icon Tom Mix football tickets in exchange for a job at Fox Film Corporation, in the prop department, at a whopping $75 a week. From there, he had the great fortune to meet a man who would make him a legend.

Budding director John Ford and Morrison struck up a friendship that would greatly benefit both men, and Ford starting getting him some bit parts in movies, finally getting the young actor into a lead role in 1930's "The Big Trail." But Marion Morrison didn't have a good ring to the studio's ears. He needed a new name, and two of the bigwigs decided Morrison need not be included in the decision.