John Wayne: The Life and Legend
Apr 2014 · Simon and Schuster
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About this ebook
The New York Times bestselling biography of John Wayne: “authoritative and enormously engaging…Eyman takes you through Wayne’s life, his death, and his legend in a detailed, remarkably knowledgeable yet extremely readable way” (Peter Bogdanovich, The New York Times Book Review).
John Wayne died more than thirty years ago, but he remains one of today’s five favorite movie stars. The celebrated Hollywood icon comes fully to life in this complex portrait by noted film historian and master biographer Scott Eyman.
Exploring Wayne’s early life with a difficult mother and a feckless father, “Eyman gets at the details that the bean-counters and myth-spinners miss…Wayne’s intimates have told things here that they’ve never told anyone else” (Los Angeles Times). Eyman makes startling connections to Wayne’s later days as an anti-Communist conservative, his stormy marriages to Latina women, and his notorious—and surprisingly long-lived—passionate affair with Marlene Dietrich. He also draws on the actor’s own business records and, of course, his storied film career.
“We all think we know John Wayne, in part because he seemed to be playing himself in movie after movie. Yet as Eyman carefully lays out, ‘John Wayne’ was an invention, a persona created layer by layer by an ambitious young actor” (The Washington Post). This is the most nuanced and sympathetic portrait available of the man who became a symbol of his country at mid-century, a cultural icon and quintessential American male against whom other screen heroes are still compared.
John Wayne died more than thirty years ago, but he remains one of today’s five favorite movie stars. The celebrated Hollywood icon comes fully to life in this complex portrait by noted film historian and master biographer Scott Eyman.
Exploring Wayne’s early life with a difficult mother and a feckless father, “Eyman gets at the details that the bean-counters and myth-spinners miss…Wayne’s intimates have told things here that they’ve never told anyone else” (Los Angeles Times). Eyman makes startling connections to Wayne’s later days as an anti-Communist conservative, his stormy marriages to Latina women, and his notorious—and surprisingly long-lived—passionate affair with Marlene Dietrich. He also draws on the actor’s own business records and, of course, his storied film career.
“We all think we know John Wayne, in part because he seemed to be playing himself in movie after movie. Yet as Eyman carefully lays out, ‘John Wayne’ was an invention, a persona created layer by layer by an ambitious young actor” (The Washington Post). This is the most nuanced and sympathetic portrait available of the man who became a symbol of his country at mid-century, a cultural icon and quintessential American male against whom other screen heroes are still compared.
Ratings and reviews
4.0
45 reviews
Cheryl P.
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June 9, 2019
Thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was very well researched. The author is obviously a fan, but he still manages to present his subject in all his flawed glory. I thought I loved John Wayne before I read this book, but this book made me love him even more! John Wayne was so much more than a talented actor. He was a force of nature, a true American patriot, but above all, an exceptionally kind and generous human being. He certainly wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but his flaws actually endeared him even more to me. I highly recommend this book because it delves into so much of his personal life while at the same time maintaining a high focus on his extraordinary and storied Hollywood career. The glimpses into the golden age of Hollywood were some of my favorite parts and I was particularly impressed with how beloved Duke was to so many of his contemporaries, even those on the opposite political spectrum.
Ian Paternoster
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December 18, 2018
One of the best biography's written about John Wayne. It includes every film he was seen in, even uncredited roles. His ups and downs, and the legend that he became.
1 person found this review helpful
L.M Slugaj
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April 25, 2014
Great great read 4 fan of the movies greatest Legend any John Wayne fan will love this book and those who are not
About the author
Scott Eyman was formerly the literary critic at The Palm Beach Post and is the author or coauthor of sixteen books, including the bestseller John Wayne and Pieces of My Heart and You Must Remember This with actor Robert Wagner. Eyman also writes book reviews for The Wall Street Journal, and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune. He and his wife, Lynn, live in West Palm Beach.
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