John Wayne was born ‘Marion Robert Morrison on 26th May 1907 in Winterset, Iowa. His middle name was later changed to Michael, when his parents decided to call their next son Robert. John's family moved to Palmdale and then to Glendale, California in 1911. A local fireman at the firehouse on his route to school in Glendale started calling John "Little Duke", because he never went anywhere without his huge Airedale Terrier dog, Duke. He preferred "Duke" to "Marion" and the name remained with him throughout his life and career. John did well both academically and in sport and went to USC on a football scholarship in 1925-27. Getting himself a summer job as a ‘Prop man’ he became friends with John Ford for whom he undertook small parts. His first feature film was ‘Men without women’ in 1930 and this was followed by a succession of more than seventy low budget westerns and adventures. It was the 1939 movie ‘Stagecoach’ which made him a star and gave him the break he was waiting for. The Duke became ever more popular and worked with numerous leading ladies and co stars. His acting continued throughout the war with a number of propaganda films including ‘Flying Tigers’ and ‘The Fighting Seabees.’ The Duke was developing his ‘All action Hero’ image and critics were taking note. A big man, he had great presence and showed all the characteristics of the what the public expected of a hero, decisiveness, confidence, virility and strength. Indeed, critics emphasized over and over again the manner in which he represented a particular kind of "American Spirit." As a box-office superstar he had his choice of roles but he chose to remain with the genre he knew best. As the years passed his only concession to age was the gradual elimination of romance from the roles he played. He went from wooing leading ladies such as Marlene Dietrich and Gail Russell to more mature roles as an older brother (The Sons of Katie Elder, 1965), and an avuncular marshal (Rio Lobo, 1970). He was the recipient of many awards during his career, including an Oscar for his role as the hard-drinking, one-eyed, tough law man in True Grit (1969) and an Academy Award nomination for his playing of the career marine in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949). In 1969, The Duke made a movie for Hal Wallis, True Grit, which won him the Oscar he long sought. He played a U. S. Marshal by the name of Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. John Wayne went on to make a further eleven films, although he was plagued by various illnesses during the last few years of his life. He had had two major operations for cancer and thought he’d beat the disease, publicly announcing the same in 1964 Ironically, The Dukes last film was ‘The Shootist’ in which he played an aging gunfighter, J B Brooks, diagnosed with cancer. Even in this film of a certain end, The Duke wins the gunfight kills all three of those with old scores to settle. It is only a cowardly bar keeper who shoots Brooks with a shotgun. John Wayne's enduring status as an iconic American was formally recognized by the United States Congress on May 26, 1979 when he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Hollywood figures and American leaders from across the political spectrum, including Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Katharine Hepburn, General and Mrs. Omar Bradley, Gregory Peck, Robert Stack, James Arness, and Kirk Douglas, testified to Congress of the merit and deservedness of this award, most notably Robert Aldrich, then president of the Directors Guild of America, who stated, "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 political sharp shooting in this community. Because of his courage, his dignity, his integrity, and 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." It was only a matter of months later that The Duke died, on 11th June 1979. He requested his tombstone read "Feo, Fuerte y Formal", a Spanish epitaph meaning "ugly, strong and serious". His grave however, remained unmarked for twenty years, is now marked with a quotation from his controversial 1971 Playboy interview: "Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday."