John Wayne: The Life and Legend

Scott Eyman

Apr 2014 · Simon and Schuster

About this eBook

The New York Times–bestselling biography: an “authoritative and enormously engaging” narrative of the Hollywood icon’s life and career (Peter Bogdanovich, The New York Times Book Review).

One of the biggest stars of Hollywood’s Golden Era, John Wayne remains one of today’s most instantly recognizable actors. In this lively and intimate biography, noted film historian Scott Eyman offers the most complete and nuanced portrait of the man behind such iconic roles as Rooster Cogburn, Davy Crockett, The Ringo Kid, and so many others.

“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” This biography reveals how Wayne became the symbol of his country at mid-century, and the quintessential American male against whom other screen heroes are still compared (The Washington Post).

Going beyond Wayne’s storied film career, Eyman delves his stormy marriages, his notorious—and surprisingly long-lived—affair with Marlene Dietrich, and his later days as an anti-Communist conservative. 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).

Ratings and reviews

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.

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.

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.