Page 10-Wednesday, June 13, 1979-The Michigan Daily
The Duke:
"I figure legends are people who aren't around. Hell, I'm
no legend. I'm here and I'm planning on staying around for
a while longer."
-Actor John Wayne, during a 1970 interview
From the Associated Press
John Wayne, the hero of 200 movies
during a career spanning 50 years, and
one of Hollywood's biggest box-office
stars, lost his battle with cancer Mon-
day at the age of 72.
On his way to becoming a legend,
Wayne came to represent an American
ideal: The plain-talking man of action,
quick with his hands or his gun, always
incorruptible and on the side of the
right.
IN WASHINGTON, President Carter
said Wayne was "the symbol of many of
the most basic qualities that made
America great.
"The ruggedness, the tough indepen-
dence, the sense of personal conviction
and courage-on and off the
screen-reflected the best of our
national character."
Former President Richard Nixon
said the actor was "true grit on and off
the screen."
"THE ROLES HE played and the life
he lived will inspire Americans for
generations to come," Nixon said from
his seaside compound in San Clemente,
several miles south of Wayne's
Newport Beach home.
Dozens of the countless Wayne fans
called their condolences to the UCLA
Medical Center, where he had been
hospitalized for the past five weeks. His
seven children and a number of his
grandchildren were at his side when the
end came at 5:35 p.m. (PDT) Monday.
Wayne's family announced his
funeral would be private and asked that
instead of flowers, mourners send con-
tributions to a cancer fund being set up
in Wayne's name at UCLA.
MANY OF THE tributes to Wayne
noted his battle against cancer, a fight
that: was symbolic of his life - both on
the screen and off.
Wayne had been battling the disease
since he underwent surgery in 1964 for
removal of a lung. Last January, he
was admitted to the UCLA Medical
Center where cancer was discovered in
his stomach. That cancer was removed
but doctors announced last month that
more cancer cells had been found in
Wayne's intestines.
Actor James Stewart, reached at a
Paris air show, said, "John Wayne was
probably the most admired actor in the
world. His passing marks a great loss
for his family, for the film industry and
for the entire world.
"I PERSONALLY, grieve because I
have lost a good friend. I will miss
him," added Stewart, who co-starred
with Wayne in several films, including
Wayne's last, The Shootist, in 1976.
Ironically, in that film, Stewart played
a doctor who diagnosed terminal can-
cer in the aging gunfighter, Wayne.
Jack Valenti, president of the Motion
Picture Association of America, said,
"The Duke is dead, which means the
tallest tree in the movie forest has just
been felled. There won't ever be anyone
like him. God, we will miss him."
-AP photos
"HOLLYWOOD HAD ONLY one king-Clark Gable. And now that he and
Gary Cooper are gone, I'm just a lonely cowboy, nothing more," Wayne said
in 1961.
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JOHN WAYNE MADE a brief speech at the 1968 Republican National Con-
vention in Miami. "There's a lot of yella bastards in the country who would
like to call patriotism old-fashioned," Wayne said during an interview in
1969. Nine years earlier, he had summed up his political views this way: "I
r,,n't e, to answer-any.man's.questions. All I'm for is the liberty of the-in.
dividual", .... ...