Trivia

1. John Wayne never served in the army. Director and friend John Ford was annoyed by that. While filming They Were Expendable (1945) he said: “Duke, can`t you manage a salute that at least looks like you`ve been in the service?” Wayne was so hurt and angry that he walked of the set for the first and last time of his life.
--Source: About John Ford, Page 226

2. In 1947 the McCarthyite witch hunts of the House Un-American Activities Committee were in full swing. John supported the House by testifying about the Red Menace in Hollywood. He was not only a so called friendly witness, but also founded the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals.
--Source: McCarthyism, The Great American Red Scare : A Documentary History, Page 297

3. John in an interview about Indians: “Our so called stealing of this country from them was just a matter of survival. There were great numbers of people who needed new land and the Indians were selfishly keeping it for themselves.”
--Source: John Wayne: A Bio-Bibliography, Page 43

4. Wayne after winning an Oscar for True Grit (1969): “If I’d known this was all it would take, I’d have put on that eye patch on forty years ago”.
--Source: The Academy Awards: The Complete Unofficial History, Page 177

John Wayne had a comic book published by Toby Press entitled John Wayne Adventure Comics. It ran 31 issues from 1949 thru 1955. The stories in this title were not all western, but also represented the war and adventure genres as well.
--Source: The Cowboy Hero: His Image in American History and Culture, Page 72

John has his handprints set in cement on Hollywood Boulevard (Hollywood, USA, in the forecourt of Grauman’s Chinese Theater).
Source / More (Web)

There is a rumor that Ex Soviet leader Joseph Stalin once declared that John Wayne, a vociferous anti-Communist, was a threat and should be assassinated.
--Source: John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth, Page 127

Wayne told a group of friends after a private screening of Midnight cowboy that he thought that actors Hoffman and Voight were great. A few days later he wondered: “Whoever thought I’d say good things about a movie featuring a gigolo, a homeless Italian dwarf, and gang rape”.
--Source: John Wayne: American, Page 574

Nancy Reagan (the wife of former USA president Ronald Reagan): ”Duke Wayne was the most gentle, tender person i ever knew“.
--Source: John Wayne: American, Page 533

The airport in Orange County, California was renamed shortly after his death to John Wayne Airport.

He holds the record for the actor with the most leading parts, 142

John has a star on Hollywood Boulevard (Vine street).It’s located two blocks south of Hollywood Boulevard.

Marion’s name was never legally changed to John Wayne.