John Wayne He is one of the most important actors in the history of cinema, mainly for his invaluable contribution to western films. For its part, Indiana Jones He is one of the most mythical characters that the seventh art has given us. However, one would never link the two, but the truth is that they have a curious thing in common that very few know.
“It's short, strong and direct”
Something that I am clear that many Indiana Jones fans know is that the origin of his name is from a dog, and on top of that, doubly so: George Lucas He named him that in honor of a dog of his, and then the character of Sean Connery In 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' he reveals that his son's nickname also had the same origin. Well, something similar happens in the case of John Wayne.
The truth is that John Wayne's real name was Marion Michael Morrisonbut it was as a child when he acquired the nickname El Duque by which he was later also known as an actor. The protagonist of such unforgettable titles as 'Desert Centaurs' or 'Rio Bravo' explained it this way in an interview he gave in May 1971:
It's something that goes back to my childhood. They called me Duke after a dog, a very good Airedale terrier from the Baldwin kennel. Republic Pictures gave me a credit on one of the first films and called me Michael Burn. In another, they called me Duke Morrison. Then they decided that Duke Morrison didn't have enough prestige. My real name, Marion Michael Morrison, didn't sound American enough to them. So they came up with John Wayne, I didn't have anything to say about it, but I think he's a great name. It is short, strong and direct. Although it took me a long time to get used to it. I still don't recognize it when someone calls me John.
In one fell swoop he solved the mystery about his name as an actor and the nickname that still persists almost 50 years after his death. Of course, Wayne did not have the opportunity to see 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' or to find out that he shared something so nice with his protagonist, since he died in 1979 and the excellent adventure film starring Harrison Ford It didn't hit theaters until two years later.
In Espinof | “It's the most un-American thing I've ever seen in my entire life.” John Wayne hated this Western so much that he made one of the best Western Movies in history to refute it.
In Espinof | The best western in history according to John Wayne. The Duke chose his favorite western film two years before he died and it is one in which he himself starred
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