Duke / Assessing John Wayne's true grit on his centennial: "When we talk about John Wayne -- whose 100th birthday is Saturday -- we are talking about a lot of things. We're talking about an actor. We're talking about movies. We're talking about an era. We're also talking about an idea -- specifically an American idea about itself that was appealing to so many people that Wayne remains unquestionably the most enduringly popular screen actor in the history of the medium.
That may surprise today's moviegoers. Was Wayne really more popular than Chaplin? Or Humphrey Bogart? Or Bette Davis? Or Marilyn Monroe? Think of the great male stars of his generation and other names come to mind more readily: Clark Gable, Cary Grant, James Stewart. And yet it's Wayne who racked up the numbers: Between 1949 and 1974, Wayne made the top 10 list of box office stars 25 times. He topped that list four times.
The significance of that can't be overstated. Think of what America was like in 1949. Then think of what it was like in 1974. Think of the changes in music, styles and social mores. Think also of the changes in movies, from 'On the Town' to 'Chinatown.' And then think how, across that span, Wayne remained one of the top 10 people that other people wanted to see. That's longevity of epic proportions."
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