First Ever Article on John Wayne the Movie Actor

Yesterday, while we were adding some trivia nuggets to our John Wayne Trivia Page, we read that the first article written about John Wayne, the actor, not the football star, appeared in the December issue of Photoplay in 1930.  Today, we tracked down that article and we are presenting it here. 

The cover of Photoplay in December 1930
John Wayne pops up on page 45…easier to read photo is the next photo.

The Big Trail had a nice two page poster in the Photoplay issue.

So if this was the first article on John Wayne the movie actor….I wonder what number we are on now?  Could there have been a million John Wayne articles in the last 88 years?

(Visited 1 times)

24 thoughts on “First Ever Article on John Wayne the Movie Actor

  1. he got the part because of the “john wayne walk” after the ankle injury. thank God for football. thank the Duke he didn’t go Hollywood. I like him playing himself movie after movie.

    1. Hey bob cox…..Wayne breaking that ankle changed lots of history. I always viewed Wayne’s 9 year B movie stint……as the way he defined the role he would play for 40 years…..it was like his college for acting. Good feedback as always.

      1. bruce, i agree about Wayne’s learning to act. I hope they bring back b movies. then there might be hope to help future generations learn to act instead of mostly flexing muscles, wearing less or more(as in super hero costumes) . they may already exist in made for tv shows/movies and indies. where our bruce willis, clint eastwood, will smith, robin Williams, tom hanks, eddie murphy, jon belushi, bill murray, joseph Gordon-levitt and so many others learned the trade.

        1. Hey bob cox…I think movies are now called direct to home entertainment movies……this is where actors like Nicolas Cage, Bruce Willis, John Cusack, Christian Slater and Danny Trejo now live. Good points about them learning their trade. As always your visit, your thoughts and comment are greatly appreciated.

  2. Interesting that hair cutting would be the focus of the first article on John Wayne as an actor. Fan magazines have focused on all sorts of personal aspects of actors’ lives. Actors do have to change their appearances all the time to fit their roles. Rare find. Thanks for sharing it. Beautiful magazine cover.

    1. Hey Flora….good point about his hair and what the angles magazine work. I figured you would enjoy Kay Francis being on the cover. Glad you lliked this page…..it was something different.

  3. I like this. I am curious about the cover of the magazine. It says “The Fifty Men Who Rule The Movies”. Kind you list those 50? I loved when Premiere did their annual “Power” list. Seeing the titans in 1930 could be interesting?

    1. Hey Steve….here you go.

      Joe Brandt
      Hiram S. Brown
      Charlie Chaplin
      Harvey Clarke
      RH Cochrane
      Harry Cohn
      Cecil B. DeMille
      William C. DeMille
      Ned Depinet
      Walt Disney
      George Eastman
      Claude Ezell
      Douglas Fairbanks
      Felix Feist
      William Fox
      Samuel Goldwyn
      James R. Grainger
      Earle Hammonds
      Will Hays
      William Randolph Hearst
      Howard Hughes
      Dr. Herbert T. Kalmus
      Sam Katz
      Joseph P. Kennedy
      Sidney R. Kent
      Carl Laemmle Sr.
      Carl Laemmle Jr.
      Jesse L. Lasky
      William LeBaron
      Al Lichtman
      Harold Lloyd
      Louis B. Mayer
      Sam E. Morris
      Conrad Nagel
      J.E. Otterson
      S.L. Rothafel
      David Sarfnoff
      Joseph Schenck
      Nicolas M. Schenck
      Joseph I. Schnitzer
      B.P. Schulberg
      Mack Sennett
      Winfield Sheehan
      Herman Starr
      Irving Thalberg
      Walter Wanger
      Albert Warner
      H.M. Warner
      J.L. Warner
      Adolph Zukor

      1. Thank you for first turn around. Fascinating list. Heard of about 75% of these people. Surprised Mary Pickford got left off list.

        1. Hey Steve….you are welcome….I think Pickford was indeed one of the Top 50……it was just another day back then….they probably did not even think about her……but she was very very powerful in 1930.

  4. Thanks for sharing this wonderful Wayne find. I remember seeing a copy of this magazine article from another huge Wayne fan. Good to know that it can now be easily found and read. Thanks again.

    1. Hey Duke Fan….That sounds awesome to have the actual article….88 years old….can’t imagine the magazine has held up too well. Good stuff.

  5. Who would have guessed John Wayne’s hair would have been the first article on John Wayne? Good job putting this together.

    1. Hey SteinHoF16…..I think Wayne was best known for his long flowing hair…..so I did not find the subject of his first movie article unusual at all…lol. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.