John Wayne is a major Hollywood name who might just have shaped the industry for the better. Most of his roles embodied the image of a typical Western cowboy and he did a pretty good job portraying one. His impact on the acting community was so immense that even after decades of his passing, he was declared one of the greatest male stars of the Hollywood industry.
John Wayne had such a protagonistic personality in real life beyond the industry that most of his movie roles came off as completely natural when he was acting in front of a camera. In fact, he became so influential in the American space that several attempts on his life were made that involved the KGB.
John Wayne Had the KGB Gunning for Him
John Wayne was leading the perfect Hollywood life, starring in multiple blockbuster movies either as the Western cowboy or as a soldier in war movies. He flourished during Hollywood’s Golden Age and made a huge name for himself within the industry. Wayne had everything, from receiving endless love, money, and respect, to receiving death threats and multiple assassination attempts from one of the most organized foreign intelligence and domestic agency of the then-Soviet Union.
Although the agency was brought down, it caused quite an uproar in both USA and Europe and carried out countless secret missions under the command of the former Premier of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin. John Wayne was one of the many targets of Stalin due to his anti-communist stances and was targeted in multiple instances, but every one of those attempts resulted in the utter failure of the KGB and packed a punch to Stalin’s reputation as a Premier. Apart from this Wayne led a very successful life and at the age of 72 he passed away due to stomach cancer.
John Wayne – A Career Retrospective
John Wayne started out quite early, during his teenage years, and could only gather so much recognition that it earned him a leading role couple of decades later, only to be a massive box office failure. From then on, Wayne was only scripted in low-budget movies and slowly made his way up the ladder to the posh Hollywood community and did not have to look back ever again. He was one of the most sought-after actors during his time and never had to suffer another box-office failure as his movies were always on top of the list.
Wayne received his second chance to stardom almost a decade later through Stagecoach and did not mess up such an opportunity provided to him. Although he was not the lead actor in the movie, it was a huge success and it potentially paved the way for John Wayne to become a mainstream actor. After his death, Wayne was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor of the United States which will most probably be the biggest success of his life, courtesy of his Hollywood career.
Source: Collider
