John Wayne

If anyone has parodied his stage name as an “American Wayne of Life,” there’s a reason. John Wayne was the longest-serving spokesman for American cinema, with 250 films made in a 50-year career. Mancino devotes a wide-ranging artistic biography to this world-famous actor, who was little loved by left-wing intellectuals and the Academy (he won only one Oscar, in 1969), which is at the same time a grandiose fresco of 20th-century America, with its contradictions and fears. Such a career makes the detailed filmography that concludes the volume all the more valuable.
– Forty years after his death (1979) and beyond the ideals he embodied in life and on screen, Wayne remains a legend of world cinema. – Expertly and thoroughly researched, this account of an exceptional acting career will delight not only film buffs but all readers interested in twentieth-century American culture.