Posted on 05/26/2010 12:27:36 PM PDT by devane617
John Wayne was born Marion Mitchell Morrison 103 years ago today in Winterset, Iowa. Any other information about the movie star’s life, career or beliefs can be obtained from Dave and Roberta Jenkins of Sun City. Enter the couple’s barber shop in El Mirage and you’ll see more than 160 pictures, drawings and posters on the walls. A life-size cardboard cutout of The Duke stands in the corner and other memorabilia is everywhere. No doubt about it, the couple are John Wayne fans. “We had one customer about 20-odd years ago who brought in two (pictures). He brought us in an 11-by-16 and an 8-by-10 and that started it. And people would come in and say, ‘Oh, you guys like John Wayne?’ And they’ve been bringing them in ever since,” Roberta said. “We’ve bought maybe half a dozen of the (items) ... but we have 160 pictures on the walls, we have all kinds of books and collections and knives and all kinds of things.” “People come in and they look around and pretty soon they come back in and say, ‘You haven’t got this one.’ And they bring it in,” Dave said. “Christmas time is the biggest time. We’ve got one guy who brings something every year at Christmas time.” Included in the collection is a blanket, statuettes, cigarette lighters, carvings, paintings, posters, books, belt buckles, bola ties, coffee mugs, calendars and seven clocks. Dave even visited the modest, four-room house where Wayne was born and raised. But, at home, the couple sticks to the basics. No pictures, no decorative plates, no John Wayne toilet paper (“It’s rough and tough and don’t take no crap off of nobody.”) At home, it’s all about the movies. They have more than 100 of the actor’s films. “We just keep it all here,” Roberta said. “We like the Western atmosphere. This is the West,” Dave added. Every cranny of the small shop has another piece of the collection, and a TV in the corner features any John Wayne movie being shown. “We’ve got the Western channel, and we like to watch that. If his movies are on TV, we’ll find them,” Dave said with a laugh. The exuberance for The Duke — who got his nickname as a boy from local firemen who watched him walk past the station with his airedale dog and called the pair “Big Duke” and “Little Duke” — is shared by customers, the Jenkinses said. “I did a guy about a week ago or so and he said ... he knew John Wayne’s grandson. And he said, “I’m going to tell him you have all this stuff and maybe he’ll come over and check it out,’” Roberta said. “Wouldn’t that be neat? That would be fun.” El Mirage resident Walter Jones, who was Dave’s “second or third customer,” and has been frequenting the shop for nearly 25 years, said he enjoys the ambiance created by the decorations. “I like it,” he said. “Who isn’t a John Wayne fan?” If and when the couple decides to close up the shop and retire, they said they will donate their collection to John Wayne’s son if he is interested in it. “If we found out he wanted it, we’d send it to him,” Roberta said. “He’s probably got it all already anyway.” For the Jenkinses, John Wayne represents more than a great actor and major movie star. He is someone to respect and admire. “I think a lot of people looked up to him as a hero, you could call it. He’s our favorite — I don’t have heroes. But a lot of people look up to him as a hero. I think he was a great man. He had some awful good ideas, which will never be used,” Dave said. Despite the extensive collection, the rewatched movies — the couple said they’ve seen more than 120 of the more than 150 films he made — and the appreciation for their favorite actor, Dave said he has one regret. “I never met him. They say he was a wonderful man and what you saw in person was just like him on the movie screen,” he said. “We’ll be watching his movies. We’re just happy to have had him.”
OUCH...My eyes!!!! Sorry about the format problem...
John Wayne was a cross dresser
Ok....I fart in the tub...
Big Jake is one of my favs.
R.I.P to a very good American...tough,strong and masculine...Everything a real woman could want in a man.:)
Why you hating on da Duke?
I like the Rappin’ Duke, too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8iouO9JRH0
So you think you’re bad, with your rap
Well I’ll tell ya pilgrim I started the crap
When you were in diapers and wetting the sheets
I was at the Ponderosa rapping to the beat
Rappin Duke “Duke Is Back” Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma8Fqo9-8VQ&NR=1
My favorite off screen story of the Duke:
He stopped by a bar for a drink while still in his western outfit. The band offered to play his favorite song but he declined saying, “No because some SOB won’t stand up for it and I’d have to hit him.”
I think he’s channeling some dialog from the movie “Repo Man”. One of the characters swears he went up to Wayne’s house and the Duke came to the door in a dress. IOW, just a joke.
It's been a long time since I watched Repo Man.
Mine too.
Also, when it came out when I was younger, I hated "True Grit." Now, every time I watch it, I get more enchanted with the verbiage. Hollywood does not write dialoge like that any more. The current stuff is crass and not eloquent.
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