Often described as a Super Patriot by many who agreed, or also disagreed with him, John Wayne was hardly a close-minded type who wrapped himself in the flag and refused to listen to opposing points of view. As long as someone wasn’t trying to shut down the opposition, he was all in favor of letting everyone voice their opinion on the issues confronting us as a country.

No one needed to tell John Wayne to cowboy up. It was the role he was born to play. Of the many characters he portrayed in a career that spanned 50 years and an astounding 175 films, arguably none are more beloved as those he rode to stardom in some of the most iconic classic Westerns of all-time. Colonels, lawmen, gunslingers, men of shaky reputation — Duke could do it all. And practically did, defining the American cowboy.

CULTURAL ICON

Some people simply transcend culture. But Wayne wasn’t just someone. He was The Duke, commanding the attention of film audiences for five decades in which his star never dimmed. On-screen, while playing sports stars and leading men, he carved out the quintessential models for the American cowboy and American fighting man. Off-screen, Duke was an outdoorsman, a family man, and a patriot.