The Tex Factor: My Dad, The Duke

foreign [Music] some of the earliest memories I have with my dad are just being at home or being out on our boat and playing games he loved cards and he taught me how to play gin rummy poker Solitaire backgammon and just really had that quality time together and just you know always wanted his kids around and every time we'd walk by him he'd need a hug or a kiss it was a rule and just a a wonderful wonderful childhood great dad we are in the Stockyards of Fort Worth at the John Wayne and American Experience exhibit it's a collection of memorabilia from my Dad's life personal life career personal photos correspondence surprises here and there and you really get to know the man behind the actor and his life work [Music] so here we have one of his Pontiac Grand Safari custom station wagons that he used to drive on a daily basis this was the one they had on the ranch but as you can see he was a tall guy but he had a long body short her legs and a long body and he liked to wear his hat so he had to have the roof raised to accommodate he loved going for drives he was a little bit of a crazy driver and and every time he'd come to a stoplight he'd be like whoa like it was a horse and he was really cute but there were there were seat belts but we didn't really wear them back then and by my house they have these s-curves and I think on purpose he'd take the s-curves he'd go one way and then the other one I'd slide one way and then slide the other way and he loved driving we we lived in Newport Beach California and he'd be like let's go get an Orange Julius he loved Orange Julius and they were down on the peninsula and you could take a little boat Ferry a car ferry across so we'd take the ferry and we'd go over to the Fun Zone and we'd play ski ball and we'd get orange julius ride the ferris wheel really great memories and that was our transportation [Music] so there's a picture of me right here getting in the car this was by where we kept our boat Lido yacht Anchorage and looks like I have a bag of candy or something and I've either just shut the door or I'm getting in but got in and out of this car many times [Music] I think we all had different experiences my older brothers and sisters obviously he was very young when they were born and he was working all the time and he was 59 when I was born and he was still working but it wasn't as much and so we got to spend a lot of time together he was able to take me to school watch me play tennis I was very lucky in the fact that I had probably more daily time with him but unfortunately I was very young when he passed [Music] oh [Music] I was on a few sets you know very young but he was professional he knew the way that he wanted the scene to go whether or not he agreed with the director you know there would be heated arguments and I just remember you know when I'm on set I need to stay in my place be in the background you know we can talk about we would talk about stuff later in the day but he was the ultimate professional as a father he was very involved he wanted us to be healthy and wanted us to respect our family just God country family other people he was very respectful of of anybody say please say thank you you know say pardon me really he gave respect and he commanded respect as well he was a Softee he was a teddy bear he was funny he had a great sense of humor I think a lot of people would be surprised you can't you just can't get it out in a paragraph or a few sentences how special and how unique he was mother I believe this is close to the night they met around that time and she was an actress in Peru and he was down there looking for film sets and they met and she pulled out her guitar and started playing and she was Latin and gorgeous and had this great she'd not only play the guitar she'd like [Music] bang on it and use it as a drum and and she played the castanets and so obviously she left an impression upon him they ran into each other a year later so she came up to Hollywood to do some post-production work on the film and he ran into her and he said I know you I remember you you're a pillar palette please have dinner with me and she agreed and before that dinner he sent her this beautiful 1954 Martin guitar and it sounds beautiful it's just a very rich sounding easy to play guitar [Music] this is a model of our boat the wild goose which is pictured behind he bought this it's a converted Minesweeper 136 feet long we have these wonderful home movies which you'll see there's my mom Myrna safdig so these are their friends and just you know life on the boat drinking coffee playing cards in the afternoon coming back after a long day of fishing taking a nap on the hickey and just you know really wonderful times before there were cell phones and everyone was checking their emails and Instagram and you really have time to connect and to enjoy the beautiful ocean the beautiful scenery and today still when I dream about him we're on the boat we had so much fun we'd go to Catalina on the weekends we'd go to Mexico in the Summers and we would meet her up in Seattle in the summertime and take her up the coast of British Columbia up into Alaska where that is a photo of me in the polar bear stuffed polar bear so lots of good times good memories fishing water skiing jumping diving off the top getting into trouble that I can't talk about on camera with my brother and I we'd still be grounded but just having so much fun [Applause] [Music] so it's very important to him to serve his country and he respected the military and the men that were out on the front lines and sacrificing for our freedoms and he wanted to make sure that he did his part so he did a lot of traveling Uso tours he just loved people he loved meeting people and he was very political one of his best friends was Ronald Reagan you see him pictured there with Ronald and Nancy and they were long life friends believe me that Wayne was very often at political Gatherings and so forth and most supportive of of me and I was very grateful to him for it and he was typical John Wayne when when things happened for or against he loved Reagan I don't think he had political aspirations people would ask him all the time and he would just be like ah it doesn't pay enough you know joking but I remember him calling Jimmy Carter and I remember him you know when Reagan was governor you know him having conversations I believe Nancy Reagan said they talk to each other every day so forth then and Prescott questions directed to him and regarding the campaign he was as strong as anyone could be he really has come to epitomize that American hero in a right true sense of that word hero yes it was deservedly so I believe he was so patriotic because he truly loved this country and he he was the American dream you work hard you can achieve whatever you want to if you put in the muscle behind it and this is a video of his spoken word America why I love her which is a tribute to the country that he loved and each poem is spoken and it's to music and we now have a series of little Duke books with these songs and it's just you know it's just it's his tribute to the country that he loves so much and he loved Texas he loved being in Texas my mother sister lived in Dallas so we would come here often and he had many friends here and you know obviously built the Alamo set out in Brackettville and he was awarded this beautiful bust a tribute to John Wayne from the people of Texas and here you can see more about the America why I love her grammy-nominated album here we have another one of my favorite quotations on the wall because he truly was a man of the people and as he's quoted saying when we all Tear Down the Walls of bigotry and Prejudice and live in real harmony with ourselves and others then we'll all say I am an American pure and simple and he loved people of all nationalities and he loved talking to everybody and he was so gracious and really interested in hearing the opinions of others even even if they disagreed with his you know he could have that conversation and I believe he wanted to truly learn how others viewed situations and convey how he did so that we could all become better and stronger as an American Nation and you know this these these quotations are really really important and really show you the man that he was I have always loved John Wayne everything from the western movies and the culture to more importantly what he stood for and the real life quotes that that I grew up on my parents raised me on westerns and they raised me on that culture and so just really seeing that and then bringing the person off the screen and just having such an incredible person to look up to and those values and morals and and patriotism and love for America and all of its people I think is something that we could all learn from we came here today because I have been to the John Wayne exhibit before and I'm in town for work and I actually wanted to bring my mom because she's never been and I wanted to come back and we thought we'd come check it out I've always loved history and I love working with veterans in my work and in my life it's one of my favorite things I get to do and so you kind of learn the figures that have also worked with veterans that also have a love for America that I also have a love for history and patriotism and growing up you know watching the films and then having that translate into realizing that oh this person has the same passions that I do and they have the same quotes that I live by and that I believe in um and it's really great when you can actually look up to your Heroes and go oh that's that's really truly actually someone I can look up to he embraced talking to every single person that he could and he really wanted to learn about you know how how you were raised how is your job going how's your day going what do you think about this country you know he was very open to having the the communication and the talking to work together to make the country a better place what I want might not be what you want but at least he was willing to come to the table and he loved the fact that we had the freedom in this country to do that and not be persecuted foreign [Music] music artist and I love the values that John Wayne upholds so much that I felt so much of his character was encapsulated into the word grit that I wrote a song about it foreign [Music] having good character and having good values and just even if the goings tough keep on going and that really truly all is encapsulated and you know you want to watch a John Wayne film that's exactly what you're going to see foreign [Music] I think a lot of people you know kind of want to bring back the hard work and work ethic piece of it and I think that that couldn't be better exemplified than John Wayne I think he was such a hard worker because he really came from a very simple means his childhood they were poor and he had to work if he wanted anything and when he got into high school he was in The Debate Club and the Glee Club and played football thank you Duke Morrison which was his name before it was changed to John Wayne and you see his life in high school and college he was very active in every aspect of sports he was a you know big guy strong guy and very athletic and loved the outdoors that's his college career and he worked as a prop man at the studios in the Summers and he still had his prop man Union card so we have that there was some interesting correspondence and photographs and then you look over on this side and his his first big movie was the big trail and his first wife Josephine signs here is a photo of them when they were young they have four children together and this is just a little bit about his youth his childhood and then as you come through you see another quotation by John Ford beautiful photograph he was so and you walk into this room which has photographs of a lot of his leading ladies Leading Men friends he was a Work Hard Play Hard kind of guy hi my brother Ethan just walked in so everybody this is John Ethan he was little Jake in Big Jake and he is responsible for this beautiful exhibit he and his team put it together and did a fabulous job so if you see him walking around tell them hi the team did it the team your team our team okay all right okay we have some interactive screens here you can press the button and it's different clips from different shows laughing Lucy and then here look at this photograph with all these Mega Stars it's his anniversary from the big trail to True Grit and I'm sure they devoured every bit of that cake because he had a sweet tooth so my family and I come here quite a bit because of the exhibit and I have a business in Dallas so I'm back and forth to Texas all the time but we come in May every year because May 26th is my dad's birthday and the state of Texas has declared it officially John Wayne day [Music] welcome Pilgrim [Music] we are celebrating John Wayne's 116th birthday we come here we have a party we have celebrations we have some birthday cake and we still are able to get together and celebrate my dad and we share that with his fans and friends that can come and join us and that's why we're here this week we have Patrick Wayne Ethan Wayne Marisa Wayne and Anita likovis Swift all here to meet and greet the fans of John Wayne We sample our Bourbon and our coffee and do some fun things here in the Stockyards [Applause] happy 116th birthday to my dad [Music] and then as you walk into this next room I get the chills every time I walk in it's just breathtaking [Music] so this room is my favorite room it's just breathtaking as you walk in you see these Larger than Life photographs of my dad in his different films throughout the years you see him go from a young young man and as he grows through middle age that looks like it's from the Cowboys and then here we have his Wardrobe from the many films [Music] my favorite is The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance you have the Cowboys you have Sans of Iwo Jima you have his Oscar here he won best doctor for True Grit but he was nominated a handful of times and never won and I asked him as a little girl every time he'd finish a movie I'd say Dad do you think this is the one that you're going to win the Oscar for the Academy Award and he's like you know honey I don't know he's like I do this because I love it and you know it would be nice to have the honor from my peers but that's not the reason why I do these movies [Applause] but then when you see he finally wins the Oscar you can see he wipes a little tear from his eye and it meant so much to him to just be recognized by his community and people that appreciate the craft I think the Searchers is probably his most critically acclaims movie and that performance was just spectacular but so is Mr codburn I mean every everything every every movie was wonderful that he did but I'm glad as his daughter that he finally got the recognition from his peers and and he won his Oscar it did mean a lot to him and then the wall to our right is all his movies and if you can look you see so many films he made before 1939 when he made Stagecoach which was the film that actually made him a big star so you can see he was a guard he was an extra and extra and extra and extra he had these small roles and he got to work on his craft and when the opportunity came along for a starring role by John Ford he took it and that was it there was this star movie star launched into history my friends just call me Ringo nickname I had as a kid right name's Henry seems to me I knew your family Henry didn't I fix your arm once when you bucked off a horse are you doc Boone I certainly am oh let's see I just been honorably discharged from the Union Army after the war of the Rebellion you mean the war for the southern Confederacy sir I mean nothing of the kind sir that was my kid brother broke his arm you did a good job doc even if you was drunk thank you sir professional Compliments are always pleasing what happened to that boy who's all my fixed it was murdered here on this wall I believe we have 169 films but I'm sure there are some that are out there that we don't know about but he was a very hard-working man this will sound like I'm butting into your business and I am and you want to give me a watch with a gold case for doing it you dimwitted nail Bender Marry That Girl merrier well I assure you my intention well she knows how I feel how would she know stop yammering about chewing horses there's no way to talk to a girl talk to her about her and marry her and do it quick he wanted movies to be something that were family friendly that you left feeling better than when you walked in you know they had this formula of you know there's the the good guy and the bad guy and the good guy wins and rides away on the White Horse and gets the girl and and you know he I think he felt that that was good for the moral fabric of our country having that and having that boys and women looking up to that strong dignified you know man with integrity and I would imagine that he looked for roles where he could portray that you know in a way that brought him as a human being into people's homes you know and there's the you know the little looks and the sense of humor and the and the soberness but I would imagine that he was attracted to roles where he could he could make people feel better my favorite part is the letters you know when you walk around in the cases you get to see the letters and you get to get a true grasp of what John Wayne stood for he loved correspondence he would sit at his card table and dictate letters to his secretaries and they'd type them out and he'd sign them carving copies and they kept very good records and you can see here you know a handwritten letter from a school boy you never know what you would find and when he was in the hospital there were you can see here just bags and bags full of fan mail and get well cards and wishing you well and and we haven't had a chance to go through them all sometimes we have an event here at the experience where somebody can pick a letter out and read it and we'll switch them out so that hopefully one day we'll be able to have everything on display but it was very important to him if somebody took the time to write him he wanted to take the time to answer and to respond and he did that for hours and hours and hours a day when he wasn't on location here we have some more photographs here's him knocking on John Ford's door like okay what movie we're gonna make now what are we going to do what's our next project this is the iconic scene from True Grit where he puts the reins in his mouth and he's got his guns blazing and he says fill your hands you son of a goes running through the beautiful field and this is from The Shootist his last movie that's one's very near and dear to my heart I spent a lot of time with him on that location and just kind of mirrors his life a little bit and I think he had an inkling that he maybe had cancer while they were shooting and he loved Ron Howard and working with Lauren Bacall and Jimmy Stewart yeah great movie Still Still cheers me up every time I just remember him being in pain and not feeling good but he didn't complain about it I never felt like he wasn't going to fight it I mean he did fight till the end he could have gone home and died at home but he we stayed at the UCLA at the hospital so that they could try some experimental stuff and he ended up passing away while he was in the hospital there and I don't think he wanted to scare me um but he did you know he did say I hate leaving you I hate leaving you this young you know I'm sorry I hate to leave you this is a wall with the names of every Surgical Oncology fellow that was trained under the John Wayne name so we have the John Wayne Cancer Foundation my father when he passed away of cancer told us it was very important if his name was good for anything to use it to help people that had cancer and their families and to help find a cure and treatment and so we formed the John Wayne Cancer Foundation in 1985 and since then have been training surgeons to go off into the world into their Specialties and each name on this wall represents one of our fellows and three to four hundred patients a year that they're helping so multiply that by the amount of doctors you see here and that's the number of people my dad's name is still helping to this day the best way to fight cancer is to prevent it so we have a program that we fund called block The Blaze and we take the van all up and down the coasts East Coast West Coast I think some Texas coast and we hand out hats and sunscreen to all the junior guards the Junior Lifeguards that are being trained in the summertime and we teach them wear your hat wear your sunscreen this is what you know a suspicious Mall looks like and you know great be outside be athletic get your exercise but also protect your skin I think he'd be as proud as he is of his career I think he'd be very proud of this and having his name under this Legacy

Channel: FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth

Views: 130,012

Keywords: John Wayne Experience, Fort Worth Stockyards, John Wayne Foundation, John Wayne Enterprises, Marisa Wayne, Patrick Wayne, Block the Blaze, Alexis Wilkins, John Wayne Day, the tex factor, kdfw, fox 4

Id: fnUpsLEgEso

Length: 25min 56sec (1556 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 30 2023