The Duke Trivia Quiz

Answer: A family pet

Duke was the name of his family's Airedale terrier while he was growing up. John Wayne was born Marion Robert Morrison; and did you know that he never legally changed his name to John Wayne!

Answer: Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand presented John Wayne with his only Oscar. It was for his performance in "True Grit" (1970). After receiving the award, the Duke was heard to say "If I'd have known that, I'd have put on an eye-patch 35 years ago".

Answer: University of Southern California

John Wayne played for the University of Southern California for one year. They lost only two games. One was to Stanford and the other was to Notre Dame. He lost his athletic scholarship due to injury and did not matriculate.

Answer: The filming location was radioactive

"The Conqueror" (1956) was filmed in St. George, Utah. It was only 137 miles from the Nevada Testing Ground where nuclear testing was going on. The cast and crew were aware of this and there are publicity photos of John Wayne on the set carrying a Geiger counter. Over 70 people who worked on this film died of cancer, including the Duke himself. Cancer rate for the cast and crew was over 40%.

Answer: The sand for the cement was brought from Iwo Jima

The sand for the cement was brought in from Iwo Jima in honor of his portrayal in the movie "The Sands of Iwo Jima" (1949). He portrayed Sgt. John M. Striker who lead his men through the fight for Iwo Jima. The Marines were so honored that he was going to do this movie that the flag that was used during the depiction of the taking of Mount Suribachi was the actual flag that was raised during the war.

The Duke received his first nomination for an Academy Award for this film, and he always considered this to be one his best movies.

Answer: Batjac Productions

John Wayne founded Batjac Productions so that he could produce as well as star in his movies. Batjac's first release was "Big Jim McLain" in 1952, and the last movie was "McQ" released in 1974. John Wayne lost a large portion of his personal wealth while producing and starring "The Alamo" (1960) one of Batjac's releases.

Answer: "The Shootist" (1976)

"The Shootist" (1976) was John Wayne's final film. It co-starred Ron Howard, Richard Boone, Lauren Bacall, Harry Morgan and Jimmy Stewart. Shortly before his death, John Wayne had bought the movie rights to the novel "Beau John" by Buddy Atkinson. He was in pre-production stages when he became ill and died. Ron Howard was to star.

Answer: The Milton Berle Show

While many fans think that the Duke's first appearance on television was on "I Love Lucy" in 1955. However, he actually appeared on "The Milton Berle Show" in 1953. He hated being on television and avoided it when he could.

Answer: a shotgun

John Wayne accidentally shot co-star Ward Bond in the back with a shotgun while they were on a hunting trip. The Duke carried Bond out of the woods and Bond survived. When Ward Bond died in 1960, John Wayne delivered the eulogy. In his will, Bond left the shotgun to Wayne. They made at least 19 movies together.

Answer: True

In 1973 John Wayne released a spoken album entitled "America: Why I Love Her". It was a surprise best-seller and a Grammy nominee. While he did not win, this album was reissued on CD in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and became a best seller all over again!