THE TITLES OF JOHN WAYNE

Since I already did a small biographical post on John Wayne when my mother chose him as a favorite - This time around I wanted to touch on something different about him. John Wayne is known as the actor to have played more leads than any other movie star. He's been in the almost every branch of the service and even the law enforcement. The only actor to come close to him would probably be Tom Hanks.

This project took me a lot longer than I thought and I didn't even do what I wanted to do in the first place. I have not included the times that he was a rancher or just a simple cowboy. You may also notice that I have not included any films before 1940. This post would be twice as long and it would repeat itself often if I did. The films in that era often only changed the name of the characters rather than the story itself.

The list below begins with his titles throughout his filming career. The movies next to it display what films they were.

GUNFIGHTER: The Shootist (1976), The Train Robbers (1973), El Dorado (1966), The Sons of Katie Elder (1965)
FIREFIGHTER: Hellfighters (1968)
U.S. CONSUL-GENERAL: The Barbarian and the Geisha (1958)
PILOT: The High and the Mighty (1954), Island in the Sky (1953)
UAAC: Big Jim McLain (1952)
FOOTBALL COACH: Trouble Along the Way (1953)
BOXER: The Quiet Man (1952)
OUTLAW: 3 Godfathers (1948), Angel and the Badman (1947)
ENGINEER: Tycoon (1947)
GAMBLER: Dakota (1945), Flame of Barbary Coast (1945), Lady for a Night (1942)
PHARMACIST: In Old California (1942)
LAWYER: Lady from Louisiana (1941), A Man Betrayed (1941)
SEA CAPTAIN: Blood Alley (1955), The Sea Chase (1955), Wake of the Red Witch (1948), Reap the Wild Wind (1942)

Now onto the ranks and branches of service he has played in. Some of the films had him simply as one who had been an officer, like Donovan's Reef (1963), so I listed these as a veteran. Other's may include films in which he was promoted in the story. With these I kept close to the title given to him in cast and crew synopsis on the picture.

NAVY

CAPTAIN: In Harm's Way (1965)

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER: Operation Pacific (1951), The Fighting Seabees (1944)

LIEUTENANT: They Were Expendable (1945), Seven Sinners (1940)

PILOT: The Wings of Eagles (1957)

VETERAN: Donovan's Reef (1963)

ARMY

GENERAL: Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)

COLONEL: The Green Berets (1968), Back to Bataan (1945)

LIEUTENANT COLONEL: The Longest Day (1962)

MARINES

MAJOR: Flying Leathernecks (1951)

SERGEANT: Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)

VETERAN: Without Reservations (1946)

AIR FORCE

U.S. AIR FORCE:

COLONEL: Jet Pilot (1957)

CHINESE AIR FORCE:

CAPTAIN: Flying Tigers (1942)

ROYAL AIR FORCE:

PILOT: Reunion in France (1942)

 MILITIA

KENTUCKY: The Fighting Kentuckian (1949)

TENNESSEE: The Alamo (1960)

UNION

GENERAL: How the West Was Won (1962)

COLONEL: Rio Lobo (1970), The Horse Soldiers (1959)

LIEUTENANT COLONEL: Rio Grande (1950)

CAPTAIN:  She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Fort Apache (1948)

VETERAN: Hondo (1953), The Undefeated (1969), The Searchers (1956), Rio Lobo (1970)

LAW ENFORCEMENT

US MARSHAL: Rooster Cogburn (1975), Cahill U.S. Marshal (1973), True Grit (1969)
TEXAS RANGER: The Comancheros (1961)
SHERIFF: Rio Bravo (1959)
LIEUTENANT POLICE OFFICER: Brannigan (1975), McQ (1974)

I wanted to include a whole bunch of pictures, but that task would've taken another week. I may make a couple collages later on when I get a chance. If there are any errors to this collection, please comment below so I can correct it.