California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 137

Introduced by Assembly Member Harper

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Bigelow, Brough, Eduardo Garcia, Grove, Lackey, Linder, Mathis, and Patterson)

(Coauthors: Senators Nielsen and Vidak)

February 11, 2016

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 137—Relative to John Wayne.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

ACR 137, as introduced, Harper. John Wayne.

This bill would recognize May 26, 2016, as John Wayne Day.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, John Wayne was the prototypical American hero,
symbolizing such traits as self-reliance, grace under pressure,
resolve, and patriotism; and

WHEREAS, Born Marion Robert Morrison on May 26, 1907,
in Winterset, Iowa, he moved with his parents as a young boy to
California; in 1916, while the family was living in Glendale, he
began going by “Duke,” a nickname that followed him throughout
his life; and

WHEREAS, In 1925, he began attending the University of
Southern California on a football scholarship, playing offensive
lineman; after sustaining a shoulder injury from a bodysurfing
accident in Newport Beach just prior to his junior year, he withdrew
from the university and began working at Fox Film Corporation
as a laborer moving set props and as an occasional extra in movies;
and

WHEREAS, While working at the studio, he met Wyatt Earp,
who was a consultant to Western film director John Ford, and he
would adopt some of Earp’s mannerisms for his roles as a cowboy;
and

WHEREAS, The first film in which he was the leading actor
gave him the screen name “John Wayne,” which he would use for
the remainder of his acting career; and

WHEREAS, Starring in classic Western films such as
Stagecoach, Red River, The Searchers, and True Grit, Wayne
personified the archetypal cowboy who is rough-edged and
plainspoken but also capable of great warmth, kindness, and
generosity; he won an Oscar in 1970 for Best Actor for his role as
Rooster Cogburn in True Grit; and

WHEREAS, In The Alamo, his first film as a director, John
Wayne played the role of Davy Crockett; the film won an Oscar
nomination in 1961 for Best Picture; Wayne also directed and
starred in a Vietnam-based movie, The Green Berets, which was
released in 1968; and

WHEREAS, Wayne was an avid supporter of the United States
military and toured bases and hospitals throughout the South
Pacific in 1943 and 1944 with the United Service Organizations;
he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1979, engraved
with the words “John Wayne, American” encapsulating his entire
life; and

WHEREAS, John Wayne was one of Newport Beach’s most
famous residents; he loved the area and was known as a regular
guy around town, frequently hosting other famous Hollywood
personalities. His beloved yacht, the Wild Goose, a converted
Navy minesweeper now owned and operated by Hornblower
Yachts is available for tours and charters out of Newport Beach;
and

WHEREAS, In 1968, the University of Southern California
established The John Wayne Scholarship Fund in his honor; and,
upon his passing, in 1979, the John Wayne airport located in
Orange County then named Orange County Airport, was renamed
John Wayne Airport in honor of his achievements and influence,
and a nine-foot-tall statute of him was raised at John Wayne
Airport; and

WHEREAS, John Wayne was laid to rest in 1979 in his favorite
place, Newport Beach, California, with a western-theme plaque
depicting a cowboy on horseback; and

WHEREAS, In 1985, Wayne’s family founded the John Wayne
Cancer Foundation to “bring courage, strength and grit to the fight
against cancer”; and

WHEREAS, John Wayne was inducted into the California Hall
of Fame by then Governor Schwarzenegger in 2007; now,
therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby recognizes May
26, 2016, as John Wayne Day; and be it further

Resolved, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared in honor
of this special occasion and as a tribute to the life of John Wayne.