John Wayne was one of the biggest movie stars of the 20th century, thanks in large part to his appearances in WWII-themed movies, such as Back to Bataan (1945), Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), and Flying Leathernecks (1951). However, unlike other Hollywood stars who served in WWII, Wayne didn’t engage in military service.
As a hero of both patriotic and Western flicks, Wayne was the personification of masculinity, fortitude, and commitment to his country on-screen. However, he lacked real-life military experience. Despite reports that he wanted to serve and may have tried to enlist, Wayne apparently never saw active service, but this never stopped him from portraying a convincing soldier in many films.
Wayne capitalized on that success throughout his career, but his rise to fame during WWII was much more complicated than merely patriotic duty. His reasons for not participating in military service are as much a part of his Hollywood legacy as his cinematic roles.
Wayne Tried To Attend The Naval Academy At Annapolis, But Was Denied Admission
Born in Iowa in 1907, Marion Morrison – better known as John Wayne – grew up in Southern California, as his pharmacist father moved the family west in 1914 to take up homesteading. While in California, Wayne’s family got a dog named Duke, from which the actor got his nickname.
By the time Wayne was in high school, he was tall and spare, but distinguished himself on the football team. He was smart, shy, and loved movies – but he had no desire to become an actor after graduating from high school in 1925.
According to the biography John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth, Wayne said, “When we moved to California, I discovered the ocean, and I loved it. My ambition was to become an officer in the United States Navy.”
With an eye on a naval career, Wayne applied to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. However, he didn’t get in. He ultimately accepted a football scholarship to the University of Southern California, which kept him in Hollywood’s orbit.
Wayne Worked Summers At A Hollywood Studio Where He Met John Ford
While attending USC, Wayne worked at Fox Film Corporation in Hollywood. He moved props, furniture, and decorations for $35 a week during the summer of 1926. By the following year, Wayne lost his football scholarship at USC due to an injury, and he needed money to finish school. He returned to his $35-a-week job at Fox, and worked on several of director John Ford’s movies.
Wayne caught Ford’s attention, for better and worse, after accidentally walking through a scene while the camera was running on the film Four Sons. Wayne was supposed to blow leaves onto a porch for a particularly dramatic scene and then sweep them up before the next take. After growing bored and distracted, Wayne absentmindedly began cleaning up the detritus before Ford called cut.
Ford was reportedly amused and intrigued by Wayne’s awkward demeanor, but that didn’t stop the director from later giving Wayne a swift kick in the rear for the offense.
John Ford Began Casting Wayne In 1928, But The Actor’s Big Break Didn’t Come Until 1939
Director John Ford kept hiring Wayne to work as a prop man on his movies, and soon gave him small roles, too. Wayne appeared briefly in Ford’s 1928 film Hangman’s House as a spectator at a horse race; he had another role as a naval shipman in the 1929’s Salute. Going by Duke Morrison at the time, Wayne watched Ford and learned about the industry from the director.
At the same time, Wayne was saving money to pay his way through college. Ford enlisted Wayne’s help in getting other extras from USC.
According to Ford, Wayne “was callow and untutored… but he had something that jumped right off the screen at me. I guess you could call it star power.” Other directors began to notice Wayne as well, and they started hiring him as a propman while simultaneously giving him screen time. Wayne continued to work, learn, and act throughout the 1930s, becoming immersed in Hollywood.
It wasn’t until Ford’s 1939 Western film, Stagecoach, that Wayne broke out as a star. As the Ringo Kid, Wayne was a handsome hero who took the law into his hands to bring about justice.
Wayne Was Exempt From Military Service Because He Had A Big Family, Though It Was Falling Apart
After the strike on Pearl Harbor in 1941, a number of Hollywood stars enlisted in the military by choice. As the United States officially entered WWII, John Wayne received a 3-A deferment for military service in 1942 because of his family obligations. Wayne had married Josephine Alicia Saenz, the daughter of a Panamanian diplomat, in 1933, and the couple had four children.
Wayne’s acceptance of the deferment stood out in comparison to the actions of his Hollywood peers, many of whom also had families to support but still chose to join the ranks.
Wayne’s marriage was also on the rocks at the time. As his acting career started to take off – a field Josephine didn’t respect – Wayne was reportedly unfaithful, though he took care to keep his affairs secret to avoid public embarrassment. When Wayne was granted a deferment in 1942, he was not spending much time at home. In May 1943, he stopped living with his family altogether.
John Ford Encouraged Wayne To Enlist
During WWII, director John Ford served as a member of the United States Naval Reserve, ultimately gathering a team of Hollywood filmmakers to produce documentaries for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Ford’s OSS unit documented trans-Atlantic convoys to Europe, the strike on Pearl Harbor, and the Battle of Midway.
As an active participant in the WWII effort, Ford encouraged Wayne to serve his patriotic duty. Wayne did express interest in joining Ford’s Field Photographic Unit in 1942, sending a letter that read:
Have you any suggestions on how I should get in? Can you get me assigned to your outfit, and if you could, would you want me? How about the Marines? You have Army and Navy men under you. Have you any Marines or how about a Seabee or what would you suggest or would you? No, I’m not drunk. I just hate to ask for favors, but for Christ sake, you can suggest can’t you? No kidding, coach who’ll I see?
Despite these sentiments, Wayne never ended up joining the conflict, a fact that left his friend Ford disappointed. Wayne always claimed there was one more movie he needed to make, pushing service back each time. Moreover, Wayne was said to have felt shame about his decision, but those loaded feelings didn’t stop the two men from making patriotic movies together.
An Affair With Marlene Dietrich May Have Influenced Wayne’s Decision Not To Serve
John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich made several movies together during the early 1940s, including Seven Sinners
According to Marc Eliot’s book, American Titan: Searching for John Wayne, the actor was afraid of losing Dietrich if he left for the conflict. He was madly in love with her and reportedly enjoyed a passionate relationship that provided more affection than he received in his marriage.
With Other Actors Serving Overseas, Wayne Could Get Bigger Roles
Lots of Hollywood’s leading men scrambled to enlist after the United States officially entered WWII. Henry Fonda signed up, and Jimmy Stewart followed suit. During the year after Pearl Harbor, roughly 2,700 actors, directors, and other filmmaking professionals in Hollywood left their jobs behind to participate in WWII.
Some stars did so quietly, and others made spectacles out of their new patriotic roles, but John Wayne did neither. Instead, he accepted a hardship deferment. A family man with four children, Wayne was granted an exemption, which could have also been influenced by his football injuries and inner-ear problems he experienced after filming 1942’s Reap the Wild Wind.
Wayne did his part by completing the Selective Service questionnaire; the government granted him the deferment though he did not make such a request. With so many stars in the Hollywood film industry on active duty, Wayne was able to take on more roles and dominate the big screen.
Before so many actors went off to participate, Wayne remained relatively unknown for his portrayals of soldiers and military heroes. During WWII, however, Hollywood needed rugged men to feature on screen, and Wayne became poised to capitalize on that need.
The Government Determined Hollywood Had A Different Job To Do During WWII
Soon after Pearl Harbor, the US government enlisted Hollywood to support the effort. Actors who received deferments were part of the propaganda campaign that Hollywood took part in to boost public morale. In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt called movie theaters a “necessary and beneficial part of the [military] effort,” and Hollywood answered that call.
Roosevelt created the Office of War Information and the Bureau of Motion Pictures in the summer of 1942. The agency intended to keep the public informed about the effort and endorse service to the cause.
Contributions during WWII included cartoons and documentary films demonizing enemies and rallying patriotic fervor. John Wayne movies made during the conflict, such as Flying Tigers and The Fighting Seabees, entertained audiences with tales of triumphant victories, while films like A Lady Takes a Chance and In Old Oklahoma helped viewers escape reality through tales of romance and quintessential American ideals.
Wayne Did Register For The Draft And Tried To Join The Office Of Strategic Services
Wayne indicated to John Ford several times that he wanted to serve and had worked as an air-raid warden in Los Angeles in 1942. He filled out an application to work with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Presumably, Wayne wanted to collaborate with Ford and the other Hollywood filmmakers in the Field Photographic Unit under the authority of the OSS.
Based on the application, the OSS – the precursor to the CIA – was seeking individuals who had previous experience working with vehicles, airplanes, and radios. Wayne claimed to have no specialized knowledge or training in these areas.
Wayne’s Deferment Was Reclassified Several Times
After receiving an initial 3-A deferment in 1942 for being a family man, Wayne had his deferment reclassified to 2-A in December 1943 after the 3-A distinction was canceled. Most likely changed due to third-party intervention by Herbert Yates, founder and president of Republic Pictures, the 2-A was an occupational exemption. As an actor, Wayne had a unique talent no one else could replace.
The 2-A deferment only lasted six months, but it got renewed several times. In May 1944, Wayne was again reclassified to 1-A, a general exemption, but was transitioned back to 2-A in June.
In 1945, Wayne’s exemption changed to 4-A because he was deemed too old to serve. Wayne was 38 years old in 1945, still younger than Clarke Gable, who was 41 when he enlisted in 1942.
Wayne Received An Oscar Nomination For His Portrayal Of A WWII Soldier
Even though he never served in WWII, Wayne gave a performance worthy of an Oscar nomination in 1949’s Sands of Iwo Jima. While he was nominated for the leading man category for his portrayal of Sgt. John M. Stryker, he lost to Broderick Crawford for his performance in All the King’s Men.
John Wayne later won an Oscar in 1970 for his role as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit. Before this win, film critic Roger Ebert asked Wayne about the Academy Award. Wayne was proud of his performance in True Grit and commented about his loss to Crawford two decades earlier:
I was nominated for Sands of Iwo Jima, but I didn’t win. Well, maybe this time they’ll review the picture instead of me and [WWII]. That little clique back there in the East has taken great personal satisfaction in reviewing my politics instead of my pictures. And they’ve drawn up a caricature of me. Which doesn’t bother me; their opinions don’t matter to the people who go to movies.
A Staunch Anti-Communist, Wayne May Have Over-Compensated For His Lack Of Military Service
By many accounts, John Wayne was uncomfortable with the fact that he never wore a military uniform anywhere but on a Hollywood set. During the conflict, he carried out his patriotic duty as best he could from California, but in the aftermath of WWII, he stepped up his patriotism in the fight against communism.
Perhaps dipping into his on-screen persona as a tough American full of moral integrity, Wayne was an active member of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals (MPAPAI).
According to the MPAPAI’s “Statement of Principles,” the group formed to “revolt against a rising tide of communism, fascism, and kindred beliefs, that seek by subversive means to undermine and change this way of life.” MPAPAI members often served as “friendly witnesses” to the House Un-American Activities Committee and tipped the Committee off about alleged communist sympathizers in Hollywood. Wayne served as the president of MPAPAI in 1948 after becoming increasingly conservative during the mid-1940s.
He also appeared in 1961’s The Challenge of Ideas, a film that discusses the ideological differences between the United States and the Soviet Union. The film was intended to serve as a call to action for Americans and a warning to stay vigilant in the fight for democracy.
Wayne’s OSS Application Was Approved Then Sent To His Ex-Wife’s Home, And He Never Saw It
Wayne filled out an OSS application which, according to Ford’s grandson, was approved. Wayne, however, never received the paperwork citing his approval because it was supposedly sent to his ex-wife, Josephine’s home. Some scholars suspect she withheld the letter to keep Wayne from leaving since he provided financial care for their four children.
Eventually, every official slot filled up and Wayne decided working in Hollywood would be more valuable than his alternative option in the military as a “GI Joe” and picking up trash.