Our Generation's John Wayne?

GWC Community Off-Topic/Other
#1

I asked this question on Twitter over the weekend and had a handful of interesting responses. Those of us on the verge of our 40’s remember our father’s watching The Duke A.K.A. John Wayne Alias Marion Robert Morrison incessantly on TV. He was a man’s man on the big screen, staring in numerous Westerns, Military or Adventurous films – even a few romantic films like The Quiet Man. Sources say he made between 155-250 films during his career, many of which were major motion pictures. Although he only won one Oscar for True Grit (1969) he was THE guy’s actor spanning the years 1926 – 1976.

So who is our generation’s John Wayne?

Allow me to start the conversation. First of all, there can be no direct correlation to John Wayne. He simply made too many movies and received too little acclamation for them to be directly compared to anyone. However, through work ethic, spirit of characters played, range of movies involved in as well as fan adoration and award recognition which actor best equals The Duke today?

My vote is for Harrison Ford. Unfortunately the comparison isn’t direct. John Wayne never played in any science fiction films. John Wayne did 3-5 times more movies (Ford’s ~47 to Wayne’s 155+). And while Harrison Ford is an avid aircraft owner from Gulfstreams to Beechcraft, John Wayne loved his Yacht “Wild Goose” (former Naval Minesweeper USS YMS-328).

However, the two do have similarities. Each only has Once Academy Award and One Golden Globe. Wayne’s were both for True Grit while Harrison’s were for Witness. Wayne won the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award in 1966. Harrison won his Cecil B. DeMille award in 2002. Harrison has a few more honors but most of those were created well after John Wayne’s career were over.

So who do you think best depicts our generation’s John Wayne? I am interested to see your picks and reasons why.

~Shooter Out

#2

Interesting question. My first thot was Harrison Ford, as well. You could go with Clint Eastwood also.

John Wayne spanned two…almost three generations. Harrison and Clint have had longevity and success. Even in “supporting” roles Harrison and Clint capture the audience.

My Fight Club list includes and in this order:

  1. William Shatner
  2. Bruce Lee
  3. Clint Eastwood
  4. John Wayne
  5. The Crazy 88s
#3

Talos,

Strangely enough I never considered Clint Eastwood our generation. I had always considered him Wayne’s generation. But the truth is you are probably more correct than I am. Eastwood’s career started in 1955, about 10 years before Ford but 30 years after Wayne. Eastwood definitely has more movies than Ford to with 60 > ~47. Also, Eastwood’s style and movie characters probably better align with Wayne than Harrison.

But here’s where I start to differ with you. Eastwood has never won Best Actor. He’s actually won a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Best Director for two films, Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby. These films also won Golden Globe and Oscars as Best picture. So he has been accredited with success, just not his direct acting success. Like Ford, Eastwood has also won the AFI and Cecil B DeMille lifetime Achievement Awards. Remember Wayne only won the Cecil B DeMille award, however the AFI just started giving out it’s award a few years before Wayne passed away so I’ll give The Duke a pass on that one. Still, Eastwood is more acclaimed for his work behind the camera, not in front of it.

So I’ll admit it’s a bit subjective but I’ll say that any actor who started their career before the late 60’s won’t qualify for me personally. Also, they must have a best actor Oscar and possibly a Golden Globe to boot to be in the running. It’s also subjective but I assume that movie types for our generation have changed - they’ve become more sophisticated and scifi is more mainstream than it was in Wayne’s generation. So even though Eastwood’s roles have been more equal to Wayne’s I think Harrison’s roles more represent a Wayne in our generation.

It’s just my opinion. Feel free to disagree - I definitely see your point.

~Shooter Out

#4

Which William Shatner (like I even have to ask, but it is still a valid question)?

I’d probably have to start my list off with Wesley Snipes. But that’s probably just because I recently rewatched Blade I, II, and III as well as Demolition Man.

ETA: Nevermind on the William Shatner question. I read Shatner and it immediately translated in my mind to James T Kirk. Mea Culpa.

#5

Hmmm. First name that springs to mind is Bruce Willis: good in military roles, but I don’t know if he could carry a Western like The Duke.

Mind you, my money is on Clint Eastwood: could demonstrably play in a Western AND military roles.

#6

Gafra,

Someone at work mentioned Bruce Willis yesterday. I kind of poo-pooed him without looking into it because I felt Ford better fit the role.

With that said let’s look into Bruce’s career: 75 total movies starting in 1987 plus several TV appearances. He did win an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his work as Best Actor on Moonlighting. But no Oscars or Golden Globes for his work on the big screen. He currently does not have any lifetime achievement awards. His film roles have certainly been a mix of action, scifi, romance and drama but as you pointed out no Westerns to speak of. Bruce tends to be more of a lose cannon than Wayne ever was. Wayne seems to me to be a straight shooter. So I don’t think Bruce really fits the bill.

Eastwood seems to be gaining some traction, but as I stated in my reply to Talos I tend to think Harrison would be more like the modern Wayne than Eastwood.

~Shooter Out

#7

Oh, the Crazy 88s would totally pwn those old/dead guys…till Marcellus Wallace shows up.

#8

agreed … well until Jules Winfield showed up :slight_smile:

//youtu.be/3BybcP7o6qs

OB

Any fight club without Sonny Chiba is incomplete. … imho

#9

Zack Braff. (sorry can’t let a running joke die…) :smiley:

But seriously, I would go with Harrison as well.

#10

That’s perfection, right there.

Shooter, what an unexpectedly interesting discussion! Thanks for posting. I’m torn between the two, Harrison and Clint. Like you said, I think in today’s industry it would be harder to have a single individual fulfill the spectrum that Wayne did.

Harrison is probably the closer in terms of the honors and awards (I had no idea of those parallels!) and also in terms of the relationships that both critics and audiences have with them as performers. But I don’t think that Harrison’s got quite the right… energy to him? Something. Grit feels like the right word.

Clint definitely scores when it comes to similar grit. I think the arc of his career may also be closer to the arc of Wayne’s. They both also directed movies–though it is important to note that Wayne’s directorial skills are nowhere near the level of Clint’s (caveat: I’ve seen The Alamo but neither of the other 2 JW directed).

I’d call it a draw.

Me, either, friend :smiley:

#11

I have always counted ‘Last Man Standing’ as a Western. It’s got all the tropes for a Western. Gun-slinger walks into a barbaric and destitute town. All hell breaks loose.

#12

Good one! Braff caught me by surprise. I spit out my water when I read that.

#13

I’ve been thinking about the topic you brought up for the past day or so. I think it comes down to if you are looking for a John Wayne REPLACEMENT or not. If a replacement is it Clint Eastwood would fit the bill. However, in my mind I’m looking for our generation’s John Wayne. Moviegoers today demand more sophistication and Ford has that. John Wayne was a grunt it out, do the work, shoot-em-up reluctantly, party hard sort of guy. He also has a commanding leadership way about him. Eastwood’s a little bit more brooding, less partying and less joyful but definitely presents grit.

To me, Harrison is a lot more brooding, more intelligent, and definitely to get his ass kicked than Eastwood or Wayne. But when he does fight he’s always gotten the job done. He’s more of an every-day man than a Cowboy hero. I think that’s what our generation loved about Ford. He’s been a spy, a cop, a scifi warrior/hero, a President, a fugitive, an adventurer/treasure hunter, a lawyer, and a miltiary commander among many other things. He’s been in the sophisicated roles the audience wanted to see in the 80’s, 90’s , 00’s and today versus the almost care-free gunslinger that Wayne was.

It’s not a perfect fit. I don’t know if it will ever be a perfect fit. Even though I see the choice of Eastwood and can’t really argue against it, Ford still has my vote as a better all-around choice for our generation.

~Shooter Out

PS - I’m still waiting for someone to come out and argue for Tom Hanks or Stallone. I think they belong in this discussion too.

#14

Maybe it’s just me but this is more of a 20’s gangster movie like The Untouchables.

#15

You could make an argument for a Jason Statham. Or maybe even a Mark Wahlberg. But probably Harrison Ford.

EDIT: I could also make a very strong case for Brad Pitt.

#16

Also - I’ll just leave this here.http://halftimehennessy.com/why-johnny-depp-is-our-generations-john-wayne/

#17

I think a solid case can be made for Deniro

He’s got the accolades, he has the respect of his peers, he has the popularity with audiences and he has longevity

As for your no westerns thing with Ford…I would argue that both Indiana Jones & Han Solo are our generations equivalent. Holding to the western genre for this generation is a mistake. Westerns just don’t have the same appeal they did when Wayne was making movies. However the action films & especially science fiction films have replaced that genre with many of the same elements.

#18

Hmmm…Jason Statham is definitely an interesting choice. His film work started in 1998 and have comprised of around 30 films. While currently having no accolades to speak of, he has played some interesting carefree characters like Wayne. On the other hand he is also known for his villain characters, something that Wayne was not noted for…at all. I think we’d have to come back to Statham in another 10-15 years to see if he would really match up.

I like Mark Wahlberg - a lot. We’re about the same age, he’s played some great roles recently. I like his style. I like what he’s done. He’s got this Rocky/Stallonish way that he always seems to work through whatever he’s going through and ending up on top. You could probably say I’ve got a man-crush on him. But is he our generation’s Wayne? Probably not. Since 1993 he’s got about 30 movies under his belt. Like Eastwood he’s turning into one heck of a producer, especially on the small screen with Entourage and Boardwalk Empire. He’s won a handful of smaller awards and even helped full in the AFI Best Picture award in 2010 for The Fighters the main character and producer. If anything I’d say Mark is a little Eastwood in the making - which is great. But as for him being a our generation’s John Wayne?Right now there just isn’t enough to go on. He’s got the sports and the ocean films (and scifi!) but he lacks the military and the westerns in my opinion.

Now I didn’t mention Brad Pitt on Twitter last weekend but I certainly meant to! I was honestly shocked to see that Pitt hadn’t won more major awards. He’s been nominated several times, but has never managed to pull in the lead actor Oscar or Golden Globe. He does have a best supporting actor Golden Globe for 12 Monkeys and a smattering of smaller critic choice best actor awards for Moneyball. He’s got about 50 films under his belt since 1987 and has played in most role types that Wayne did - albeit from a much different slant. Pitt is way more polished than Wayne ever was and even though he’s played gun-totting characters I don’t think of him walking around carrying a gun. Pitt could very well be our generation’s Wayne but there’s just something there that’s off for me and I can’t pinpoint what it is. I’ll have to think more about Pitt.

Great suggestions!

~Shooter Out

#19

I’m thinking the “24” version of Kiefer Sutherland could get a look in.

What about Jack Nicholson? I could just as easily see John Wayne in the witness box yelling “you can’t handle the truth!” as easily as Jack…

#20

Interesting read. Wayne did indeed play the same person in a different character is all of his movies. There were slightly different versions but mostly it was all the same. His audience loved it and that’s why he was so successful.

Depp as Wayne? That’s funny. I can’t think of two more diametrically opposed actors. Depp is creative. Wayne is a one-way actor. The only creativity Wayne ever depicted on screen was with military or business strategy. Plus Depp is by no means a solid leader/play-well-with-others type that Wayne is. Depp is more of a “I take care of myself first” type and if something ancillary good comes out of it so much the better. I’m pretty sure that “Thonederdome” was just attempting to point out that Depp seems a little stagnate in his recent roles and used Wayne to point that out. Ironically I think those same roles are Depps most creative - but that’s just me. So to keep everything fair here’s Depp’s stats: Beginning in 1984 Depp has around 45 movies. He’s won a Golden Globe in 2008 for Best Performance in Sweeney Todd and the Screen Actor’s Guide Award in 2004 for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl.

~Shooter Out