In 9 September, 2004, the U.S. Postal Service added another collectible postage stamp to its Legends of Hollywood commemorative stamps series with their dedication of the first class 37-cent John Wayne stamp. The "Duke", as Wayne is often known, appears on the 10th stamp in the popular Legends of Hollywood stamp series.

The Career of John Wayne

According to the USPS Press Release, Marion Morrison, later known as John Wayne, was born on 26 May, 1907, in Winterset, Iowa.

John Wayne's film career, as reported by the Internet Movie Database, began with Brown of Harvard (1926) in which he played a Yale football player. Wayne's career never quite took off until he was cast in Stagecoach in 1939. It is this film that made him a star.

John Wayne movies often depicted him as a heroic cowboy or soldier who inspired courage, justice, loyalty, and patriotism in his fans. Wayne's portrayal of these characters helped define him as the epitome of the tough American in movies such as Stagecoach (1939), They Were Expendable (1945), Angel and the Badman (1947), Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), Rio Grande (1950), Flying Leathernecks (1951), Hondo (1953), The Searchers (1956), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), The Green Berets (1968), True Grit (1969), and The Shootist (1976).

Over the course of his career, Wayne made nearly 175 films, being cast as the lead in a majority of these films. He received an Oscar for his portrayal of Rooster Coburn in True Grit.

John Wayne died of cancer on 11 June, 1979 in Los Angeles, California.

USPS John Wayne Stamp Design

As told in the USA Philatelic: Beyond the Perf, Issue 008, Drew Struzan's stamp portrait was based on a John Wayne photo for The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). The photograph was black-and-white, but the U.S. Postal Service was granted access to the clothing worn by Wayne in the film in order to allow for proper reference and coloring.

The selvage art (or the art in the surplus margin around the sheet of stamps), also created by artist Drew Struzan, shows Wayne in The Searchers (1956).

The text on selvage reads: "John Wayne (1907-1979) played many memorable roles during his 50-year career, but he is perhaps best known for characters exhibiting the rugged individualism associated with the American cowboy. He won an Academy Award for his role as Rooster Cogburn, the one-eyed marshal in True Grit (1969). In an effort to continue John Wayne's fight against cancer, the John Wayne Foundation was established in his memory."