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Saturday marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the unforgettable John Wayne. That day, in his hometown of Winterset (Iowa) visited each year by 40 thousand fans, there will be a great party, with a parade inspired by the Wild West, rodeos and cowboy songs.
An icon of American cinema, his last film dates back thirty years, but the broad-shouldered actor is still Hollywood's greatest hero. In the annual Harris poll of favorite actors, John Wayne appears in the "top ten" each year.
According to data from the famous Guinness Book of Records, he is the actor with the largest number of leading roles; that book maintains that in 142 of his 153 films he was the "leading man." Generally, his roles were as a sheriff, soldier, officer or gunman, among others.
In 1979, Wayne lost his fight against cancer and passed away at the age of 72, a death that caused a great commotion in the United States. He's buried in Newport Beach, overlooking the Pacific. His epitaph? "Ugly, strong, and formal".