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Ethan Wayne, the youngest son of John Wayne, has headed John Wayne Enterprises in Newport Beach since 2003. The company itself is owned by the children and grandchildren of John Wayne and has the primary mission to preserve and protect the image of the larger-than-life movie star. Ethan Wayne has such a large collection of memorabilia that he has opened his collection for auction.

The L.A. Times quotes Ethan Wayne, who has received weekly requests for memorabilia from John Wayne’s films.

“People have been calling for 32 years. His films affected people and they have a personal relationship with the guy and they want that connection. I remember how important the fans were to my father.”

As the result of the interest from fans, Ethan Wayne has joined with Heritage Auctions to conduct the first single-owner auction from Wayne’s personal collection. Exhibitions will be open to the public in Dallas, TX on September 16-18 and in New York, NY on September 23-26. Another exhibit, and the auction itself, will be held in Los Angeles, CA at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel, and ALSO online, on October 3-6!

The items for auction include the Golden Globe Award for “True Grit” (estimated value of $50,000), John Wayne’s eyepatch from the movie, and 400 other items that include costumes, scripts, awards, and personal documents. Although John Wayne died of cancer at the age of 72 in 1979, he still has unparalleled popularity. John Wayne was listed as the NUMBER 3 favorite actor (after Johnny Depp and Denzel Washington) of Americans in a Harris Poll earlier this year.

John Wayne won the Oscar for Leading Actor for the wily one-eyed marshal Rooster Cogburn that he played in 1969’s “True Grit,” As the L.A. Times summarizes, John Wayne:

‘… starred in some of the most respected films of the 20th century working with John Ford on such acclaimed movies as 1939’s “Stagecoach,” 1948’s “Fort Apache,” 1949’s “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon” and 1952’s “The Quiet Man.” He also appeared in director Howard Hawks‘ “Red River” in 1948, 1959’s “Rio Bravo” and 1962’s “Hatari.”‘

Although some items are “high-end,” not all are:

“Besides the “True Grit” Golden Globe, other high-end items in the auction include a costume from 1949’s “Sands of Iwo Jima,” which has an opening bid of $20,000; a Stetson cowboy hat from 1953’s “Hondo,” at $25,000; and an Andy Warhol limited edition signed print from the “Cowboys and Indians” series, also at $20,000.

But not everything on the block will be for the deep-pocketed serious collector. There are a handful of items for the average fan that are valued at less than $100, including two lapel buttons reading “I Have True Grit” that have an opening bid of $25, a “True Grit” mouse ornament that is going for $55 and a group of cocktail glasses from the 1960s that have a current bid of $100.”

Other items are NOT for auction, including John Wayne’s Congressional Medal of Honor and his Oscar. You can learn more about the auction at:

http://www.entertainment.ha.com

-Bill at

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