We all have - or had - heroes in our lives at one time or another.
Sometimes I regret my drive to research everything in life. It's been a good, bad, and ugly relationship with reality.
In the end however, the subject of heroes is timeless and intertwined with societies since the dawn of time. My attempt at examining the subject involves looking at every aspect of being a "hero," as defined by Merrium Webster.
His westerns and war movies kept me glued to the boob tube for endless hours. I think I went to nearly every movie he ever made.
After getting out of the Army I worked as a security guard at a gated community in Newport Beach for a spell. I used to see him daily as he usually stopped long enough to briefly chat before driving his American made station wagon (No sissy Mercedes Benz for the Duke!) into the complex.
Long story short. He seemed like a regular guy to me. No outward pretense.
But time caught up to Wayne and by 2019 (long after his death) his legacy took a major hit that still hurts his legendary career today.
The Washington Post had an article with snippets of his 1971 interview with Playboy where he expressed racist and homophobic sentiments.
"I believe in white supremacy," he said, and spoke harshly about African Americans, saying "We can't get down on our knees and turn everything over to the leadership of the blacks."
I remember feeling stunned when I read that. Someone took the time to expose an American icon and more importantly to me, one of my childhood heroes.
My memories of him were forever captured on the Silver Screen and my personal conversations with the man. I never followed his politics and knew little about his personal life - other than he was going through a nasty divorce with wife Pilar at the time I met him in 1974.
To this day I'm conflicted about my feelings towards him.
As the years have gone by, I've discovered a lot of my heroes in the entertainment world of movies and music are rife with racists.
A Short List
James Steward - "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and "What a Wonderful World" James (more commonly known as Jimmy) had a dark side. He was an informer for the FBI (remember the Red Scare going after actors thought to be communist sympathizers?), and a card-carrying John Birch member who believed blacks had no place in American society.
William Fraley (I Love Lucy - he played Fred) was drunk most of the time and threw around racial slurs publicly and privately... never showing any remorse for his outward hatred of blacks and women.
Walter Brennen - Known for winning three Best Supporting Actor awards in the Oscars. "Come and Get It" (1936), Kentucky (1938), and The Westerner (1940).
I grew up watching him play the kind but grumpy grandpa on the popular TV series The Real McCoys."
In fact, he was friends with members of the infamous John Birch Society (who hated blacks, jews, homosexuals and communists.) Off screen he wasn't shy about sharing his believes that blacks were an inferior race.
My deep disappointment at discovering Brennen's personal history still haunts me today. My grandpa hero was actually a mean old man full of hateful beliefs.
Eric Clapton was without a doubt one of my favorite male vocalists. I only recently discovered - while researching this post - that he was a racist.
His moment of infamy took place during a British concert in 1976 when he went full blown racist. In fairness he was drunk. I know that's not a good excuse. It's more like an observation.
"Stop Britain from becoming a black colony. Get the foreigners out," he said to his captive audience. "Keep Britain white! Get the coons out!"
He still has social problems today because he's become an outspoken critic of vaccines and a conspiracy theorist.
I could go on, but I don't want to burn you out.
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