John Wayne was the epitome of the all-American actor.
For patriotic Americans, and later the rest of the world, the big man represented something old-fashioned but virtuous — he stood up for the goodies, took a beating but came back and showed that the bad guys are always beatable.
For decades he swept through the world of cinema like one of his roles and earned his status as the King of Hollywood Westerns — but was just as happy in Perth.
As well as being a major film actor, Wayne lived as he worked during his free time and was an avid cattle breeder with an operation in Arizona that covered 50,000 acres.
Wayne searched the world for bulls to export to his place in America and thrilled fans as he went about his business at the famous annual bull sales in the Fair City.
A wagon train to the Fair City
He stayed at the Waverley Hotel, which, until it was demolished five years ago, was famed for its high teas and stood at the corner of York Place and Caledonian Road.
Once one of Perth’s most popular hotels, the 150-year-old Waverley was conveniently placed for farmers and dealers attending livestock sales at the old auction mart.
That site is now occupied by the new Trinity Church of the Nazarene building.
The new church sits alongside the previous Nazarene place of worship, which is still in use as the church has a burgeoning community work as well as an ever-increasing congregation.
However, what a lot of folk using the new church don’t know is that they are following in the footsteps of one of the most iconic actors of all time.
To get more meat on the bones of this story, I contacted my former colleague, James Masson, 40 years on the Evening Telegraph, who is a long-time member of the Nazarene church, and a man who knows most things Perth.
He explained: “John Wayne stayed at the Waverley once, maybe twice, when he was attending the nearby world-famous Perth Bull Sales.
“I believe John had a big interest in cattle.
“After all, he rounded a good few up in his cowboy films!
“I think it was the late-1950s-early 1960s.
“They were held just across the road from the Waverley in Caledonian Road.
“I remember as a kid being excited by the fact I might catch a glimpse of him and so, with some pals, we made our way up to the bull sales and the Waverley.
“However, we never did set eyes on John Wayne, although other folk did.
“The people who did see John Wayne still talk about it to this day.
“As you can imagine, it caused quite a stir at the time.”
Bull sales made Perth famous
Those auctions were a big event back in the day.
Perth became synonymous around the world with bull sales.
There were glory days aplenty, especially in the 20-year period following the Second World War when John Wayne would have arrived wearing his Stetson hat.
The pattern was set in 1946 with the Shorthorn bull Pittodrie Upright, consigned by Mr Laidlaw-Smith, Pitcaple, Inverurie, selling for an astounding 14,500 guineas.
That would equate to over £500,000 in today’s money.
At the same sale, Upright’s pen mate Pittodrie Uprise sold for 14,000 guineas.
Going home with a cheque for the modern equivalent of more than £1 million must have been quite a special feeling.
James went on: “It was my late dad who told me that Wayne was in town.
“I don’t know if dad met him but an elderly lad who is also a long-time member of the Nazarene church did.
“He said to me: ‘I met John Wayne. I was taken to meet him and remember it well.
“‘He was one of my movie star heroes and it was quite something to meet him in the flesh.'”.
Little wonder.
He was born Marion Robert Morrison in Iowa on May 26 1907.
If any bloke could get away with being called Marion, it was Wayne, who was an imposing lad even at school and would find few boys confident enough to laugh at him.
His father, Clyde, was the son of a Civil War veteran, so they knew plenty about guns and fighting in the Morrison household.
Mum Mary was a Presbyterian, and there was Scots, Irish and English in their roots, so they were regular church-goers, too.
Keen on sports at school, he also spent a lot of time keeping fit, and when the chance of joining the Marines came up, he wrote to them.
To his horror, they turned him down for the US Naval Academy.
Instead, the future John Wayne found work at a local film studio, doing odd jobs, and soon felt right at home.
His famous physique always served him well and it was while moving studio furniture as a young man that a producer spotted his muscled appearance and threw him straight into his first leading role.
It was in The Big Trail as, you guessed it, a good, honourable man, sorting out baddies and avenging another good guy.
John Wayne was cowboy-hatted hero for 50 years
He was 23 years old at the time and embarking on a journey that would make him a cultural icon and cowboy-hatted hero for five decades in which his star never dimmed.
Stagecoach, Red River, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, Rio Bravo, The Quiet Man, The Searchers, The Longest Day, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance were all to come.
He won an Oscar for True Grit in 1969, 39 years after his proper debut, and was nominated for another for directing The Alamo.
When he saw a script that required him to shoot a man in the back, he told them to rewrite it.
In fact, he was so revered as the archetypal American hero that when Japan’s Emperor, Hirohito, visited the USA in 1975, he asked to meet John Wayne, the ultimate symbol of America.
The Shootist, released in 1976, just three years before Wayne’s death, would be named alongside Rocky and All The President’s Men as the best films of that year.
He died of stomach cancer in 1979, aged 72, and left us a vast catalogue of wonderful films, of every imaginable kind, and all of the highest quality.
He was posthumously awarded the Professional Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in America.
James concluded: “Wayne loved his time in the Fair City, by all accounts.
“Although I didn’t meet him, I saw him on screen loads of times, particularly at the Girls and Boys Saturday morning cinema club at the Gaumont picture house in Perth.
“It is interesting to note that myself and others who walk into our new church are treading where he once trod.
“Maybe the congregation should greet each other with ‘howdy, partner!'”
Conversation