Saddle up! For the first and complete Travel Guide to the Duke's Locations
John Wayne worked on film sets around the globe. This book follows his big trail, from his humble beginnings on the Fox backlot in Hollywood to his final filming in Lone Pine, California. Locations in Mexico, Normandy, Rome, Madrid, London, Ireland, Libya and Africa are covered, along with his favorite vacation spots in Hawaii, Acapulco, Greece, Monaco, and the hotspots he frequented in Tinseltown. Anecdotes revisit his most famous scenes, including Rooster Cogburn’s charge and Davy Crockett’s last stand. Production details describe how San Diego stood in for Iwo Jima, how Old Tucson was turned into El Dorado, and how Genghis Kahn ruled over the deserts of Utah. Never before published photos present then-and-now views of his filming sites, in this first of its kind guided tour for film location hunters and Wayne aficionados.
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Praise for "John Wayne Was Here"
"Schaefli has gifted the geekiest of John Wayne geeks with this unique travelogue-cum-biography and gossip tabloid narrative hybrid that comprehensively covers practically every significant location that the actor ever visited...Schaefli assiduously follows Wayne's travel[s]...Juxtaposed with the globe-trotting is an impressive glut of stories and filmland gossip that will entertain the most devoted Wayne fansa dead-on, obligatory purchase for the John Wayne completist."―Library Journal
"Schaefli is a scholar of all things relating to the Duke and his films...a comprehensive look at Wayne's international locations and their relevance to his life and career.... fascinating facts in regard to both history and the movie industry. ...generously illustrated...If you're a Wayne fan saddle up, stop burnin' daylight and add this worthy volume to your collection."--Cinema Retro
"I had to let you know what a treat your John Wayne Was Here has been for my summer. I've read a LOT of books on John Wayne but few I've enjoyed like your work which resonates so closely with this student of the filmography. Besides enjoying the well-researched text, I loved seeing many pictures of the Duke (again, I've seen a lot) that I'd never seen before."―Tim Lilley, author/editor of the Campfire Conversations: Tim Lilley's Interviews with the Coworkers of John Wayne
"Schaefli takes readers on a cinematic journey that spans Hollywood's history as well as the globe. ...previously unpublished photographs will please the most ardent film fans, and a bibliography extensive enough to satisfy serious students of film history. This is a mother lode for diehard Wayne and western-film fans."―Booklist
"Back in my newspaper days I frequently visited and wrote about places made famous simply because John Wayne was there: Ireland of The Quiet Man, Monument Valley, True Grit's San Juan Mountains and one memorable day-long visit with Duke himself at his Newport Beach, California home. But that mere handful of destinations does not begin to compare with the far-flung locales detailed in Roland Schaefli's magnificent book, John Wayne Was Here. Much more than a travelog, Schaefli takes us to movie sets the world over and provides detailed production notes and then-and-now images from Wayne's most classic films. Absolutely fascinating!"--Brian Downes, executive director, John Wayne Birthplace and Museum, Winterset, Iowa
All photos on this website courtesy of Roland Schaefli, unless otherwise stated.
more john wayne locations to scout
If you like this site, you'll like this brandnew book: the first comprehensive guide to the John Wayne Locations, with hundreds of then-and-now photos, unpublished behind-the-scenes-pictures and detailed tour descriptions
Tracking John Wayne: The complete Tourguide
Find directions to locations and anecdotes from the Duke's movie sets in this new publication from McFarland, available now at bookstores everywhere
All pictures posted on this website are from the collection of the author, unless otherwise noted