Ethan Wayne Biography - Facts, Childhood, Family Life & Achievements

Ethan Wayne Biography

(American Actor Known for His TV Series: 'The Bold and the Beautiful' and 'The New Adam-12')

Birthday: February 22, 1962 (Pisces)

Born In: Los Angeles, California, United States

Ethan Wayne is an American film and TV actor, also noted as the youngest son of renowned American actor and filmmaker John Wayne. Ethan’s initial career saw him playing the grandson of the character played by his father in the ‘Technicolor’ Western film ‘Big Jake.’ He also forayed as a stuntman with the American musical comedy ‘The Blues Brothers’ and continued to work as a stuntman in other films such as ‘The Return of the Living Dead’ and ‘Red Slate.’ He later returned to acting and featured in several film and TV productions. Some of his notable projects are the films ‘Scream’ and ‘Longshot,’ the TV movie ‘The Alamo: 13 Days to Glory,’ and the TV series ‘The Bold and the Beautiful.’ He also featured in an episode of the ‘History Channel’-aired reality TV series ‘Pawn Stars,’ as an expert on his father’s memorabilia. He presently serves as the president of ‘John Wayne Enterprises’ and the director of ‘John Wayne Cancer Foundation.’ He launched the ‘Team DUKE’ fundraising program for the foundation.
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Quick Facts

Also Known As: John Ethan Morrison

Age: 62 Years, 62 Year Old Males

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Gina Rivadenegry (m. 1989–1990)

father: John Wayne

mother: Pilar Pallete

siblings: Aissa Wayne, Marisa Wayne, Mary Antonia Wayne LaCava, Melinda Wayne Munoz, Michael Wayne, Patrick Wayne

Born Country: United States

Actors American Men

Height: 5'11" (180 cm), 5'11" Males

Ancestry: Peruvian American

U.S. State: California

City: Los Angeles

Childhood & Early Life
John Ethan Wayne was born on February 22, 1962, in Encino, California, US, to John Wayne and his third wife, Peruvian actor Pilar Pallete. Ethan was the youngest son and the sixth of the seven children of his father. He has two sisters, Aissa Wayne and Marisa Wayne, and four half-siblings, Michael Wayne, Mary Antonia "Toni" Wayne LaCava, Patrick Wayne, and Melinda Wayne Munoz, from his father’s first marriage with Josephine Alicia Saenz. Michael and Patrick also became actors.
His mother was an avid tennis player who motivated his father to come up with the ‘John Wayne Tennis Club,’ presently called the ‘Palisades Tennis Club,’ located in Newport Beach, California. His parents married in 1954, and although Pilar moved out of the couple’s house in 1973, they never opted for a legal separation or a divorce and remained married till Ethan’s father died on June 11, 1979. Thereafter, Pilar married twice. She was married to municipal court judge Stephen Stewart from 1984 to 1997 and then to travel company executive Jesse L Upchurch from 1998 to 2010.
Ethan was raised in Newport Beach, California. He was named after the character ‘Ethan Edwards,’ portrayed by his father in the 1956 American ‘Technicolor VistaVision’ Western film ‘The Searchers.’
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Career
Ethan stepped into the entertainment industry as a child and played an uncredited role in the John Wayne-starrer adventure–romance war film ‘Rio Lobo,’ released on December 17, 1970, in the US. The following year, he portrayed ‘Little Jake McCandles,’ grandson of the character of ‘Jacob McCandles,’ played by his father, in the May 26-released ‘Technicolor’ Western film ‘Big Jake.’ Ethan’s half-brother Patrick Wayne also appeared in the film.
A year after his father’s death, Ethan commenced his journey as a stuntman. He did stunt work for the 1980-released musical comedy film ‘The Blues Brothers,’ the 1985-released comedy–horror film ‘The Return of the Living Dead,’ the 1999-released family crime comedy 'Baby Geniuses,’ and the 2011-released independent horror–thriller film ‘Red Slate.’
He starred as ‘Stan’ in the slasher film ‘Scream’ and featured as ‘Eddie’ in the comedy–drama film ‘Longshot,’ both of which released in 1981. That year, he also appeared in an episode of the ‘NBC’-aired comedy series ‘B. J. and the Bear,’ titled ‘S.T.U.N.T.’
The action–adventure film ‘Escape from El Diablo’ featured him in the starring role of ‘Sundance.’ The film, directed by Gordon Hessler, initially released in the US state of Arizona in August 1983 and then in Finland, Denmark, Germany, and Portugal.
He appeared as himself in a single episode of the ‘BBC’ series ‘Hollywood Greats’ in 1984. The 1986 Italian–German war film ‘Operation Nam’ featured him as ‘Mike.’ He essayed the role of ‘Edward Taylor’ in the ‘NBC’-aired TV movie ‘The Alamo: 13 Days to Glory’ and appeared in five episodes of the game show ‘The (New) $25,000 Pyramid’ in 1987.
One of his most notable roles was that of ‘Storm Logan’ in the William J Bell and Lee Phillip Bell-created and ‘CBS’-aired soap opera ‘The Bold and the Beautiful.’ He appeared in 184 episodes of the popular series, during 1987–1989, 1994, 1997–1998, 2000, 2001, and 2003. Meanwhile, he continued with other TV and film projects. He starred as ‘Officer Matt Doyle’ in the crime drama ‘The New Adam-12,’ from 1989 to 1991. He also appeared in films such as ‘Bombshell’ (1997) and ‘Comanche’ (2000). He was seen in TV miniseries such as ‘Missione d'amore’ (1993) and ‘Piazza di Spagna’ (1993) and in series such as ‘Beyond the Horizon’ (1994) and ‘Suddenly Susan’ (1996).
He appeared in the video documentary ‘John Wayne: On Board with the Duke’ (1997), the TV movie/documentary short ‘100 Years of John Wayne’ (2007), the video documentary ‘The Personal Property of John Wayne’ (2011), and the documentary short ‘The Duke at Fox’ (2011). Ethan appeared as an expert on John Wayne memorabilia in an episode of the ‘History Channel’ reality series ‘Pawn Stars,’ titled ‘Dog Day Afternoon,’ aired on January 14, 2014. In 2018, he appeared on the long-running TV panel game show ‘To Tell the Truth,’ which presently airs on ‘ABC.’
He is the director of the ‘John Wayne Cancer Foundation’ and started the ‘Team DUKE’ for the foundation. Following the death of his half-brother Michael Wayne in 2003, Ethan became the president of ‘John Wayne Enterprises.’
Family & Personal Life
Ethan married Gina Rivadenegry in 1989. They had a short-lived marriage and divorced in 1990.
According to a ‘TMZ’ report in 2010, Ethan and his sister Aissa got involved in a legal battle with each other over their father’s estate. The tabloid news website mentioned that Aissa and Ethan had valued their father’s estate differently, with the former estimating its value as $15,400,000 and the latter valuing it as $10,704,000. As Aissa wanted to sell her inherited share of the estate, she filed legal papers in Los Angeles so that a judge could value the estate for Aissa to sell her portion to Ethan at a fair price.
A controversial interview of John Wayne given to ‘Playboy’ magazine in May 1971 led the movie icon garner criticism for making homophobic and racist statements. This issue resurfaced in March 2019, following which many demanded that the ‘John Wayne Airport’ be renamed. Ethan defended his father, saying that the latter was not racist and that it would be an injustice to judge the legendary actor based on one interview.

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