A veteran of over 35 motion pictures, four television series, and numerous television shows and commercials, Patrick Wayne is the son of famed Academy Award winning actor, John Wayne and his first wife, Josephine Saenz Wayne. Patrick Wayne is also the godson of Oscar-winning director, John Ford.
Born in Los Angeles, California, Wayne ran track and was captain of the football team in high school. He studied at Loyola University in California, and after graduation enlisted in the United States Coast Guard where he spent eight years on active duty and in the reserves.
Wayne began his acting career at age eleven alongside his father and Maureen O’Hara in Rio Grande (1950). Many of his early films have become memorable examples of American motion pictures including The Long Grey Line (1955), Mister Roberts (1955), The Searchers (1956), The Alamo (1960), The Comancheros (1961), McLintock! (1963), Shenandoah (1965), and Big Jake (1971), among others. Wayne later starred in film Westerns Mustang Country (1976), Texas Detour (1978) and Rustler’s Rhapsody (1985) and played “Pat Garrett” in Young Guns (1988).
His television projects include starring in Shirley (1979-80) and The Rounders (1966-67). He guest-starred on series including Love American Style (1970), McCloud (1974), Charlie’s Angels (1981), The Love Boat (1979-86), Fantasy Island (1981-83), Matt Houston (1984), Murder She Wrote (1987),and Frank’s Place (1988). Wayne appeared in such television movies Flight to Holocaust (1977) and The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams (1978) and more than ninety television commercials. Wayne received the 1958 Golden Globe Award for “Most Promising Male Newcomer” for his work in The Searchers.
Wayne was chairman of the board of the John Wayne Cancer Institute from 2003 until 2021 when it changed its name to Saint John’s Cancer Institute due to political pressure. The John Wayne Cancer Foundation continues to raise funds for cancer education and research.
