Born Marion Morrison in 1907, actor and icon John Wayne was well known for starring in films of the Western genre, including classics such as The Searchers, True Grit, Stagecoach, and Rio Grande, among many others. A few years after his passing in 1979, Wayne was immortalized through the construction of two Southern California statues, including this one in Beverly Hills.
Commissioned in 1984 by the Great West Savings & Loan Bank—Wayne had appeared in television commercials for them in the 1970s—this full-size statue depicts Wayne as a cowboy on horseback, sitting in the saddle with his feet in the stirrups and hands on the reins.
The statue, created by sculptor Harry Jackson, is 21 feet tall and weighs six tons. Originally it rotated on an 8-foot-high oval base, but drivers along busy Wilshire Boulevard were distracted by it, so the motor was removed. The original, colorful paint job was also changed to the current dark coating.
Following a takeover, Great West sold the building to Larry Flynt’s Hustler organization in 1994, though the statue was not part of the deal. Flynt died in 2021, and while there have been talks at various times over the years about its removal or relocation, the sheer size and weight seem exponential in terms in cost, so it seems likely that John Wayne will remain.
The other statue of Wayne is at the airport named in his honor in Santa Ana, Orange County. Created in bronze by Robert Summers, that one stands at 9 feet tall, and can be found in the lobby of the Thomas F. Riley Terminal.
