O.C. Q&A: Movie Edition

John Wayne and his son, Ethan, join Walter Knott at the opening of the Log Ride at Knott's Berry Farm, 1969

Q:  How far back does John Wayne’s connection to Orange County go?

A:  Orange County screwed him up so bad, he had to become an actor. In November 1926, USC football player Marion “Duke” Morrison seriously injured his shoulder while bodysurfing -- showing off for sorority girls -- at Balboa. (Sounds more like the Wedge than Balboa proper, but the media reported it as Balboa.) He had to give up football and his money was running thin, so he dropped out of school for a year to work behind the scenes at a movie studio. He was, of course “discovered,” became “John Wayne,” and never went back to football. He did, however come back to Newport Beach and lived there from 1965 until his death in 1979.

Q:  Okay, but why is our airport named for John Wayne?

A:  Friendship and politics. Supervisor Thomas Riley was a friend, fellow Newport Beach resident, and Republican political ally of actor John Wayne. Riley talked to Wayne about renaming the Orange County Airport for him in the late 1970s, and the actor – who kept a plane there – liked the idea. 

In June 1979, shortly after Wayne’s death, Riley wrote a resolution to implement the change. The resolution called Wayne "a true American patriot" and the embodiment of "traditional American values." Despite some protests, Riley slipped it into the Board of Supervisors’ “consent” agenda, and it was passed 4 to 0, with no public comment.

Ironically, only thirteen years earlier, both Riley (who now has a terminal named for him at the airport) and Wayne signed petitions against the airport expanding or allowing jet service. As Newporters, neither wanted noisy planes going over their homes all day.

Q:  What’s Dana Point’s connection to the Hollywood sign?

A:  In 1923, developer Sidney Woodruff constructed an enormous hillside sign in L.A., advertising a planned community: HOLLYWOODLAND. Later, the letters LAND were lost, and a star was born. 

In 1927, Woodruff led a syndicate to reboot the failed Dana Point subdivision. In buying the land, he acquired some preexisting infrastructure, including a bluff-top gazebo and streets named for the colored ship lanterns which lighted them. A resort-like community with Mediterranean architecture and a marina were planned and marketed with hype worthy of Hollywood. 

Houses, businesses, a pier, and the beginnings of a hotel were built. Woodruff expanded the colored lantern motif and planted flowering plants to match the lantern color of each street. But thanks to the Great Depression, the town’s growth came to a screeching halt until after World War II. 

Q:  Other than Disneyland, does Orange County have any Star Wars connections?

A:  The signature scar on smuggler Han Solo’s chin came from Laguna Beach. 

In 1964, actor Harrison Ford had an apartment in the hills above Laguna Canyon and a job as an assistant art buyer for Bullock’s department store at Fashion Square (now MainPlace) in Santa Ana. Driving to work on Laguna Canyon Road one morning, he fumbled with the seatbelt in his Volvo and accidentally ran over a curb and into a telephone pole. He busted his chin open on the steering wheel. 

Luckily, the resulting scar didn’t keep Ford from getting a coveted roll in John Brown's Body at the Laguna Beach Playhouse the following year, where his acclaimed performance led to his discovery by Hollywood. The scar only helped in portraying adventurers, rogues and intergalactic smugglers.