Trav's Trivia Meme

When I'm flipping channels, it's rare that I'll flip past a John Wayne movie. I'm a big fan of The Duke.

Isn't it odd...the things that stick in your mind? In the original Trivial Pursuit game, there was a question about the eight films in which Duke played a character that died. Not long ago, I was walking past a colleague's office and heard that exact question on the radio.

Would you believe it? The answer popped right into my head.

I'm rambling a bit. I'm also flirting with Mimi's dungeon because I'm not doing another meme today. But wait...this is kind of like a meme. It could be a meme.

It is a meme! I so declare it! It's a Travis Meme. I'll call it Trav's Staying Out Of The Dungeon Trivia Meme.



Wow. I've never made a meme before. What do I do now?

Uhm...rules! That's right! A meme needs 'structions.

OK...here's your 'structions:

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to:

1. Choose a category from one of these: Television, Stage & Screen, Nightly News, Publishing, Lives & Times, Music

2. Find 8 bits of trivia about your selected category

3. Be sure to let me know when...ok, if...you decide to play along so I can see what you come up with.

4. You may tag, or simply offer the meme for borrowing or stealing as you like.

OK...Here's mine!

My category is Stage & Screen and my 8 bits of trivia are about American Icon John Wayne.

These are the 8 Films In Which John Wayne's Character Dies:

Central Airport (1933): In an uncredited role, Duke plays an airline co-pilot killed in a plane crash.

Reap The Wild Wind (1942): Duke plays Captain Jack Stuart, who drowns while battling a giant squid.

The Fighting Seabees (1944): Duke plays Lt. Cmdr. Wedge Donovan, killed by a Japanese soldier.

Wake of the Red Witch (1949): Duke plays Captain Ralls, who drowns.

Sands of Iwo Jima (1949): Duke plays Marine Sgt. John M. Stryker, shot by a sniper on the slopes of Mt Suribachi.

The Alamo (1960): Duke plays Col. Davy Crockett. Crockett is mortally wounded with a spear to the chest, but heroically manages to set fire to a huge store of gunpowder, which explodes and takes out a company of Mexican soldiers. Well, Duke directed the film and that's how he says it happened!

The Cowboys (1972): Duke plays rancher Wil Andersen, who is forced to take a bunch of kids on a cattle drive. After knocking the stuffing out of Bruce Dern, the cattle thief shoots him in the back.

Bonus Trivia: Bruce Dern's role as the psychotic cattle rustler, Asa Watts, who kills John Wayne earned the actor death threats. Duke reportedly told Mr Dern, "They'll hate you for this".

The Shootist (1976): In his final film, Duke plays John Bernard Books, determined to die on his own terms. After seemingly surviving what he had staged as his final gunfight, he is shot in the back by the Metropole bartender.

OH! How about a double bonus?

The Deceiver (1931): Duke plays Richard Thorpe as a corpse.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962): Duke plays Tom Doniphon, who has died at the beginning of the film.

I hope you'll play along. But even if you don't, I had fun creating my first meme.

I've still got several more memes in the queue, so I'll be getting to those soon.

Have a great weekend!