O.C. Answer Man: How far back does John Wayne’s O.C. connection go?

Orange County screwed him up so badly, 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. 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 he lived there from 1965 until his death in 1979.