Ethan Wayne Ethan Wayne John Ethan Wayne (born February 22, 1962) is an American actor. The son of actor John Wayne and his third wife, Pilar Pallete, he grew up in Newport Beach, California, where he shared his father's love of the ocean and outdoors. His name was chosen in direct relation to John Wayne's character in "The Searchers" ("Ethan Edwards"). He played Little Jake, the grandson of his father's title character in "Big Jake". Ethan started doing stunt work after the death of his father in 1979. His first film was "The Blues Brothers". He then went back to work as
John Wayne title was a play on the Dumas classic. He was mentored by stuntmen in riding and other Western skills. Stuntman Yakima Canutt and Wayne developed and perfected stunts and onscreen fisticuffs techniques which are still in use. Wayne's breakthrough role came with John Ford's "Stagecoach" (1939). Because of Wayne's B-movie status and track record in low-budget Westerns throughout the 1930s, Ford had difficulty getting financing for what was to be an A-budget film. After rejection by all the major studios, Ford struck a deal with independent producer Walter Wanger in which Claire Trevor—a much bigger star at the time—received top