In celebration of Father’s Day, John Wayne: An American Experience is giving its visitors a special offer just for this weekend.
In a Twitter post, the John Wayne: An American Experience crew announced, “This Father’s Day, to celebrate the dads we love, Dads will get FREE admission to John Wayne: An American Experience!”
Free tickets are notably available in-store and all other tickets can be purchased on the John Wayne: An American Experience website. The exhibit is in Fort Worth, Texas, and offers an intimate tour of the life of Wayne. “Starting with his early childhood and career, each room highlights an aspect of The Duke’s legacy. For the film aficionados, an extensive gallery called the ‘Life on Screen’ highlights the most iconic film props and costumes.”
Visitors of the exhibit will have access to never-before-seen family photos and correspondences that are curated by Wayne’s family. This is in order to give guests a “holistic” view of the western film icon.
John Wayne’s Son Ethan Reflects on the Lessons He Learned From His Father
While speaking to Fox News in 2018, Ethan Wayne opened up about life lessons he learned from his father. “I can’t pick up a broom to this day without thinking about him coming out and saying, ‘That’s not how you sweep, this is how you sweep!” Ethan recalled. “And it was with this big push broom.”
Ethan further explained that his father wasn’t very mechanical either. “He was great with his gun, he was great on a horse and he handled boats really well. But if a car got a flat tire, he’d just leave it. And I was very mechanical as a young boy for some reason. I really enjoyed taking stuff apart and putting it back together. He really didn’t get it. He didn’t like motorcycles, and I did.”
Ethan then described growing up on film sets and how his dad would constantly take him on location. “I’d be homeschooled down on location in Mexico because he knew he wasn’t going to be around for me when I was older, and that he would probably lose me while I was young, teenage man.”
Ethan further recalled watching his father doing various activities while filming. “I was 10 when he was 66 years old. [And] he’s on a horse, he’s running at full speed across open country, with a herd of horses running with him… he was a bold, outgoing individual who was full of life, constantly moving forward… And nobody sits on a horse like John Wayne does.”
John Wayne died from stomach cancer in June 1979. He had seven children and had been married three times. Fox News noted he had been paid as much as $666,000 to make a film during his acting career.
