Born Marion Robert Morrison in 1907 in Winterset Iowa, John "The Duke" Wayne needs little introduction. In 1916, Wayne's family moved to southern California, where he spent his childhood and would later attend college at USC. After breaking his collar bone during a bodysurfing incident, Wayne lost his football scholarship at the university, and being unable to pay his tuition, left college. As a favor to USC football coach Howard Jones, Wayne was hired as a prop boy and extra by Tom Mix and John Ford at the Fox Film Corporation. Wayne quickly moved into bit parts, before landing his first starring role in "The Big Trail" in 1930. In 1939, The Duke landed the lead role in "Stagecoach", making him a mainstream Hollywood star, going on to star in 142 films, Wayne cemented his legacy as one of Hollywood's legendary actors. John Wayne remains a household name to this day, having played a starring role in iconic films such as "Flying Leathernecks", "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", "The Longest Day", "Rio Bravo", "The Alamo", "The Green Berets", "The Comancheros", and "True Grit". The hat itself appears to be a light tan colored Stetson (manufacturer not confirmed), similar to those worn by Wayne in many of his Western roles as well as in everyday life. The hat is signed "All/My Best/John Wayne" on the brim. The hat is surrounded by photos of Wayne is various Western movie roles and Western attire, which are inset in the matting along with a small plaque featuring his name, birth year, and death year. It is housed in a shadowbox type display that allows viewing of the hat from almost every angle. The shadowbox display as a whole measures approximately 29 1/4 x 41 1/4 x 6 3/4 inches and has hardwood framing supporting the large plexiglass panels.

Fine overall, the hat showing some light wear, possibly from having been worn, and minimal wear/fading on the photographs or matting. The shadowbox itself shows some scattered light handling/storage wear. This would be make an incredible piece to enhance a collection of Western firearms or as a standalone display!