John Wayne - ©Theda Bara

The name I highlight in this post is that of the iconic American actor John Wayne, fabulous in the films he starred in, especially the classic Westerns, one of which earned him the Oscar for Best Actor in 1970 for his performance in “True Grit” (1969), playing “Rooster Cogburn”, an alcoholic, one-eyed ex-sheriff who becomes a bounty hunter.

In addition to the Oscar, John Wayne won 5 Golden Globes; 1 Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1966; 1 Best Actor in a Drama Film Award in 1970; and 3 consecutive People’s Choice Awards for Best Actor in a Film, in 1976, 1977, and 1978.

John Wayne has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1541 Vine Street, in the Film category.

John Wayne was christened Marion Robert Morrison, a name he disliked. He was born on May 26, 1907, in Winterset, Iowa, United States, and died on June 11, 1979, at the Ronald Reagan Medical Center of UCLA in Los Angeles, California, United States, at the age of 72.

Wayne carried the nickname “Duke” his entire life, but he received it long before his Hollywood fame. His parents quickly realized that the boy disliked his given name (Marion), so they nicknamed him after the family dog ​​(an Airedale Terrier) that he adored.

John Wayne married three times: first to American homemaker Josephine Sáenz Wayne (1908-2003), from 1933 to 1945. The couple had four children: American actor Michael Wayne (1934-2003), American model Mary Antonia “Toni” Wayne (1936-2000), American actor Patrick Wayne (1939-) and American university professor Melinda Wayne (1940-); Wayne’s second marriage was to Mexican actress Esperanza Díaz Ceballos Baur, nicknamed “Chata” (1920-1961), from 1946 to 1954. This was a turbulent and childless relationship; finally, Wayne married Peruvian painter María del Pilar Pallete Alvarado (1928-), who is still alive at 97 and is the actor’s widow. The couple had three children during their 25-year marriage, from 1954 to 1979: American actress Aissa Wayne (1956-), actor and stuntman John Ethan Wayne (1962-), who now manages the family estate as president of the John Wayne Cancer Foundation, and their youngest daughter, Marisa (1966-), who works with her brother at the foundation.

Haiku: Mother Nature - ©Theda Bara

Haiku and Art by ©Theda Bara — 2026

Finally, spring has arrived...

Transforming Mother Nature into perfumes and colors

How wonderful!

Cliff Robertson - ©Theda Bara

The name I highlight in this post is that of the respected and award-winning American actor Cliff Robertson, who won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1969 for his performance in the film “Charly” (1968), playing “Charly Gordon”, a 30-year-old man with an intellectual disability who, after brain surgery, becomes a genius.

In addition to the Best Actor Oscar, Cliff also won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1966 and is widely recognized for playing “Uncle Ben Parker” in the “Spider-Man” films (2002 and 2007).

Cliff Robertson has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard, in the Cinema category.

Clifford Parker Robertson III was born on September 9, 1923, in La Jolla, San Diego, California, United States, and died on September 10, 2011, in Stony Brook, New York, United States, at the age of 88.

Cliff Robertson was married twice: first to American actress Cynthia Boyd Stone (1926-1988), a relationship that lasted less than two years, from 1957 to 1959, as Cynthia divorced him to marry fellow American actor and musician John Uhler “Jack” Lemmon III (1925-2001); after this traumatic separation, Cliff married again seven years later to American actress and philanthropist Nedenia Marjorie Hutton, known artistically as Dina Merrill (1923-2017), from 1966 to 1989.

Cliff Robertson had two daughters, one from each marriage. His eldest daughter, Stephanie Robertson or Stephanie Saunders (1959-), was born from his union with actress Cynthia Stone. His youngest daughter, Heather Robertson (1968-2007), was the result of his marriage to actress Dina Merrill.

Haiku: We are all Plural - ©Theda Bara

Haiku and Art by ©Theda Bara — 2026

There are no exclusive words

We are all plural...

We write what we feel in the moment.

Rod Steiger - ©Theda Bara

The name I highlight in this post is that of American actor Rod Steiger, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1968 for his performance in the film “In the Heat of the Night” (1967), playing the Southern sheriff “Bill Gillespie”.

In addition to the Best Actor Oscar, Rod Steiger won two BAFTA awards: Best Foreign Actor in 1967 and 1968, and a Golden Globe Award: Best Actor in a Drama Film in 1968.

The actor had a peculiar habit: from a young age, he always carried a red handkerchief in his suit pocket. Whether this was due to fashion or superstition was never revealed when questioned in the numerous interviews he gave.

Rod Steiger has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard, in the Cinema category.

Rodney Stephen Steiger was born on April 14, 1925, in Westhampton, New York, United States, and died on July 9, 2002, in Los Angeles, California, United States, at the age of 77.

Rod Steiger married five times throughout his life. His first wife was American actress Sally Gracie (1920-2001), from 1952 to 1958; his second wife was British actress Claire Bloom, born Patricia Claire Blume (1931-), from 1959 to 1969; his third wife was Canadian actress Sherry Nelson (1948-), from 1973 to 1979; his fourth marriage was to American art director Paula Jean Ellis (1950-2025), from 1986 to 1997; His last wife was the American actress Joan Benedict Steiger (1927-2024), to whom he was married for two years, from 2000 to 2002, until she was widowed.

Rod Steiger had two children: Anna Steiger (1960-), a British opera singer, from his marriage to Claire Bloom, and the American film producer Michael Steiger (1987-), from his relationship with Paula Ellis.