An American Icon is the story of John Wayne s life. It is the story of the man who, twenty years after his death, was voted America s favorite movie star; the legend who received both the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. John Wayne is also the biggest box office draw of all time. In the more than 200 films he made over 50 years, John Wayne became the iconic figure of America s greatest native art form, the Western movie. His Westerns were some of the most defining stories of the American film, presenting a nostalgic tribute to the early years of the enormous, untamed American frontier, with barely a recognizable borderline between civilization and the wilderness. His stories were fictional, but they reflect the world as it was.