In Beverly infers elvis costello alison Hills: the costello details 42-room Pickfair, home to Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, and the home where George and Ira Gershwin penned several classic tunes. In Los Angeles: the Brown Derby, Nickodell and Perino's restaurants, among other hangouts for Hollywood aristocracy. Even Wayne's white colonial estate in Encino, where he lived before moving to Newport Beach, couldn't dodge the wrecking ball. "Maybe there's not the same East Coast ethos, you know, 'Washington slept here,' " said Pamela Lee Gray, author of a book about Newport Beach and a onetime architectural historian in Los Angeles County. By contrast, residents in Wayne's birthplace of Winterset, Iowa, whose own centennial extravaganza is next month, painstakingly restored the squat home where the cinematic icon was born Marion Morrison on May 26, 1907. Up to 40,000 people -- eight times the town's population -- stroll through annually, and there are plans for a museum larger than Wayne's Newport Beach home. "That was so disappointing when his house was torn down -- to lose that to the winds of progress, I just don't know," said Wayne Davis, a John Wayne Birthplace Society board member. Wayne lived in Newport Beach more than a decade, "and there's unfortunately not much to show for it. " Wayne died of cancer June 11, 1979. Wayne's popularity today could make many a living actor jealous. In Harris polls that ask Americans to name their top leading man, the Duke has notched a top-10 spot for more than a decade. His cowboy-hatted likeness has sold Coors Light, refrigerator magnets, alarm clocks and organic beef jerky -- and now anniversary-linked revolvers, ammunition cartridges and beaver-fur hats. In Orange County, the relationship between the Duke and his fans was as tight as that of cowboy and horse.

"They had an icon there," said Olson, a distinguished professor of history at Sam Houston State University in Texas elvis costello veronica . "The image he projected harkened back to an era where black and white and good and evil were clear. "In 1965, Wayne and his family moved to Bayshore Drive after he was diagnosed with lung cancer elvis costella . To the Duke, Orange County's coastline inspired nostalgia -- he had long bodysurfed the Wedge, injuring his shoulder badly enough to lose his USC football scholarship and switch to acting elivis costello . "Maybe we wouldn't have John Wayne without the surf in Newport Beach," quipped son Ethan Wayne Elvis Costello - wikipedia . Newport Beach -- "the mecca for prosperous political conservatives" -- was also a flawless political match for a star fed up with Hollywood liberals, Olson said elvis costelo . In the century-old city, "he became John Wayne the person, not John Wayne the celluloid star," visitors bureau president Gary Sherwin said aboard the Wild Goose, Wayne's 136-foot minesweeper-turned-yacht, reincarnated once again as a charter vessel. Newport, a onetime escape for Hollywood luminaries such as Humphrey Bogart, mentions Wayne in its visitors guide and on its tourism website. His cancer foundation is anchored here, as is Wayne Enterprises, the company that licenses the Duke's image and name. The nearby airport bears his name and 9-foot bronzed likeness -- though he had signed a petition to block commercial jets because the flight path arced over his home. There's little else.

Like much of Southern California, Newport Beach has long favored the newly constructed over the aged Elvis Costello . Aside from the 46 wood-frame cottages at Crystal Cove, the community has fewer than 20 structures designated as historic, including the Balboa Saloon, McFadden Wharf and the Balboa Inn. "It seems they tear down everything after 20 years to build something bigger or change it so you don't recognize it," said Elaine McGrew, who tends bar at an old Wayne watering hole, Class of '47. At Lido Yacht Anchorage, Wayne's slip was renumbered, from 55 to 204 complicated shadows . The Wild Goose's upper deck has been so retooled that its former captain, Bert Minshall, said, "I cringe every time I see the boat go down the harbor. "The tennis club on Jamboree Road that Wayne opened in the 1970s was rechristened the Palisades Tennis Club two decades later allen toussaint""elvis costello . Instead of paying to use Wayne's name, the new proprietor preferred to spruce up the club's courts. At the overhauled Balboa Bay Club, little mirrors the place where Wayne doled out twenties to the hamburger guy and introduced himself to the owner's Texas relatives by saying, "Hi, I'm John Wayne Elvis Costello - elviscostello . " Duke's Place, the public lounge graced with his nickname and photos, opened only this millennium. Farther along Coast Highway, the Arches restaurant, whose steaks Wayne relished, has preserved the actor's favorite dining room booths, Nos 9 and 10 elvis costello "god give me strength . But when the restaurant's lease expires this summer, the dinner house is moving -- another Duke hangout dispatched. And the new clubs coming in "probably wouldn't let him in -- they're too trendy," said owner Dan Marcheano. Wayne's Newport home stood until 2002. The couple razing it invited a horseback-riding Wayne impersonator to its farewell soiree.

Hank Wiessner, whose company runs boat tours in Newport Harbor, said the owners asked that the home be deleted from the tour, since it no longer resembled where the quintessential movie cowboy waved howdy to passing boats. Elvis Costello tickets "I wish it was still there," Wiessner said elvis costello red shoes . "All we can say is, 'That's where it was. ' "ashley. powers*(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)Getting his props at film festivalThe Newport Beach Film Festival, which begins today, kicks off its "Ten Decades of 'The Duke': The Official John Wayne Centennial Celebration" on Saturday at 2 p. m elvis costello "you belong to me . with a symposium at Edwards Island Cinema, 999 Newport Center Drive elvis costello's wife . Through April 28, the festival will be screening Wayne movies, including "The Quiet Man," "Rio Bravo" and his Oscar-winning turn in "True Grit" at various theaters elvis costello femme fatale . For more information, visit newportbeachfilmfest and click on John Wayne Centennial . "It seems they tear down everything after 20 years to build something bigger or change it so you don't recognize it," said Elaine McGrew, who tends bar at an old Wayne watering hole, Class of '47. At Lido Yacht Anchorage, Wayne's slip was renumbered, from 55 to 204. The Wild Goose's upper deck has been so retooled that its former captain, Bert Minshall, said, "I cringe every time I see the boat go down the harbor. "The tennis club on Jamboree Road that Wayne opened in the 1970s was rechristened the Palisades Tennis Club two decades later. Instead of paying to use Wayne's name, the new proprietor preferred to spruce up the club's courts. At the overhauled Balboa Bay Club, little mirrors the place where Wayne doled out twenties to the hamburger guy and introduced himself to the owner's Texas relatives by saying, "Hi, I'm John Wayne. " Duke's Place, the public lounge graced with his nickname and photos, opened only this millennium. Farther along Coast Highway, the Arches restaurant, whose steaks Wayne relished, has preserved the actor's favorite dining room booths, Nos 9 and 10.

But when the restaurant's lease expires this summer, the dinner house is moving -- another Duke hangout dispatched . And the new clubs coming in "probably wouldn't let him in -- they're too trendy," said owner Dan Marcheano. Wayne's Newport home stood until 2002 elvis costello ryman . The couple razing it invited a horseback-riding Wayne impersonator to its farewell soiree red shoes costello . Hank Wiessner, whose company runs boat tours in Newport Harbor, said the owners asked that the home be deleted from the tour, since it no longer resembled where the quintessential movie cowboy waved howdy to passing boats. "I wish it was still there," Wiessner said . "All we can say is, 'That's where it was. ' "ashley. powers*(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)Getting his props at film festivalThe Newport Beach Film Festival, which begins today, kicks off its "Ten Decades of 'The Duke': The Official John Wayne Centennial Celebration" on Saturday at 2 p. m. with a symposium at Edwards Island Cinema, 999 Newport Center Drive. Through April 28, the festival will be screening Wayne movies, including "The Quiet Man," "Rio Bravo" and his Oscar-winning turn in "True Grit" at various theaters Elvis Costello .