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VIENNA - Every actor who donned a pair of six-shooters and a cowboy hat took notes from the man.

He was known by a few names in his lifetime. His parents named him Marion Robert Morrison when he was born in 1907 and later changed his middle name to Mitchell. When he began his acting career, he took on a name that would be immortalized along with the legend behind it.

He was John Wayne.

The Duke.

Vienna resident Roger Crowley is the Mid-Ohio Valley's go-to-guy when it comes to all things western. For years, he operated The Old West store in Vienna and continues the business today on the Internet. He's also the author of a popular book on Wayne's life, "John Wayne: An American Legend." He also published a magazine, "The Westerner," that chronicled all things cowboy.

As a writer and appreciator of the craft of the movie western, Crowley said there is no other person who stands taller than John Wayne. The man's shadow looms over Hollywood even now, as the 30th anniversary of his death approaches.

Wayne died June 11, 1979, of stomach cancer. A Harris poll released in January placed Wayne third among America's favorite film stars. He is the only deceased star on the list and the only one who has appeared on the poll every year since it first began in 1994.

Through the years, Crowley has had opportunities to meet some of the actor-stuntmen who worked with Wayne. He's even had opportunities to act as an extra in a few of the westerns in which his friends were involved.

In 2007, the centenary of Wayne's birth, Crowley attended a celebration in Wayne's hometown of Winterset, Iowa. Thousands of people attended. The one thing Crowley noticed was that Wayne's fans ranged in age from young to old.

"The one thing we found about John Wayne in Winterset is that his fans' age range was 5 to 90. Twenty thousand people from all over the world showed up in a town of about 2,000. No one else could command that," Crowley said.

Crowley said it was a thrill to be able to meet some of the men who worked with John Wayne.

Actor-stuntman Neil Summers is one of Crowley's friends who worked with Wayne in several films, including "McLintock," "The Comancheros," "El Dorado" and "Rio Lobo." Summers said no man will ever equal Wayne as an actor.

"He's the dominant personality of the 20th century," Summers said.

As an actor, Wayne was a consummate professional whose work ethic was unrivaled. He wasn't afraid to go the extra mile for his craft and did not fit the stereotype of "the difficult Hollywood actor" in any way.

"He was the first man on the movie set and he was the last man to leave. He did all of his off-camera dialogue. He knew everyone's parts," Summers said. "He was a total and absolute professional. These guys today get 20 million dollars a movie and you can't get them out of their trailer."

Another of Crowley's friends, Gregg Palmer, is an actor and stuntman who worked with Wayne on "The Comancheros," "The Undefeated," "Chisum" and "The Shootist." Palmer said Wayne was a class act and a straight-shooter on and off the screen.

"When you worked with him, it was downtown. First class," Palmer said. "What I admired about him was he always gave you the bottom line. He had a lot of electricity on the set. You could just feel his presence."

Palmer said he has fond memories of playing liar's poker with The Duke in Mexico and playing chess with him on the set. In one game of poker, Palmer said he bested The Duke with a good hand, but he was never able to beat him in chess.

"We used to go to Mexico and play liar's poker on Fridays. We were playing one night and he says, 'I don't think you got the guts to call me. I got three kings," Palmer said. "I drew two cards and I drew the fourth king. When I told him, he grabbed the cards and tore them up. It was the only time I ever saw Duke get mad."

Dean Smith, another friend of Crowley's, worked with Wayne on 10 films, including "The Alamo," "The Comancheros," "McLintock," "Big Jake," "True Grit," "Rio Bravo," "El Dorado" and "Rio Lobo." He said Wayne was a larger than life figure whose charisma commanded respect, but he also treated others with a great deal of respect in return.

"He wouldn't ask you to do something he wasn't willing to do himself," Smith said. "I've met so many great people through John Wayne. There's not a day that goes by that I'm not talking to one of John Wayne's children or his grandkids. And all of these great stuntmen. Hell, I was lucky."

Crowley, Summers, Palmer and Smith all agree that Wayne's legacy will live forever in Hollywood. His worked defined the western movie genre and no one will ever match him as a film icon. While being interviewed, all four men offered some version of essentially the same quote without being prompted.

"There will never be another John Wayne."