Josephine Alicia Saenz

Josephine Alicia Saenz Morrison was the first wife of American film actor John Wayne, and was the mother of the actor/film producer Michael Wayne and actor Patrick Wayne.

The daughter of a Panamanian Consul General José Saenz, a wealthy businessman who lived in Los Angeles, California Josie was 15 or 16 when she met John Wayne while at a beach party in Balboa, California, while the actor, then Marion Morrison, was in college. She met with considerable resistance from her family to her relationship with Wayne, since he was not a Catholic, but after courting for seven years, Wayne's financial status improved considerably, due to his success at the box office, and he was able to convince her family to allow the marriage. The couple married June 24, 1933, in a garden ceremony at Loretta Young's home.

Their union produced four children: Michael Wayne (film producer, b. November 23, 1934, d. April 2, 2003), Mary Antonia "Toni" Wayne LaCava (b. February 25, 1936, d. December 6, 2000), Patrick Wayne (actor, b. July 15, 1939), and Melinda Wayne Munoz (b. December 3, 1940). The marriage ended in divorce on Christmas Day, December 25, 1945.

Josephine Morrison died in 2003, of cancer.