Grandpa was the ultimate cowboy and John Wayne’s granddaughter is doing his legacy proud
When Jennifer Wayne was born, her grandfather was gone. She never met him. The great John Wayne, the ‘Duke’, had died three years before, but his legacy was passed on intact to this brave and determined girl. Jennifer is the daughter of John’s daughter Aissa by his third wife Pilar Palette.
Jennifer’s first passion is undoubtedly country music, she shared in an exclusive interview with Risen Magazine in 2016, but if she had followed her father’s wishes she would now be a professional tennis player. Her father is Lornie Kuhle, director of the USTA Girls’ 16s & 18s Nationals at the Barnes Tennis Center, and Jennifer went as far as to live out his dream by playing pro tennis for a year.
After that, she picked up her guitar and followed her own dream. Jennifer sings in a country girls’ band, Runaway Jane. Her mother Aissa Wayne is a successful attorney in Los Angeles, and she passed on to her daughter her devotion to her own father and a treasure-trove of stories about the legendary actor.
Jennifer received a Nashville Songwriters Association International] award for the song She Don’t Love You, co-written with Eric Paslay. She confessed laughing that her inspiration for the song had been her own ‘disastrous’ love life. One of the loves she lives openly and undisguised is her love of God.
Jennifer confesses that though she is reluctant to speak of politics, she is always ready to share the story of the spiritual journey that brought her to God. It is this strength that she draws on when life sends trouble her way, she admits.
“Jennifer and I have called off our engagement. We came to the mutual agreement that this is what’s best for both of us right now. Thank you for your support and respecting our privacy during this time.”
Happy birthday to my beautiful grandmother! Never known such a fierce, strong, gorgeous woman. Light of my life. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Fh2K4uXb1M
— Jennifer Wayne (@jenwayne) September 4, 2017
One of these occasions was her break up with fiancee country-singer William Michael Morgan. The couple had announced their engagement and wedding plans in December 2016, and sadly by April 2017, they issued a joint declaration that the engagement was off.
Pink mood tonight ? pic.twitter.com/KXnIWvok4j
— Jennifer Wayne (@jenwayne) October 30, 2017
How I felt the whole time around these gorgeous animals ❤️ @LaRocaRange pic.twitter.com/6euLLujwC6
— Jennifer Wayne (@jenwayne) October 23, 2017
According to Nash Country Daily, the couple came to the conclusion that they were not right for each other, and their parting was amicable.
Jennifer is now trying out her hand at acting, and seems to have her grandfather’s knack for stepping into a character’s skin as if born to it. So far she has been in Like A Country Song starring Billy Ray Cyrus, and participated in fellow Christian Joel Smallbone’s For King And Country.