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Various versions of how John Wayne’s relationship with Bond began have been told the best known comes from Duke himself – My Blog

None of John Wayne’s show-business friendships were as enduring, or as entertaining, as the kinship he forged with two men he met around the same time—character actor Ward Bond and director John Ford. The trio hooked up when Ford, in 1929, hired both Duke and Bond, former teammates on the USC football team, along with other former football players, for small roles in a movie called Salute.

Duke’s friendship with Ford has received most of the headlines over the years, but that’s possibly because it lasted longer. He was as close to Bond as any man he ever met, but unfortunately lost his buddy to a premature death at the age of 57 in 1960.
Various versions of how John Wayne’s relationship with Bond began have been told. The best known comes from Duke himself, as he wrote it in the unpublished, partial manuscript about his life. In the manuscript, Duke wrote that Ford put him in charge of wrangling the football players Ford had hired for Salute. Duke wrote that he initially rejected Bond’s participation, because “he struck me as ugly and a potential discipline problem.” Ford found Bond’s unruly youthful nature to be pleasantly unpretentious, however, and hired him anyway.
Apparently Bond didn’t show up when the cast and crew were preparing to board a train for Los Angeles until the last minute. Duke wrote of this instance that “the last player to arrive, an hour late, a dollar short, one pocket torn, and a gin bottle hanging out of the other, was Ward Bond.”

Basically, Bond drove John Wayne nuts on that trip—spending money irresponsibly, getting drunk, and disobeying rules. Ford, however, realized both Duke and Bond had honest, self-effacing natures, so he paired them together, hung out with both of them, and the trio eventually became inseparable. Duke wrote that Ford’s decision to have them room together was “his idea of a joke.” However, “over corn whiskey and a few nocturnal escapades, Ward and I became close personal friends, and that friendship lasted until the day Ward died, over thirty years later.”
It was also a professional collaboration—the two of them appeared together on screen in 22 movies and two television shows, starting with the long-forgotten Salute, but continuing into some of the most memorable projects of both of their careers, including Ford’s seminal The Searchers (1956), which made Duke into a permanent star.
Bond was also notable for his high-profile Conservative political activism that, from time to time, even had John Wayne—himself a rock-ribbed Republican icon—playfully teasing him about “being on his Communist kick again,” if letters in the John Wayne Archive are any indication. But that teasing is sort of the point—the friendship between the two men was so much deeper than a shared profession or shared ideological or political beliefs. Their brotherhood was built on genuine personal affection, some wild adventures, a humorous outlook on life, and genuine humanity.
Letters found in the archives are filled with playful ribbing between Wayne and Ford, poking fun at their beloved Bond. In one letter, Wayne joked that Bond had given up the sugar substitute saccharine because someone told him it was bad for his virility. In many of them were ongoing jests about Bond’s appearance—jokes that had been making the rounds almost since the time the two men first met.
Bond, of course, gave as good as he got over those years. In one way, he got the last laugh. In his will, he left John Wayne a shotgun as a permanent reminder of one of Duke’s biggest foul-ups. It was the same shotgun that Duke, years earlier, had borrowed on a hunting trip and accidentally used to shoot Bond in, yes, his butt. No significant damage was done, but Bond never let John Wayne forget it, even after his passing.
But for all the teasing, John Wayne was heartsick when Ward Bond died suddenly in a Dallas hotel room from a massive heart attack in 1960 just as he had rejuvenated his career as the star of the hit TV series, Wagon Train. He accompanied Bond’s body back from Dallas and took part in the ceremony-at-sea that preceded the disposing of Bond’s ashes into the ocean. In his eulogy, Duke was quoted as saying “we were the closest of friends, from school right on through. … He was a wonderful, generous, big-hearted man.”
In his biography manuscript, when talking about Bond, Duke went a lot further, making clear that he basically never stopped thinking about Ward Bond the rest of his life, even going so far as to fantasize about casting him in various movies when he read screenplays over the years that followed Bond’s death.
“When you lose a friend that close after so many years together, you realize you’ve reached the time of life when the ghosts surrounding you are some of the most significant people in your life,” Duke wrote in the manuscript during the 1970’s, not long before his own life would draw to a close. “Part of me knows he’s gone; another part automatically spots good parts for him. Instincts stay long after friends are gone.”

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John Wayne’s unexpected reaction to his lung cancer diagnosis. – My Blog

Years before people would take getting checked for cancer seriously, John Wayne actually did and it ended up saving his life.His son Ethan Wayne, in the latest Gritcast, talks with Stacy Mulder, who is vice president of the John Wayne Cancer Foundation.In this clip provided by the John Wayne Estate on Instagram, Ethan offers some insight into his father’s reasoning for taking action.


John Wayne also knew that it was possible he might not get insured for future pictures.Take a look and listen as The Duke’s son opens up about this important subject.Fans did not hold back their love and respect for Wayne.One of them writes, “Your Dad was one of a kind!”Another one writes, “I loved and still love and respect the person he was! Not just a wonderful actor and entertainer but a great human being! They don’t make them like him anymore!”

A Wayne fan offers up a simple comment. “Awesome son and father”.Outsiders, we will agree that Ethan has done a stellar job in helping to keep the name of John Wayne in the public eye.While The Duke had that cancerous tumor removed and went on to more movie success, he still had issues with cancer.

Sadly, Wayne died in 1979 from stomach cancer.John Wayne Movie ‘Big Jake’ Might Be Super Flick For This Hollywood ActorSo, who would be a solid fit to play the role that John Wayne made famous in Big Jake?Again, we turn to the Wayne sons for some feedback.Ethan and Patrick Wayne offer up their thoughts on this question.“For a while, I’ve watched […] Gene Hackman, at a certain period of his career he easily could have done it,” one son says.

When someone else asks, “What about Russell Crowe?” Patrick says, “Russell Crowe would be great.” Others say “he’s good in everything he does.”The John Wayne Estate has been celebrating the 50th anniversary of Big Jake, which premiered in 1971. Big Jake happened to be director George Sherman’s final film.The cast included Wayne, Maureen O’Hara , and Richard Boone. Big Jake follows the McCandles family while they are being attacked by the Fain Gang.

Martha McCandles ends up sending for estranged husband Jacob “Big Jake” McCandles to find their kidnapped grandson, Little Jake.Film critics took note of the film’s violence, especially for a Wayne movie.Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune writes, “With a little bit of restraint, the latest John Wayne Western, ‘Big Jake,’ might have been one of the veteran star’s recent best. The most obvious excess and this is unusual for a John Wayne film is violence.”

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Bruce Dern paid homage to Western past as ” Man Who Killed John Wayne ” – My Blog

Over the years, Bruce Dern has made quite a career in film. From acting to producing and just about every facet of the industry. One of his most notable roles, earlier in his career was when he killed John Wayne. That film, 1972’s The Cowboy, came up in his Goliath series.Dern’s series, Goliath features Billy Bob Thornton and others in a legal drama, unlike many others.


Throughout the series, the production crew has tried their best to incorporate some of the film legend’s old material into the show. A man who has worked with everyone from Alfred Hitchcock to John Wayne, Quentin Tarantino and more, has a lot to reflect on.

However, it was how they paid homage to that old John Wayne film that really surprised Dern. During the fourth and final season, Billy McBride has a dream in which Dern appears. Riding a horse and wearing a very familiar outfit.“But what they did that I didn’t know, they went back to Western Custom and got the 1972 exact costume I wore in The Cowboys when I killed John Wayne,” Bruce Dern said.

“They did stuff like that. I was totally surprised. I said, ‘S***, I’ve seen this stuff before.’ And they said, ‘Yeah, you wore it in The Cowboys when you killed John Wayne.’ Oh, my God.’” He continued, “Each day they’d come up with little things like that particularly for me. I really appreciated that. And that is Larry Trilling and big-time Billy Bob Thronton. He’s all about what was there before. I mean, we’re not inventing the wheel, so to speak. We’re trying to find new ways to communicate things. And I enjoyed the opportunity to do that.”Bruce Dern Made a Lot of Enemies Killing John WayneWhile the action was just part of a movie, The Cowboy had quite an influence on how many Western fans viewed Bruce Dern. Taking out The Duke is no small task. It comes with a lot of repercussions. Especially the way his character did it, shooting Wayne in the back after losing a fistfight…in front of a bunch of kids.

While the dramatics of the scene was a perfect example of those old classic Westerns, Dern never really shook the reputation with a certain generation of fans. However, while working with John Wayne, Dern received direct orders to disrespect Wayne on set.“But right at the start, he says to me, ‘I want you to do us a favor.’ He was including himself, [director] Mark Rydell, and the scriptwriters.” Dern explained that during the pep talk, “He [Wayne] gave me carte blanche to just treat him like a turd.” All so the kids acting on set as the cowboys would be scared of the bad guys.

Bruce Dern got into the role and listened to the orders that Wayne gave him. Now, the movie is a Western classic, and infamous in the minds and hearts of John Wayne fans everywhere.

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John Wayne or Jeff Bridges, who plays the role of Rooster Cogburn well? – My Blog

Two movies made 50 years apart, both based on a novel by the same name. Two different iconic actors took turns playing the rough-and-tumble marshal Rooster Cogburn in their respective versions of “True Grit.” John Wayne played him in the 1969 version, Jeff Bridges in 2010. Both were celebrated critically. Now, Duke’s official Instagram account is comparing the performances to see which one did it better.Of course, the question was posed by the John Wayne account. So it’s safe to say the people who responded in the comments were at least slightly biased toward the 1969 version.


Then again, both Rooster Cogburn actors were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances. So it’s really anybody’s game.“John Wayne & Jeff Bridges were both nominated for Oscars for their performance as Rooster Cogburn. Which version of the movie is your favorite, 1969 or 2010?” the Instagram caption read.

In the world of remakes, few movies do as much justice to their original counterparts as the 2010 version of “True Grit” from the Coen Brothers. There was no consensus among fans whatsoever. But some of the most popular sentiments seemed to be that the 1969 “True Grit” with John Wayne as Cogburn featured the more iconic performance. Though, many fans thought the 2010 movie was closer to the source text than the original.

“I have to fall on the side of the Duke. BUT, that’s the BEST remake of a film, I’ve ever seen! Loved them both,” a fan replied to the Instagram post.“2010 Much richer film and truer to the book’s feel. Wayne was robbed of an Oscar for the Searchers and this was a lifetime achievement award,” another added.Two Versions of ‘True Grit,’ Two Very Different Approaches to Character . One of the biggest complaints John Wayne fans had of Jeff Bridges’ approach to Rooster Cogburn was how disheveled he appeared.

“Jeff Bridges was horrible had marbles in house mouth and portrait Roster as a slob,” another fan replied to the post from John Wayne’s estate.But a different fan pointed out that, indeed, the portrayal of Rooster Cogburn in the novel by Charles Portis was one of a slobbish man.This isn’t to say that the Bridges performance is better for accuracy. It’s just that Henry Hathaway, the director of the 1969 “True Grit,” and the Coen brothers took different approaches to their movies. As a result, the actors contrasted greatly in their portrayals of Rooster Cogburn.

At the end of the day, however, the win may have to go to John Wayne on this one. After all, we’re still waiting on Jeff Bridges to reprise the role in a sequel. Duke did it in the 1975 film “Rooster Cogburn.”

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