John Wayne

The feud between John Wayne and Clint Eastwood

For western genre enthusiasts, Clint Eastwood is an almost untouchable icon. Loved and revered by anyone who has held a toothpick in their mouth without any intent to pick their teeth, there is perhaps only a handful of Hollywood heroes who can stand nose to nose with the legend. It just so happens, that Eastwood incurred the displeasure of such a legendary cowboy—none other than John Wayne.
Eastwood starred in the 1973 film High Plains Drifter which he also directed. Now a classic, the film was absolutely hated by John Wayne, an iconic figure in the western genre and Eastwood’s senior. It was a clear moment of Wayne punching down the ladder and trying to disrupt a young artist making their way in Tinseltown.
Just Eastwood’s second directorial effort, High Plains Drifter was released at the very height of the actor’s popularity, merely two years after the crime thriller Dirty Harry had cemented his position in pop culture. A critical darling, High Plains Drifter tells the story of a mysterious stranger who is persuaded by a town to defend them against a vicious trio of crooks, showing just how much the figure of Eastwood is respected out in the wild west.
Eastwood revealed in his book, Ride, Boldly Ride: The Evolution of the American Western, however that the film displeased one particularly loud cowboy. Wayne sent a vicious letter to the star, as Eastwood revealed, “He [Wayne] said it wasn’t really about the people who pioneered the west. I realised that there’s two different generations, and he wouldn’t understand what I was doing.”
To clarify the intentions behind making the film, the veteran actor said, “High Plains Drifter was meant to be a fable. It wasn’t meant to show the hours of pioneering drudgery. It wasn’t supposed to be anything about settling the west.”
The film revolves around Eastwood as a gun-slinging drifter who rides into Lago and is met with great resistance. However, the people recognise his talent with the pistol and enlist his help to fight against a band of hooligans who have been plaguing the twon. The drifter agrees but with a hidden agenda of his own.
In comparison, Wayne’s films were vastly different from the film in question. High Plains Drifter is darker and more violent than Wayne’s usual films, which essentially ride on nursery rhyme tropes of good vs. evil. Wayne’s characters relied on the very essence of their goodness to displace their enemies, often never needing guns to scare people due to his intimidating presence. Eastwood’s characters are mysterious and do not speak much; their more violent and drenched in the intoxicating cinematic appeal of adventure.
It’s easy to see how, as time passed, the two men would see each other in different creative realms. As Eastwood began to find his directorial niche and step behind the camera for some of his greatest movies, Wayne would lean on his cowboy image and add a comparatively bloated end of his career to the resume. This disagreement alone sees the artistic differences between them.

High Plains Drifter Official Trailer #1 - Clint Eastwood Movie (1973) HD

John Wayne

Famed famous actress will not work with John Wayne for many years .

While many fans love John Wayne and his movies, it turns out he wasn’t always that popular with his fellow celebrities. In fact, there was at least one actress that refused to work with him for a long time! eventually, she came around but she called out his behavior and asked him to change. That actress was the iconic Katharine Hepburn.

In the ‘50s, John was a Republican who would often share his political views. Of course, this led to disagreements and other people didn’t always agree or like his views.

John wanted Katharine to play Angie Lowe in his western film Hondo. However, after she discovered that he supported the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), she didn’t want to work with him.

Kathar Hepburn famously feuded with John Wayne : In changed her mind. They worked together in the 1975 classic Rooster Cogburn. However, it doesn’t seem that all was well when they filmed the movie. After the movie was completed, Katharine spoke out about John, saying that he was always arguing with the crew and the director. She called him out during the film’s wrap party.

Reportedly, she told him, “I’m glad I didn’t know you when you had two lungs. You must have been a real b*****d. Losing a hip has mellowed me, but you!” Years later, before his death in 1979, they apparently made up and had some fun times together.

John Wayne

The reason Elvis Presley turned down John Wayne’s offer to return to the West together.

Elvis Presley could have starred in the 1969 western True Grit alongside icon John Wayne. However, as much as his manager Col. Tom Parker wanted Elvis to be a Hollywood star, he didn’t want him to have any co-starring roles. If it wasn’t the main role, then he didn’t want it for Elvis.

Reportedly, after Elvis’ western Love Me Tender did so well, John Wayne started noticing him as an actor. He asked Elvis to star in movies with him a few times, including True Grit. He wanted Elvis to play the part of Texan Ranger LaBoeuf.

Elvis Presley could have acted with the iconic John Wayne : However, at the time, Elvis was wanted to focus on music and live performances.

Just a year before True Grit came out, Elvis filmed his 1968 Comeback Special. His manager also asked if Elvis could receive the top credit in the film, above John, if he were cast.

So, Glen Campbell was cast instead. In addition to playing the role of LaBeouf, he sang the title song of the film. This wasn’t the only film role that fell through for Elvis because of his greedy manager.

Elvis was asked to play the lead role in A Star is Born with Barbra Streisand. After negotiations fell through, Kris Kristofferson was cast instead. Can you imagine A Star is Born starring Barbra and Elvis instead? That would definitely have been interesting. Sadly, Elvis died just a year after the film came out.

John Wayne

Ronald Reagan shared how he never forgot John Wayne’s support for him ?

John Wayne was indisputably a Hollywood icon, but he was much more than that to Ronald Reagan. In fact, the 40th president of the United States never forgot how America’s most beloved big screen cowboy, nicknamed the Duke, gave him support when he needed it most.

John Wayne remains one of the most recognizable actors of all time, but he was also extraordinarily patriotic. “John Wayne has dedicated his entire life to America,” said Sen. Barry Goldwater during the 1979 hearings to award the Duke with the Congressional Medal of Honor. “And I am safe in saying that the American people have an affection for John Wayne such as they have had for very few people in the history of America.”

“John Wayne is not just an actor, and a good actor, he is the United States of America,” said actress Maureen O’Hara at the 1979 hearings. “I feel this gold medal should say just one thing: John Wayne American . . . I beg you to order the President to strike it.” O’Hara, known for her fiery red hair, starred with the Duke in the 1952 classic A Quiet Man. They were also great friends his entire life.

Although Ronald Reagan and John Wayne never made a movie together, they were well acquainted. Reagan and Wayne shared political beliefs, but sadly, the Duke died about eighteen months before Reagan won his bid for the White House. However, during a 1988 interview, Reagan recounted how his friend gave him and his wife Nancy support during their first big public battle.

“Are there any comments you’d like to give to close out?” the interviewer asked. “We’re doing this documentary for public television on John Wayne, called An American Hero, I might add. Are there any last, closing comments you’d like to make about the man?”

“There’s one thing that I think shows the character of that man as well as anything,” Reagan said. Then, he began to tell the story of the first Screen Actors Guild strike. At that time, he was president of SAG. So, Reagan was catching most of the blame from the media as well as others in Hollywood.

“In the mornings, for seven months, I was out of that house at meetings trying to get this thing settled,” Reagan explained. “And, Nancy would be there with the morning papers. Sometimes, they were worse than others.”

Ronald Reagan went on to explain how the Duke reached out to Nancy Reagan. “One day, Nancy told me that she’d had a phone call that morning after I left, and it was John Wayne.” The Duke was reading the papers as well. So, according to Reagan, he just called to say, “I thought you might want to hear a friendly voice about this time.” He then went on to tell Nancy how supportive he was of Ronald Reagan and what he was doing as head of SAG.

That wasn’t just a one-time thing, either. Ronald Reagan said that John Wayne called his house every morning just to cheer Nancy up. Looking back on that time, Reagan added, “That was very typical of John Wayne.” When Reagan left acting to start his career running for political office, Wayne publicly supported him through every campaign.