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John Wayne

John Wayne: How the legendary actor reflected on life at the end of his career

At 69, John Wayne rides tall with his fans (1976)
“John Wayne has an endless face and he can go on forever.” – Louis B. Mayer
John Wayne
By Kenneth Turan – Pittsburgh Press (Pennsylvania) September 10, 1976
Newport Beach, Calif. — A small group of dieticians sits quietly in John Wayne’s living room, planning a new weight-loss diet for him.
“He’ll be allowed a quarter-teaspoon of salt a day for three weeks,” one of them says, and Wayne, picking up on that, yells out, “Hell, I eat more salt than that on ice cream.”
“Will he be drinking milk?” the dietician asks.
“Not unless I have to,” Wayne growls, complaining after that he wasn’t being allowed to eat “anything but watermelon and gristle.”
John “Duke” Wayne is like that. He keeps doing these John Wayne bits that seem to come right out of his films.
After a discourse on his acting technique, he says, “Many fine actors get lost in their parts.” He pauses, looks real hard, says, “You very seldom see that happen to me,” and bursts into his hearty laugh. Cut and print.
John Wayne in 1969 with his awards
Wayne’s study is nearly 60 feet long, an awesome place. A brilliant hoard of mementos, awards and decorations overflows on one wall.
There’s everything from some sand from Iwo Jima, courtesy of the US Marines, to an Oscar, courtesy of “True Grit.”
When Wayne shows you around, none of this seems to matter. What Wayne instinctively gravitates toward is the people, his people.
“There’s a picture,” he says, stopping suddenly before an old, slightly shaky color photo of four men on a fishing boat: Himself, John Ford, Henry Fonda and Ward Bond. The photographer: Gregg Toland, the man who shot “Citizen Kane.”
“It was down at the Gulf of Cortez near Baja, California. Everyone goes there now, but we went for years in the ’30s,” Wayne says, remembering.
John Wayne - El Dorado comic book cover
“Duke” says he’s just human
Even after all these years, John Wayne has trouble with the way people think of him in mythic rather than human terms. “I have to go to the can like everyone else,” he grumbles.
He was “embarrassed” when his boat, a converted minesweeper called The Wild Goose, recently docked on the coast of Washington, and so many people crowded around to see him that “one poor woman got a little too far over, and, naturally, she hit the drink.”

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Yet it seems almost impossible to deal with him other than as a way of life, a constant, an American tradition.
Even his family sounds legendary — his seven children from two marriages, ranging from a 40-year-old son to a 10-year-old daughter who is about half the age of the oldest of his 20 grandchildren.
” alt=”John Wayne in 1969 with his family” width=”750″ height=”579″ data-jpibfi-post-excerpt=”Actor John Wayne reflected on his life and his long movie career in this interview upon the release of The Shootist, the Duke’s last feature film.” data-jpibfi-post-url=”https://clickamericana.com/topics/celebrities-famous-people/john-wayne-how-the-legendary-actor-looked-back-at-his-life-at-the-end-of-his-career” data-jpibfi-post-title=”John Wayne: How the legendary actor reflected on life at the end of his career” data-jpibfi-src=”https://clickamericana.com/wp-content/uploads/John-Wayne-in-1969-with-his-family-750×579.jpg” data-jpibfi-=”” data-src=”https://clickamericana.com/wp-content/uploads/John-Wayne-in-1969-with-his-family-750×579.jpg” data-srcset=”https://clickamericana.com/wp-content/uploads/John-Wayne-in-1969-with-his-family-750×579.jpg 750w, https://clickamericana.com/wp-content/uploads/John-Wayne-in-1969-with-his-family-600×463.jpg 600w, https://clickamericana.com/wp-content/uploads/John-Wayne-in-1969-with-his-family-250×193.jpg 250w, https://clickamericana.com/wp-content/uploads/John-Wayne-in-1969-with-his-family-770×595.jpg 770w, https://clickamericana.com/wp-content/uploads/John-Wayne-in-1969-with-his-family-735×568.jpg 735w, https://clickamericana.com/wp-content/uploads/John-Wayne-in-1969-with-his-family.jpg 1400w” data-sizes=”(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px” data-jpibfi-indexer=”3″ />The three youngest of Wayne’s seven children — John Ethan, 7; Marisa, 3; Aissa, 13 — share the spotlight with Duke and Pilar, his third wife. (From Time, 1969)
Is it our fault if the 50 years he has been in the movie business seem like always?
No one, not even Wayne, knows exactly how many films he’s made. “A couple of hundred, and at 4 a.m. on a cold set, it feels like it,” is Wayne’s best guess.
“Every so often, I hear about one I’d forgotten. Sometimes I can’t even remember the leading lady’s name.”
In 1967, Time magazine called him “the greatest money-maker in movie history: the gross comes to nearly $400 million.”
And there is more to come. “The Shootist,” his latest [and final] film about an aging gunfighter dying of cancer, has been released to reviews, calling it his best work in years.
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“Naturally, the fact about cancer and my background (he had a bout with cancer a dozen years ago) drew me to it,” Wayne says of the picture.
Wayne’s haggard look as gunfighter J. B. Books was more authentic than he’d planned: “I got the damn flu. I tried to keep working, but by the end of the week, I could hardly hold my head up. I had to take 10 days off and go to bed.”
Wayne is 69. With his hearty face, his broad forearms and broader hands, he hardly looks it, but there are signs.
As to his own view of himself, Wayne says, “I enjoy life to the extremities of my capabilities. I enjoy humor, I have the inclination to trust people, and I was raised by a man who said that lying was the only sin he couldn’t forgive me for.”
It’s an effort to believe there was a time when John Wayne was Marion Morrison, pre-law student taking courses at the University of Southern California, where he played football.
He had worked during a summer vacation as a property man on the Fox Film Studio lot and became friends with a director named John Ford. In 1929, Ford gave him the very small role of a racetrack tout in a film called “Hangman’s House.” And so it began.
 
Wayne has some very definite ideas about why his screen popularity never seems to dwindle.
“Number one, I like people, and I think that has a lot to do with it. And number two, I’ve been very lucky in the men I’ve worked with. Jack Ford and Howard Hawks and Henry Hathaway were just great for me, and Raoul Walsh — the lustiness he gave to pictures I thought was tremendous.

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“The man I played,” he says, slowly, thoughtfully, “could be rough, he could be immoral, he could be cruel, tough or tender, but” — here his hand hits the table smartly — “he was never petty or small. Everyone in the audience wants to identify with that kind of character.”
Actor John Wayne
What bothers Wayne, more than anything else written about him, is “this picture of me as an extreme rightist Republican.
“In my own mind, I’m liberal to the point where I will listen to every point of view, which takes me out of the extremist class on both sides.
“Yet I’ve had bad criticism of my pictures, because of critics trying to criticize my political leaning instead of my pictures.”
John Wayne in 1965
It’s time to leave now, but Wayne won’t let you go without a shot at some more of those photos.
In a corner, he introduces “my favorite people: Pappy (Ford), William Holden, Ward Bond, Bruce Cabot, Gen. Douglas MacArthur.”
All but Holden are dead, and as Wayne lingers over the photos, his vulnerability and his strong remembrance of things past becomes clearer.
In fact, the most animated, the most alive and vibrant he’d been all day came when he’d talked about the times that were no more.
“There was an enthusiasm, whatever picture you were on. There was some wonderful chemistry about the business in those days.”
And today?
“Life goes on,” John Wayne says, “but there is nothing particularly better today than then.”

John Wayne

The Legend Lives On: John Wayne is Still Alive!

In a world where legends never fade, we can’t help but wonder: what if John Wayne, the iconic figure of American cinema, is still with us in spirit? The Duke, known for his larger-than-life roles and undeniable charisma, continues to inspire generations.

From his unforgettable performances in classics like “True Grit” and “The Searchers” to his indomitable spirit, Wayne’s essence is woven into the fabric of Hollywood and American culture. His rugged persona, moral fortitude, and unwavering courage resonate deeply, reminding us of the values he embodied.

While we may not see him on the silver screen today, Wayne’s legacy lives on through the countless actors he inspired and the stories he helped tell. His films are timeless, bringing joy and adventure to audiences around the world.

So, as we celebrate the enduring impact of John Wayne, let’s keep his spirit alive in our hearts. Whether you’re watching one of his classics or sharing a favorite quote, remember that the legend of John Wayne will never truly die. Here’s to the Duke—forever a part of our cinematic history!

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John Wayne

Why John Wayne Turned Down the Chance to Work With Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood and John Wayne are the two biggest legends in the history of Western movies, however, they never worked together. The duo did have the opportunity to work together once in the 1970s. Here’s why the film never came to fruition.

How John Wayne responded when Clint Eastwood tried to work with him

Firstly, a little background. According to the book John Wayne: The Life and Legend, it all starts with Larry Cohen. Though Cohen is not a widely known director like Steven Spielberg or Quentin Tarantino, he’s a huge name to fans of B movies. He directed famous B movies like The Stuff, Q: The Winged Serpent, It’s Alive, and God Told Me To. He also wrote a script called The Hostiles shortly after Eastwood released his classic High Plains Drifter.

The Hostiles was about a gambler who wins half of an estate of an older man. The gambler and the older man have to work together despite the fact that they don’t like each other. Eastwood optioned the screenplay with the intent of playing the gambler alongside Wayne as the older man.

Eastwood sent a copy of the script of The Hostiles to Wayne. Although Eastwood felt the script was imperfect, he saw its potential. However, Wayne was not interested. Eastwood pitched the film to Wayne a second time and Wayne responded with a letter. Wayne’s letter complained about High Plains Drifter. Wayne was offended by the film and its portrayal of the Old West as a cruel, violent place.

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John Wayne

Ann-Margret Refused to Call John Wayne ‘Duke’ While Introducing 1 of His Movies

Ann-Margret once starred in one of John Wayne’s lesser-known movies. However, she refused to call him by his popular moniker Duke. Here’s a look at the film they made together — and why she declined to call him by a nickname.

The one time Ann-Margret and John Wayne made a movie together

Ann-Margret is probably most known for her work in musicals, specifically Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, and The Who’s Tommy. However, she also dabbled in the Western genre. She starred alongside Wayne in the mostly forgotten movie The Train Robbers.

Wayne was also known as The Duke or just Duke. According to USA Today, the nickname was derived from his childhood dog. It stuck with him for many years. It continues to be used today — even on the box covers of the DVDs for his movies.

John Wayne | Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

During an interview with Interview Magazine, Ann-Margret explained why she didn’t refer to the Rio Bravo star by this famous name. “When I came to this country, first of all, mother and I didn’t know English,” she said. “I would curtsey, then say, ‘Thank you,’ and then when I was leaving, curtsey. For example, we went to Dallas to introduce a film I did with John Wayne. And I never called him Duke. I just couldn’t. That’s the way I was raised. When you meet someone, you say either Mr. or Mrs. or Miss. You stand up.”

Ann-Margret revealed she treated other famous people in much the same way. For example, she worked with director George Sidney on Bye Bye Birdie and Viva Las Vegas. She always called him Mr. Sidney.

What Ann-Margret thought about John Wayne

Ann-Margret refused to use Wayne’s most famous moniker. However, she had a positive view of the actor. During an interview with Fox News, she was asked what she expected when she met Wayne. “Oh, I didn’t know what to expect,” she revealed. “But when he hugged me, it’s like the world was hugging me. He was so big and wide with that booming voice. 

“We were shooting in Durango, Mexico and my parents came down to visit me,” she added. “He was so great with my parents. So absolutely welcoming and gentle with them. And anybody who was great to my parents was on a throne in my eyes.”

How the world reacted to ‘The Train Robbers’

Wayne starred in many classic Westerns, including The Searchers, Stagecoach, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. However, The Train Robbers is mostly forgotten. It didn’t gain a cult following like Once Upon a Time in the West or Dead Man. It wasn’t a critical success either, garnering a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, Ann-Margret had some fond memories of making the film — even if she refused to call Wayne by his famous nickname.

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