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And Wayne wasn’t just a cowboy movie star he loved art and his personal collection included everything from Renoir to Remington. He preferred chess to horses and read thousands of books.
Winston Churchill was the person he said he would most like to meet.
“He took a nearly beaten nation and kept their dignity for them,” Wayne said.
Fellow actors Wayne admired included Richard Burton, George C. Scott, Spencer Tracy and Gary Cooper. He also enjoyed Lucille Ball and Jackie Gleason’s humor.
Nicknamed Duke, Wayne couldn’t sing or play cowboy songs on a guitar like other actors. A stand in was used but that didn’t stop him from becoming a box office draw.
“I like Duke Wayne a great deal, said producer Walter Mirisch. “A very decent, professional man, no nonsense. He came to work, he knew his lines. He was approachable, he didn’t throw his power or prominence around. And a tremendously underrated actor.”
Wayne loved the sea and lived in New Port Beach.
“Look at that changing scene out there,” he once said. It’s hard as hell to work because you start looking at this and pretty quick your mind just eases off into numbness.”
Wayne died of cancer on June 11, 1979.
On Jan. 23, 2021, Brian Lebel’s Old West Events featured a selection of John Wayne screen-worn shirts and a hat in its auction.
Here are some current values.
John Wayne
U.S. Cavalry Officer’s Tunic and pants; from Rio Lobo; Rio Lobo; includes original promotional photos; 1970; $10,030.
Bib Front Shirt; Red River; first important film collaboration between director, producer, screenwriter Howard hawks and Wayne; 1948; $21,240.
Bib Front Shirt; The Searchers; with original screen-worn neckerchief; 1956; $23,600.
Beaver Hat; Cahill U.S. Marshal; from the collection of Wayne’s personal costumer, Luster Bayless; 1973; $29,500.
