Posted on 03/26/2008 9:37:09 AM PDT by lunarbicep
I wonder what those who did know him thought of him? Well, Robert Aldrich, former president of the Directors Guild of America, said, “It is important for you to know that I am a registered Democrat and, to my knowledge, share none of the political views espoused by Duke. However, whether he is ill disposed or healthy, John Wayne is far beyond the normal political sharp shooting in this community. Because of his courage, his dignity, his integrity, and because of his talents as an actor, his strength as a leader, his warmth as a human being throughout his illustrious career, he is entitled to a unique spot in our hearts and minds. In this industry, we often judge people, sometimes unfairly, by asking whether they have paid their dues. John Wayne has paid his dues over and over, and I'm proud to consider him a friend...”
Maureen O'Hara had this to say. “I had just arrived in Hollywood from Ireland and knew few people. Duke was especially kind to me - without trying to be. That's the way he is. He just acts himself and puts on pretense for no one. I thought he was very nice and relaxed, tall and easy. Looking back on it now I realize he was easy to get to know because he seemed so shy that I outdid myself trying to make him feel at ease. This was no trick either - this shyness of Duke's...
...He is a pleasure to work with and not in the least temperamental. With apologies to John Ford, I've heard this director give Duke a verbal licking and that was so strong it made me nervous. And yet Duke takes it and goes on trying. I must add that John Ford is one of Duke's best friends - and mine too.”
How about Ronald Reagan? “We called him DUKE, and he was every bit the giant off screen he was on. Everything about him-his stature, his style, his convictions-conveyed enduring strength, and no one who observed his struggle in those final days could doubt that strength was real. Yet there was more. To my wife, Nancy, Duke Wayne was the most gentle, tender person I ever knew.”
What about average people? Jim Mace recalls "I met John Wayne during the making of Rooster Cogburn, and got his autograph in a copy of his senior year high school yearbook. He was going over his lines, but he never told me to get lost."
Larry Torreodor remembers the time he ran into Wayne. ""I met John Wayne, once. It was back in 1967. My friends and I had just graduated from college and were attending the wedding of one of our "group". The wedding reception took place at a bayside home in Newport Beach harbor - a home that just happened to be next door to John Wayne's house. The house was very crowded so my friends and I stepped out in front of the house to have a beer by the pool. (The pool was in front, the harbor was in back!) We'd been out there about 10 minutes when John Wayne (I guess he had the same idea) came outside. He wandered over to us in that unmistakable walk. Spotting a fellow Trojan one of my friends went up to him - stuck out his hand and said "Peter James, USC, Class of '67." "John Wayne, nice to meet you," he replied. He had a beer with us and couldn't have been more polite and gracious. It didn't take long for the guests to realize that he had snuck outside and they quickly descended upon him. I realized then how hard it must be to be famous and what a remarkable achievement it was for him to have remained such a genuinely nice man."
And if we're going to tell stores, I can tell you about the time my high school girlfriend ran into him around Bayshore in Newport Beach, the very area where he used to live from the story above, and where my girlfriend had relatives renting a vacation home during the summer. He was very nice to her and gave her an autograph. I still live in Orange County, was in the cemetery he's buried in for a funeral a while back, and should have heard something negative about John Wayne in the past fifty years, yet I've never heard a peep. Except from you.
Even though he was a staunch liberal Democrat and supportive of gun control, Richard Widmark made some very entertaining movies. A personal on-screen favorite of mine.
RIP, Mr.Widmark.
I was thinking of more non Box office types. I’d take out Burt and Kirk and add Joseph Cotton and Fredric March, But Glen Ford, and Atticus Finch are right in there.
It’s hard to decide whether it is the actor or the roles.
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