Love 'The Duke' and his movies - but afraid he was not a very nice man, personally - and he had - what - 5 wives and lots of liaisons?
I only saw him in person one time and a lady greeted him with: "Mr. Wayne. Welcome. How are you!"
To which he replied, with a smirk: "Still able to, lady..."
The woman was a bit taken back and embarrassed.
I thought it was rather crude. 'Don't think Mr. Widmark ever was a rude...
It's rather a dichotomy. We tend to ascribe the actor with the characteristics of the parts they play. Thus, John Wayne, who never served but played the part of war heroes, was held up as a super American - and he WAS patriotic, no doubt about it. But that didn't necessarily translate to a gentleman on a personal level.
Mr. Widmark played many a villain, but he was a real gentleman in private life.
I always enjoyed Richard Widmark's acting, but as to him as a person, I witnessed one episode of his life that may not be a true indicator of his entire character, but it sure stuck in my memory.
From the Fall of 1963 to the Spring of 1964, I lived in Gunnison, Colorado. I was a junior in high school and my Father was then the Project Manager on the building of Blue Mesa Dam. The crew and cast of Cheyenne Autumn came to Gunnison for a few days to film a portion of the John Ford film. They stayed at a swanky all-log motel called, IIRC, Tomachie (SP?) Lodge, just outside town on the road back east towards Salida.
Dad came home that evening and took me and my Mom out to Tomachie Lodge. We got there about 8 to have dinner. As we passed the entrance to the bar, Dad pointed out John Ford and Richard Widmark drinking with several others. In the dinning room was Gilbert Roland, one of my Mom's favorite actors. As he left the restaurant, he passed by our table and Mom smiled at him. He gave her a big smile back. BTW My Mom was some looker back in the day.
Later, just as we were finishing up our meal, there was a loud crash, followed by the sounds of a fist fight highlighted by the unmistakable voice of Rickard Widmark shouting, "You son-of-a-bitch!"
As we looked back out the door into the lobby, Widmark and some other guy came rolling by in a blur of limbs and fists. They rolled on out of sight then a group of men ran past the doorway after them. Shortly, the fight sounds subsided and then the whole group, Widmark included, came walking back toward the bar.
May Dad was tickled by the whole thing, but Mom was mortified that Widmark has said "son-of-a-bitch" out loud in public. Different morals, different days.
As we left, the group, including Ford and Widmark were loudly drinking away their troubles.
Anyway, the rest of the story goes Tomachie Lodge tossed out the whole kit and kaboodle later that night after another brawl or two started and they all moved down to the Dos Rios Motel near our house on an island in the Gunnison River. In a couple of days, they were gone but not forgotten.
Don't know if Richard Widmark, John Ford or The Duke were real gentlemen or not in their private lives. The books I've read on Ford mark him as being a true SOB at many times (BTW read Maureen O'Hara's Tis Herself: A Memoir for some eye opening remarks on Pappy!) and John Wayne as a man who liked to drink, smoke and live his life pretty much the way he wanted without any apologies.
I've not read anything about Widmark's character one way or the other, but his shouting "You son-of-a-bitch!" and rolling by the dinning room doorway will be with me until they place me six feet down.
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.