John Wayne: The Life and Legend by Scott Eyman

Though in other ways he was very well aware of what he was doing. In 1957, at the peak of his career, he is reported to have said that the person on the screen wasn’t really him. “I’m Duke Morrison, and I never was and never will be a film personality like John Wayne. I know him well. I’m one of his closest students. I have to be. I make a living out of him.”

John Wayne may have been a major star and audience favorite from 1939 till his death, but in fact his popularity continued long after: 20 to 30 years later he remained among the top five American film stars of all time. On one occasion, he said, “I’ve played the kind of man I’d like to have been.” Which is very close to a remark made by another superstar from the Golden Age of Hollywood; Cary Grant said more than once: “Everybody wants to be Cary Grant. Even I’d like to be Cary Grant.”

Of course, those times are gone forever. Currently, there are many film stars but virtually none with the iconic status of Cary Grant or John Wayne. Or James Cagney, for that matter, or Jimmy Stewart, or Katharine Hepburn, or Bette Davis, or Humphrey Bogart. These were more than simply good or great actors playing roles, they were brand names you could happily invest in, and rarely be disappointed. Source: www.nytimes.com

“Life’s hard. It’s even harder when you’re stupid.” —John Wayne

The story of the christening of John Wayne varies only slightly in the telling. Raoul Walsh had approached Fox Film Corporation head Winfield Sheehan regarding a western about the pioneers' trek west. The film was to be based on a Saturday Evening Post serial by Hal G. Evarts entitled 'The Shaggy Legion' that ran from November 30, 1929, to January 4, 1930, and was later published as a novel. The serial's title referred to the last great herd of buffalo, but Walsh's imagination converted it into a vast saga of western expansion, a sound version of 'The Covered Wagon' or 'The Iron Horse' – two of the greatest hits of the silent era. Walsh was afraid that the sophistication of an experienced actor would creep through and be apparent to the audience. Raoul Walsh claimed that he came up with the name "Wayne," and that Sheehan added the "John," but Duke said that the whole thing was Sheehan’s idea. Sheehan was a fan of Mad Anthony Wayne, the Revolutionary War general, because "he had been tough and a non-conformist."

The "John" seems to have been an afterthought, but it worked – gave the two halves of the name the equivalence of two blocks of granite that miraculously fit together. -Excerpted from 'John Wayne: The Life and Legend' (2014) by Scott Eyman. Source: www.mensjournal.com

Wayne’s co-star in Seven Sinners was Marlene Dietrich, who was also coming off a career-changing hit: Destry Rides Again. The first time Dietrich saw Wayne was in the commissary at Universal. She leaned over to director Tay Garnett and said, “Daddy, buy me that.” Wayne had been trying to be a better husband, but he made an exception for Dietrich, as many did. It seems that Dietrich made the first move by inviting him into her dressing room. Wayne nervously looked around and said, “I wonder what time it is?” Dietrich lifted her skirt to reveal a garter with a watch attached. She looked at the watch, then moved toward Wayne, saying, “It’s very early, darling. We have plenty of time.”

Neither Wayne nor Dietrich attempted to conceal the affair. On particularly hot days, Dietrich would have ice-cold champagne brought to the set for the cast and crew, and to pass the time while the lights were being shifted she would play the musical saw. “She would open her legs,” remembered William Bakewell, “put a regular saw in it and with a violin bow, play ‘Annie Doesn’t Live Here Anymore’ with a wow in it. She was an interesting woman.” Wayne rarely spoke of what transpired behind closed doors with Dietrich, or with anybody else, but he retained fond memories of her. “She was great, just a German hausfrau. She used to cook pressurized beef to make beef bouillon for everybody. It may have been an act, but it brought her a great deal of enjoyment.” As she grew older, it suited Dietrich’s ego to deny that she and Wayne had had an affair, probably because he didn’t fit in comfortably with her elite roster of European intellectual lovers —Josef von Sternberg, Erich Maria Remarque, Jean Gabin, etc. “My mother thought all [Hollywood] people were vulgar,” said her daughter, Maria Riva. “She thought Lubitsch was extremely vulgar.” Dietrich also cast aspersions on Wayne’s mind, although that had not been her main area of interest: “Wayne was not a bright or exciting type, [not] exactly brilliant, but neither was he bad.”

The relationship with Dietrich continued for another year and a half. Early in 1942, Wayne and Dietrich were reunited on a remake of 'The Spoilers.' Dietrich’s agent, Charles Feldman, had bought the remake rights to the Rex Beach novel for $17,500 in July 1941, packaged it, and turned around and sold it to Universal five months later for $50,000 and 25 percent of the profits. Ollie Carey was amused by the affair. “You can tell —the way they look, the way they talk to each other, the way they flirt. Of course, Marlene was double gated, you know. She had a very masculine-looking young woman that hung around the place a lot. But even so, Duke was quite taken with her and I could tell that Marlene was taken with him as well.”

'The Spoilers' was another hit, grossing nearly three times its cost. Six months later, Wayne began his third and final film with Dietrich.

'Pittsburgh' was again produced by Feldman, who sold Universal the script for a cheap $13,500, although the deal also involved the studio paying Feldman 12.5 percent of the first $240,000 in gross profits. (Feldman would eventually realize $147,843 as his share, a lot more than Wayne’s flat $50,000 salary, which was also outpaced by Dietrich’s $100,000 and Randolph Scott’s $65,000.) Wayne and Dietrich never worked together again, although there were occasional meetings. Wayne always broke into a fond smile when the subject of Dietrich came up, and his précis description of his experience both on and offscreen was enthusiasm itself: “Fantastic!” -"John Wayne: The Life and Legend" (2014) by Scott Eyman

Kyle Chandler [who played Raoul Walsh in the TV film 'And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself' in 2003] recalls: "I pretty much grew up out in my pasture and in the woods, living out those characters. If it was a war, I'd be running through the creek... 'The Sands of Iwo Jima.'

Everything that John Wayne ever did. There were no kids who lived nearby, so I think that had a great deal of influence." Like those old John Wayne movies, 'Homefront' [found] itself in a life-or-death battle. Last week 'Homefront' scored a major victory, finishing second ahead of NBC's troubled news magazine.

Homefront has developed a core of viewers who appreciate its strong cast, surprising plot twists (i.e., a newspaper writer's murder), humor and history. Creators Lynn Marie Latham and Bernard Lechowick are exploring the birth of suburbia and advent of television in suburban Cleveland in 1948. Al Kahn (John Slattery) is accused of being a Communist sympathizer, and Italian war widow Gina Sloan (Giuliana Santini) has flashbacks about her Auschwitz concentration camp stay.

Chandler, his baseball career in doubt due to a knee injury, continues his verbal sparring with former girlfriend Ginger (Tammy Lauren). The season ends with their wedding - not bad for a romance that wasn't projected to last more than three episodes last spring. -"Homefront: a role easy for Chandler to play" (1993) by John Kiesewetter - Cincinnati Enquirer

John Wayne's second wife was Esperanza Baur (nicknamed 'Chata') - they got married on 17 January 1946 and they divorced on 1 November 1954. "After years of push-pull across the U.S.-Mexican border, Wayne and Chata were finally married on January 17, at the Unity Presbyterian Church in Long Beach. Mary Ford and Olive Carey were matrons of honor, and Ward Bond was best man. Herbert Yates gave the bride away, and Wayne’s mother hosted the reception at the California Country Club. John Ford boycotted the wedding, and he didn’t mince words with his surrogate son: “Why’d you have to marry that whore?” he asked Wayne.

For a time, the marriage seemed to be in rough equilibrium. Michael Wayne would say that Chata was cute. Nice shape, pretty legs, good with the kids. “She was like a kid herself,” said Mike’s wife, Gretchen. “She drank like a man and loved to play cards, so that would have worked for Michael’s dad. But the problem would be that if he was out playing cards, Chata wanted to be out playing cards too. She wasn’t going to stay home and make bouquets. They never had any children; Michael’s dad said it was because she was too mean.” Besides her presumed virtuosity in bed, Chata could match Wayne drink for drink, which made for a household with a high degree of volatility; one writer noted, “No one has ever accused Wayne of being shy in going after the things he wants . . . but he displays an incongruous timidity when it comes to insisting that Chata comply with his wishes.” -"John Wayne: The Life and Legend" (2014) by Scott Eyman