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John Wayne: The Life and Legend

Page 81

by Scott Eyman


  “It takes 15 years”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Bill Kelly, “John Wayne,” South Bay, 7-81.

  “The hyphenated American”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Elliot Mintz, “The Real Last American Hero Is John Wayne,” Chic, 7-78.

  “I have always felt”: Ibid.

  “the way to stop”: AMPAS, John Wayne, John Reddy, “John Wayne Rides Again . . . and Again . . . and Again,” Reader’s Digest, 9-70.

  “Your generation’s frontier”: AMPAS, John Wayne, P. F. Kluge, “First and Last, a Cowboy,” Life, 1-25-72.

  “If blacks had been allowed”: Roberts and Olson, p. 567.

  “My strategy for the story”: P. F. Kluge to SE.

  “a gross insult”: USC, John Wayne, Daily Trojan, 12-15-72.

  “I think gay people”: USC, John Wayne, Steve Warren, “Duke Has Nothing Against Us—But He Won’t Jump for Joy,” The Advocate, 9-22-76.

  “I didn’t know about Jews”: USC, Special Collections, Warga, “WW’s Notes Continued,” 5-15-71.

  “Government has no wealth”: Batjac Productions, “Messages for America,” undated, but about 1975.

  “When John Wayne”: Didion, p. 30.

  “The Wayne complaint”: USC, John Wayne, “Gumshoes and Tax Audits,” Time, 4-22-74.

  “I’m going to have”: Joe de Franco to SE. All subsequent quotes from de Franco derive from this interview.

  “What we had planned”: McMurtry, p. 94.

  “He likes the things I like”: John Wayne to SE.

  “It’s kind of an”: Bogdanovich, p. 296.

  “I just don’t like”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Tony Crawley, “John Wayne,” Game, 9-75.

  “It just wasn’t a good part”: USC, John Wayne, Molly Haskell, “What Makes John Wayne Larger than Life?,” The Village Voice, 8-16-76.

  “That’s not what he told me”: Peter Bogdanovich to SE.

  “I could see”: Bert Minshall to SE.

  “I thought you said”: Harry Carey Jr. to SE.

  “My dad directed Big Jake”: Patrick Wayne to SE.

  “Jeez, I miss your dad”: Harry Carey Jr. to SE.

  “Come up here”: Michael Wayne to SE.

  Batjac agreed to pay Bridges: USC, Batjac Collection, Big Jake files, Mike Wayne memo, 9-18-70.

  “I don’t know”: Lilley, Christopher Mitchum interview, pp. 135–36.

  “I did not want John Wayne”: Mark Rydell to SE. All subsequent quotes from Rydell derive from this interview.

  “Duke was not known”: Dan Ford to SE.

  “I hope they’re using it”: Ibid.

  “was a complete piece of shit”: Dan Ford to SE.

  “He played everything off the heavy”: F. Anthony Macklin, “I Come Ready,” Summer, 1975, Film Heritage, p. 24.

  “He . . . felt”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Wayne Warga, “Wayne—A Vignette from a Full Life,” Los Angeles Times, 6-17-79.

  “You got a project?”: Robert Relyea to SE.

  Tom Kane told a story: Kane manuscript, p. 30.

  “I loved The Godfather”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Lorraine Gauguin, “Duke in Durango,” National Review, 4-27-73.

  “The difference between them”: Cecilia deMille Presley to SE.

  “I think [Wayne and O’Hara]”: Andrew McLaglen to SE.

  “Duke was truly in love”: Lilley, Christopher Mitchum interview, p. 138.

  “When I die”: Aissa Wayne, p. 86.

  “It was conservative”: Tom Fuentes to SE. All subsequent quotes from Fuentes derive from this interview.

  “He was always the one”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Dennis McLellan, “Listen, Kid, the Duke’s Still a Force,” Los Angeles Times, 1-26-90.

  “Keep it open”: George Valenzuela to SE.

  “The ocean looked like”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Dennis McLellan, “Listen Kid, the Duke’s Still a Force,” Los Angeles Times, 1-26-90.

  “You know”: Robert Osborne to SE.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  The deal with Warners: USC, Batjac Collection, The Train Robbers agreement.

  “He was always happy”: MOMA, John Wayne, Maurice Zolotow, “How Duke Made Friends with Death,” Los Angeles, 3-79.

  “He did what he wanted to do”: Rod Taylor to SE.

  “I like turkey”: William Clothier to SE.

  “I worked very hard”: Michael Wayne to SE.

  Warner Bros.’ calculations: USC, Batjac Collection, The Train Robbers files.

  “Really feel rotten”: USC, Batjac Collection, box 53, folder 2.

  “The theme was a good theme”: F. Anthony Macklin, “I Come Ready,” Film Heritage, Summer 1975, p. 32.

  “Andy was a great big guy”: William Wellman Jr. to SE.

  “I’m amazed by actors”: Mark Rydell to SE.

  “He knew who I was”: Mel Brooks to SE.

  Even a few months: Alan Shayne to SE.

  “What killed the western?”: Larry Cohen to SE. All subsequent quotes from Cohen derive from this interview.

  “Ford used to like me”: Burt Kennedy to SE.

  “He kept sending me messages”: Charlton Heston to SE.

  “I love him”: Eyman, Print the Legend, p. 554.

  “Hi, Duke”: Ibid., p. 557.

  “Hi, Jeannie”: Jean Nugent to SE.

  “Ford was so defiant”: Darcy O’Brien to SE.

  “I haven’t made a movie”: Stacy, p. 28.

  Wayne and Pilar had stopped sleeping together: Aissa Wayne, p. 124.

  “He feels”: Stacy, p. 23.

  “sensitive, very affectionate”: USC, Constance McCormick Collection, John Wayne, Vol. VIII, Dennis McLellan, “A Loving Tribute to Duke the Man,” Los Angeles Times, 6-3-83.

  “She was after bigger game”: Bert Minshall to SE.

  “It seemed like”: Stacy, p. 31.

  “Honey, your mother”: Aissa Wayne, p. 168.

  “That man maybe”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Dennis McLellan, “Listen Kid, the Duke’s Still a Force,” Los Angeles Times, 2-26-90.

  “Josie had a lot”: Tom Fuentes to SE.

  “What does she want?”: Cecilia deMille Presley to SE.

  “He never saw it coming”: Joe de Franco to SE.

  “a charming gentleman”: Julie Adams to SE.

  “Trim any close-ups”: USC, Batjac Collection, cutting notes from J.W., McQ files, box 35, folder 23.

  “You think you’re tough?”: USC, Batjac Collection, Downey to Wayne, 12-5-73, box 36, folder 5.

  “I’m sorry to note”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Charles Peterson, “John Wayne at Harvard,” Parade, 2-24-74.

  “I guess the thing”: Ibid.

  “They thought I”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Molly Haskell, “John Wayne, Westerns and Women,” Ladies’ Home Journal, 7-76.

  “He hated that picture”: Cecilia deMille Presley to SE.

  “Are you kidding me?”: Larry Cohen to SE.

  “This kind of stuff”: Stacy, p. 105.

  “Duke sees the Western”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Richard Goldstein, “The Last Cowboy Saint,” Los Angeles Times West Magazine, 2-5-67.

  Someone saw them leaving: Stacy, p. 59.

  With the noblesse oblige: Ibid., p. 62.

  “affectionate, considerate”: Ibid., p. 64.

  “And that’s when”: Christopher Trumbo to SE.

  “I only want to know”: Ibid.

  “A week or so ago”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Carl Foreman, “On the Wayne,” WGANews, December 1974.

  “It wasn’t really a concern”: Christopher Trumbo to SE.

  Schary responded: USC, John Wayne, Dore Schary letter, Playboy, 8-71.

  “He was a patriot”: Mrs. Carl Foreman, Darkness at High Noon documentary.

  The total script costs: USC, Batjac Collection, Brannigan files.

  “If my mother”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Ivor Davis, “A Boozing, Brawling Evening with the Duke,” Los Angeles, 5-19-75.

  “I like most of what”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Tony Crawley, “John Wayne,” Game, 9-75.

  “I can’t find fault too much”: AMPAS, John
Wayne, Will Tusher, “John Wayne’s View of Movies a Fooler,” The Hollywood Reporter, 2-5-75.

  “On occasions . . . I have used”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Dave Sutton, “John Wayne: Image vs. Man,” The Saturday Evening Post, 3-76.

  “He was so lonely”: Cecilia deMille Presley to SE.

  Aissa said that Wayne: Aissa Wayne, p. 173.

  “We should talk about”: AMPAS, Hal Wallis Collection, Nathan to Wallis, 2-8-74.

  “To the people under 30”: AMPAS, Hal Wallis Collection, Wayne to Wallis, 5-21-74.

  “You realize, of course”: AMPAS, Hal Wallis Collection, Rooster Cogburn files, uncredited, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, 2-16-75.

  Wayne’s main complaint: USC, Special Collections, Robert Kerwin, “Two Legends Make a Western,” Chicago Tribune Magazine, 3-2-75.

  “Katharine Hepburn was all over the place”: Mark Rydell to SE.

  Twice Wallis went to Wayne: AMPAS, Hal Wallis Collection, Wallis to Wayne, 9-17-75.

  “I can honestly say”: Berg, Kate Remembered, p. 295.

  “Christ, she wants to”: AMPAS, John Wayne, “Duke and Sister Kate, Too,” Time, 11-18-74.

  “Have been loving”: AMPAS, Katharine Hepburn Collection, Nathan to Hepburn, 10-7-74.

  Wayne to start wheezing: Wallis, p. 182.

  He told them: AMPAS, Hal Wallis Collection, Rooster Cogburn files, Wayne to Weissman, 7-15-75.

  “You got the deal and a 1/3 interest”: AMPAS, Hal Wallis Collection, Wallis to Wayne, 9-17-75.

  “You are an extraordinary”: Heritage Auctions, The Personal Property of John Wayne Auction Catalog, notably Hepburn to Wayne, 5-3-79.

  “From head to toe”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn, “Hooked on John Wayne,” TV Guide, 9-17-77.

  “She’s some woman”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Molly Haskell, “Wayne, Westerns and Women,” Ladies’ Home Journal, 7-76.

  “Ambition?”: MOMA, John Wayne, Joseph N. Bell, “John Wayne’s Scrapbook,” Good Housekeeping, 6-76.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  “Scott is not a western star”: William Self to SE. All subsequent quotes from Self derive from this interview.

  Such was Wayne’s desire: William Self to SE.

  Then the doctors did a biopsy: Gretchen Wayne to SE.

  “He wasn’t fully engaged”: Miles Hood Swarthout to SE. All subsequent quotes from Swarthout derive from this interview.

  He showed Siegel: Siegel, p. 4.

  “We all felt”: Hugh O’Brian to SE. All further quotes from O’Brian derive from this interview.

  “It started with a quote in the Carson City newspaper”: Ron Howard to SE. All subsequent quotes from Howard derive from this interview.

  “He didn’t do too badly”: Siegel, p. 17.

  “I just don’t seem to have”: USC, John Wayne, Roderick Mann, “John Wayne—A Natural as The Shootist,” Los Angeles Times, 3-7-76.

  “Wayne wasn’t particularly reflective”: Lauren Bacall to SE. All subsequent quotes from Bacall derive from this interview.

  “Jack Ford used to tell me”: AMPAS, The Shootist files, Joseph McBride, Variety, 1-29-76.

  “Will you get”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Molly Haskell, “Wayne, Westerns and Women,” Ladies’ Home Journal, 7-76.

  “You don’t beat it, friend”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Jim Bishop, “Duke Was the Real Thing,” Columbus Citizen-Journal, 6-20-79.

  “Anyplace I go”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Joan Dew, “John Wayne: Riding into the Sunset,” Coronet, 8-76.

  “You’re really fucking this up”: Kane manuscript, p. 10.

  “Let’s shoot the dying scene first”: Siegel, p. 32.

  “Stop acting so silly”: Stacy, p. 101.

  “You’re the only man”: Burt Kennedy to SE.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  She gently suggested: Stacy, p. 103.

  “They were buddies”: Barbara Sinatra to SE.

  “Gene and I have known”: Glendale Library, Special Collections, “Wayne Honored Recalls Early Days,” Glendale News-Press, 4-8-97.

  “You won’t get”: Kevin Brownlow shared his notes of his day with John Wayne with SE.

  “I really was brave”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Charles Champlin, “John Wayne—The Truest Grit,” Los Angeles Times, 6-13-79.

  “I’ll show you”: MOMA, John Wayne, “Reagan Angered John Wayne,” New York Times, 3-16-87.

  “Quite obviously, there are some”: Batjac Productions, “Statement Regarding Panama Canal Treaty,” 10-11-77.

  “The truth is”: Aissa Wayne, p. 175.

  Great Western agreed: MOMA, John Wayne, Col. Barney Oldfield, “When Wayne Says Draw, He Doesn’t Mean from an S&L Bank,” Variety, 11-1-78.

  “It was not”: Haskell Wexler to SE. All subsequent quotes from Wexler derive from this interview.

  “I was a nonentity”: Kristin Glover to SE. All subsequent quotes from Glover derive from this interview.

  he was beginning to lose weight: Bert Minshall to SE.

  Then Wayne contacted Allen: Joe Musso to SE.

  “If I can do it”: Christopher Wayne to SE.

  On the night of April 2: Roberts and Olson, p. 624.

  “I saw it was raining”: MOMA, John Wayne, Maurice Zolotow, “How Duke Made Friends with Death,” Los Angeles, 3-79.

  A month later: Stacy, p. 158.

  “If I could pick”: USC, John Wayne, Will Tusher, Variety, 9-25-78.

  “Christ, everybody’s gone”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Bill Kelly, “John Wayne,” South Bay, 7-81.

  “I found a book”: Ron Howard to SE.

  “You know why Gable’s”: Aissa Wayne, p. 39.

  “I think the best”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Bill Kelly, “John Wayne,” South Bay, 7-81.

  “Wealth? Bob Hope has wealth”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Bill Kelly, “John Wayne,” South Bay, 7-81.

  “I was coming”: William Wellman Jr. to SE.

  “I have it, Aissa”: Aissa Wayne, p. 188.

  “In the last few years”: Bert Minshall to SE.

  “I hate to let her go”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Roderick Mann, “Duke at 71: The Last Authentic Hollywood Hero,” Los Angeles Times, 8-6-78.

  “I gotta say it”: Ibid.

  “By the end of the two days”: AMPAS, John Wayne, “John Wayne: Everybody’s Hero,” The Saturday Evening Post, undated but 1979.

  “Who are you pulling for?”: Christopher Wayne to SE.

  Each day, three thousand letters: AMPAS, John Wayne, Jerry Belcher, “ ‘Wayne Doing Beautifully,’ Specialist Says,” Los Angeles Times, 1-20-79.

  Stacy was heartened: Stacy, p. 191.

  “they still shone clear and calm and resolute”: Aissa Wayne, p. 195.

  Most of the time: Stacy, p. 197.

  “I don’t want any damn long faces”: Bert Minshall to SE.

  On Easter Sunday: Stacy, p. 204.

  “No, Bert”: Bert Minshall to SE.

  “I’m going to do it”: Kane manuscript, p. 53.

  “You’ve got to shoot”: Ibid.

  “He rested until”: Stacy, p. 14.

  “He looked like death”: Howard W. Koch to SE.

  “He allowed us to see”: USC, Constance McCormick Collection, John Wayne, Vol. III, Molly Haskell, “The Myth,” May/June 1980.

  “One time I caught”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Bill Kelly, “John Wayne,” South Bay, 7-81.

  “To Duke”: Cecilia deMille Presley to SE.

  “Is that for Charlie?”: O’Hara, p. 282.

  “Good evening,” said Wayne: Ibid., p. 287.

  Wayne called Olive Carey: Harry Carey Jr. to SE.

  “It was how people”: Tom Fuentes to SE.

  In his bedroom: Gretchen Wayne to SE.

  “They didn’t leave me anything”: Roberts and Olson, p. 638.

  He thought about suicide: Stacy, p. 211.

  “I just can’t wear it”: Mike Wayne to SE.

  “You need to write the Duke”: Darcy O’Brien to SE.

  “What a lovely morning”: Aissa Wayne, p. 206.


  Pointing to an intravenous: Michael Wayne to SE.

  Robert Parrish cabled: Parrish, Hollywood Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, p. 186.

  “It’s got me this time, Mike”: Caine, What’s It All About?, p. 407.

  As an old woman: Barbara Sinatra to SE.

  “we’ll keep on praying”: Heritage Auctions, The Personal Property of John Wayne Auction Catalog, Reagan to Wayne, April 1979, p. 88.

  “At the end”: Patrick Wayne to SE.

  He asked her to repeat it: Roberts and Olson, p. 644.

  “We were married”: Christopher Wayne to SE.

  “The last week”: Patrick Wayne to SE.

  “Is it your wish”: MOMA, John Wayne, “Priest Tells How John Wayne Became a Catholic on His Deathbed,” National Enquirer, 7-3-79.

  “On the morning of his death”: Patrick Wayne to SE.

  Aissa Wayne was there: Aissa Wayne, p. 214.

  “When you have as many kids”: Christopher Wayne to SE.

  “My grandmother was very devout”: MOMA, John Wayne, “John Wayne’s Grandson Reflects on His Priesthood,” St. Anthony Messenger, undated.

  “My dad was not”: Patrick Wayne to SE.

  The Mass was conducted: MOMA, John Wayne, “John Wayne Buried,” Variety, 6-19-79.

  When word came: Buford, p. 297.

  EPILOGUE

  The thirty-page document: AMPAS, John Wayne, Jeffrey Perlman, “Wayne Leaves Estate Valued at $6.8 Million,” Los Angeles Times, 6-20-79.

  The house in Newport Beach: MOMA, John Wayne, “Estate of John Wayne Sold for $3.48 Million,” New York Times, 3-14-80.

  Louis Johnson sold: Pattie, p. 78.

  “He’d look at it and say”: Mike Wayne to SE.

  “The thing that he required”: Mike Wayne to Leonard Maltin, Maltin archives.

  “Because of his films”: AMPAS, John Wayne, Steven Smith, “On the Trail of Wayne Mementos,” Los Angeles Times, 11-18-85.

  “He treated me square”: Dean Smith to SE.

  “The thing about Duke”: Bogdanovich, p. 297.

  “If he told you tomorrow’s Christmas”: Davis, p. 8.

  “He got up every morning”: Ibid., p. 14.

  “I think he was very aware”: Ibid., p. 158.

  “Westerns didn’t die”: Andrew Fenady to SE.

  “No one, for example”: Baldwin, p. 30.

 

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