John Wayne was one of the best paid actors in Hollywood for more than 30 years, appeared in more than 170 films and starred in 142, mostly westerns. His size (6 feet, 4 inches and 225 pounds) and tough demeanor helped cast him as a cowboy, lawman, soldier and athlete, but for most of his life he was overweight, out of shape and a heavy smoker and drinker. In many of his movies he was visibly out of breath when he had to exert himself.
Evolution of a Famous Name
He was born Marion Robert Morrison in 1907. As a child, he went everywhere with his very large Airedale Terrier, Duke. One day a fireman at the local firehouse called him “Little Duke” after his dog’s name. He hated the name Marion and decided to ask everyone to call him Duke.
When he started in the movies, “Marion”, did not fit the big tough image he wanted to play. His manager met with the director of Fox Studio and recommended that he be called “Anthony Wayne”, after Revolutionary War hero, General Mad Anthony Wayne. The director thought Anthony sounded “too Italian”. Later that day, Marion found out that his new name was John Wayne.
Football Star to Movie Star
He was brought up in the Los Angeles area and his large size helped him to become a very good football player for the 1924 champion Glendale High School team. He wanted to go to the U.S. Naval Academy but was not accepted. The University of Southern California offered him a football scholarship and he played for coach Howard Jones. He broke his collar bone while surfing and was ashamed to tell his coach how he did it. He lost his scholarship and had to leave school.
In 1926, along with other members of the University of Southern California football team, he had put on a Harvard jersey to play in the football scenes for the film, “Brown of Harvard”. When he left USC, he decided to hang around movie studios. He went from bit parts to eventually stardom in eighty westerns from 1930 to 1939.
Draft Dodger?
He claimed that his not serving in the military in world War II was the most painful experience of his life, but his history shows otherwise. He was exempted from the first draft of World War II because he was too old at 34. Later he reclassified 1-A (draftable). He claims that he wanted to enlist, but kept putting it off to “finish one more movie”.
His employer, Republic Studios, requested that he be permanently deferred from military service. Many Hollywood stars, such as Henry Fonda, Jimmy Stewart, and Clark Gable, enlisted. Fonda was 37 at the time and had a wife and three children. John Wayne did contribute to the war effort by touring American bases in the South Pacific for three months in 1943 and 1944. He continued to entertain troops during the Korean and Vietnam wars.
Vocal in Politics
He was a conservative Republican, an ardent anti-communist and supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committee. In 1952 he was a member of the anti-communist John Birch Society and made the movie “Big Jim McLain” to show how much he hated communism. He supported Richard M. Nixon, Barry Goldwater, Spiro T. Agnew, Ronald Reagan and others who shared his views against communism. In 1968, he supported the Vietnam War by producing, co-directing, and starring in the critically panned “The Green Berets”. In a May 1971 interview in Playboy magazine, he was quoted as saying:
* “I believe in white supremacy”
* “I don’t think a fella should be able to sit on his backside and receive welfare”.
* “I don’t feel we did wrong in taking this great country away from them (Native Americans). There were great numbers of people who needed new land, and the Indians were selfishly trying to keep it for themselves.”
Marriage and More
He could speak fluent Spanish and married hispanic women three times. With Josephine Alicia Saenz, he had four children. They divorced after 12 years of marriage. He then married Esperanza Baur, a Mexican actress who tried to kill him. He came home early one morning from a party celebrating the finish of the movie, “Angel and the Badman”. Esperanza was convinced that her husband and his co-star, Gail Russell, were having an affair and she tried to shoot him as he walked into the house. Both he and Russell claimed that they never had an affair. His third wife was Pilar Pallete; they had three children and separated in 1973, after 19 years of marriage.
He had lots of affairs, including a three-year escapade with Marlene Dietrich. After he left his third wife he lived with his former secretary, Pat Stacy, until he died in 1979.
A Lifetime of Cancer Risk Factors
* Wayne was a chain smoker and continued smoking until he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1964. Tobacco causes cancer all over the body, not just the lungs. He appeared in many magazine ads and TV commercials for Camel cigarettes, claiming “Mild and good tasting pack after pack. And I know, I’ve been smokin’ ‘em for twenty years.” By the mid-1950s, Wayne reportedly was a five-to-six pack-a-day smoker of nonfiltered Camels.
* He was a heavy drinker. Directors often tried to shoot scenes before noon because in the afternoon he would become mean from being drunk. Just one drink a day has been associated with increased cancer risk.
* He was morbidly obese and did not exercise. He ate a lot of red meat and fried foods. How could his fans not see how out-of-shape and sick he was?
* In 1956, he was one of 220 cast members and crew who made the film “The Conqueror” in Utah, near where nuclear weapons had been tested in southeastern Nevada. Ninety-one of the cast and crew (41 percent), including Susan Hayward and Agnes Moorehead, were eventually diagnosed with various types of cancer.
In 1964, he underwent successful surgery to remove his entire left lung and four ribs. In spite of the information about exposure to radioactive fallout, he always maintained that his heavy smoking was what had caused his lung cancer. After years of promoting cigarettes, he became an active spokesperson for cancer prevention and early diagnosis. He originated the term “The Big C” and spoke openly about his disease and treatment.
After his lung surgery he could not exercise because he would become severely short of breath with any increase in activity. He even had to use an oxygen tank to make himself more comfortable. In spite of this, he quickly resumed chewing tobacco and smoking cigars. Tobacco in all forms is a potent carcinogen.
In April, 1977 he was hospitalized for heart valve surgery and in January 1979, he had a stomach cancer removed. In June 1979, he died of widespread cancer at UCLA Medical Center. He was 72.
Dr. Gabe Mirkin is a Villager. Learn more at www.drmirkin.com
