The legendary actor who labelled John Wayne a “real bastard”
It is difficult to reconcile every legendary member of the cultural landscape with the social outlook of the 21st century. However, some stars were just as widely derided during their heyday as they are in the modern world. One man who certainly endured as much flack for his ultra-conservative and near-bullying tendencies during his lifetime as he has for his racist outbursts today is John Wayne.
Say what you will about John Wayne’s characteristics and political outlook, and there is more than good cause to do so, but there’s no denying the kind of cultural impact he made on Hollywood, particularly in the western movie genre. Wayne is one of the film industry’s all-time big names and worked throughout the silent era and into Hollywood’s Golden Age and beyond, providing a filmography that will make most actors quiver in fear.
Wayne’s first leading role arrived in 1930 with The Big Trail, and he announced himself as a major star some nine years later with John Ford’s Stagecoach. Elsewhere, the Iowa-born actor starred in acclaimed pictures, including Red River, The Searchers, True Grit, Rio Bravo and The Longest Day. It means that while his personality left a lot to be desired, his work on set was, at the very least, prolific.
However, being studious and driven also extended to Wayne’s extracurricular activities, which usually included him hunting out who he thought to be a communist and helping to drive them out of the movie industry. Wayne had his fair share of critical figures from within the movie world, and several went on record to express their distaste for his opinions and outlook. Few were as vociferous as Wayne’s fellow Hollywood icon, Katharine Hepburn, who once famously refused to work with the actor.
Wayne had been a supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), an organisation that fought against communism. But it was those political views that meant that Hepburn fell out with him, and she cited Wayne’s affiliation with HUAC when he approached her with a job offer.
Hepburn was offered a starring part in the 1953 western Hondo, and after she turned it down, Geraldine Page accepted the offer and was subsequently nominated for an Academy Award for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for her effort. Eventually, Hepburn changed her mind and decided to work with Wayne in 1975’s Rooster Cogburn. It is something often forgotten when dramatising the lives of our fabled stars that while we hope they pursue the making of movies, music or whatever art form their creativity may morph into, they do so with pure intentions. However, in reality, more often than not, it is money that drives the decision-making process.
However, even with that in mind, this decision raised more than a few eyebrows, with many industry heads knowing of Hepburn’s dislike for Wayne. Once production on the film was complete, in which Wayne played the titular character, and Hepburn played Miss Eula Goodnight, Hepburn noted how she really felt about her co-star.
Wayne had gotten into several feuds on the set of Rooster Cogburn with the crew and the director Stuart Millar, getting frustrated at one point and shouting at him, “God damn it, Stuart, there’s only so many times we can say these awful lines before they stop making any sense at all!”
When the film was complete, and the party for the cast and crew commenced, Hepburn approached Wayne and allegedly told him, “I’m glad I didn’t know you when you had two lungs; you must have been a real bastard. Losing a hip has mellowed me, but you!”
It took some 20 years for Hepburn to get a taste of what Wayne was really like as a person, and when she saw the truth through her own eyes, she didn’t stop herself from letting him know her true feelings. It was a commendable action and one which would be repeated for decades after Wayne’s death.
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