Credit: Warner Bros

The classic movie John Wayne refused to star in for being “too dirty”

Thu 6 November 2025 15:39, UK

Certain stars, especially as they get older, can become increasingly protective of their image, to the point where their entire decision-making process is driven by the persona and mythology they’ve built around themselves. John Wayne was in that category, which led to his turning down a stone-cold classic.

For decades, ‘The Duke’ had reigned supreme as the undisputed granite-hewn icon of the western genre, but he was becoming increasingly known for failing to move with the times. When Clint Eastwood emerged on the scene in Wayne’s preferred sandbox to tell darker, more violent stories, he was less than enthused.

Wayne had stood for a certain kind of moralistic rigour that made him a champion of conservatism. As well as being viciously right-wing and unapologetically patriotic, Wayne also had very sensitive sensibilities. He seemed to be offended by a lot of what was happening in the cinematic world, and, as time passed, would regularly find himself at odds with filmic fashions.

When cinema as a whole began taking more risks, pushing more boundaries, and telling more authentic stories, he absolutely hated it with every fibre of his being. For Wayne, cinema was always supposed to be what it was during his heyday, a quiet event to be enjoyed with pocorn by the entire family. It was a Sunday afternoon, not a sordid Saturday night. As cinema grew into a more realistic reflection of society, he couldn’t wrap his head around the prospect of it becoming something different from the medium that turned him into a household name and enduring legend.

Ironically, then, the film he ended up rejecting on account of his image made flatulent history by featuring the first-ever audible fart, so it’s easy to see why Wayne wasn’t entirely sold on the prospect of boarding Blazing Saddles. Mel Brooks’ timeless comedy thrives on the dynamic between Cleavon Little’s Sheriff Bart and Gene Wilder’s Waco Kid, but the latter was hardly the first choice for the part.

Ben Johnson, Slim Pickens, Dan Dailey, and even Johnny Carson were under consideration before Brooks ultimately settled on Academy Award-winning character actor Gig Young. In a cruel twist of fate, he collapsed on his very first day of shooting from what turned out to be alcohol withdrawal symptoms, understandably ruling him out of playing the trembling Waco Kid.

The most fascinating candidate by far was ‘The Duke’, who even went so far as to read the script after being offered the gig. As Brooks recalled, his reasons for saying no were simple and self-preservatory. “He read it, and he said, ‘I can’t do this. This is too dirty. I’m John Wayne,'” the filmmaker shared, although he did at least say he was going to be “the first one in line to see this movie” when it was released.

Speaking to Philadelphia Metro, Brooks conceded that because Blazing Saddles was “too blue” in Wayne’s estimation, he couldn’t star in something he knew “would disappoint his fans”. The riotous romp is fantastic as it is, thanks in huge part to Wilder’s tour-de-force turn as the Waco Kid, and his signature wild-eyed stylings are so integral to the film that it’s nigh-on impossible to imagine it with Wayne instead.

While Wayne would have brought a certain level of seriousness to the role, which may well have worked as a straight man act, Wilder is undoubtedly the star of the show and replacing him with the naturally wooden Wayne looks to have been a narrow victory.

It would have been a very different movie, sure, but it remains up for debate if it would have turned out any better or worse were ‘The Duke’ to try something he’d never tried before and dive headfirst into a gag-a-minute side-splitter.

Watch the trailer for Blazing Saddles below.