The real reason John Wayne never starred in a TV series: “I was so mad at the really lousy idea”
Up until the 21st century, cinema’s biggest stars wouldn’t be caught dead on a TV series at the height of their popularity. There were occasional exceptions, but when John Wayne ruled the roost, he wouldn’t even consider bringing his talents to the small screen.
On one hand, it’s easy to see why. For decades, ‘The Duke’ reigned as one of Hollywood’s most bankable names, and his mere presence was often enough to lure audiences toward their nearest theatre, and that inbuilt understanding of his own appeal was also why he refused to venture outside of his wheelhouse.
On the other hand, there’s no denying that Wayne’s popularity began to wane in the latter years of his career. He was trying desperately to cling to past glories, and his refusal to change in the face of the revolutions that swept through Hollywood in the 1960s and 1970s left him looking like a man out of time.
Several of his friends and former co-stars had been granted a new lease of life by pivoting from films to television, with James Stewart, Kirk Douglas, and Henry Fonda three heavyweights of Wayne’s generation who had no issues headlining a TV series, and high ratings let to an surge in renewed interest and popularity that saw them quickly end up back on the big screen with their name in lights.
He didn’t avoid TV for his entire career, but he was always a one-episode kinda guy. In fact, single instalments of Screen Directors Playhouse, Wagon Train, and Alcoa Premiere in 1955, 1960, and 1962 were his only outings on fictional TV shows, and all three of his guest spots just so happened to be directed by John Ford.
When a spinoff series from his 1972 feature, The Cowboys, was announced, an ambitious network executive reached out to see if he could be convinced to return as his character’s twin brother. Needless to say, ‘The Duke’ was indignant: “I said, ‘Have you thought about looking for a new line of work because you sure as hell don’t know anything about this business?’ I was so mad at the really lousy idea I’d just heard, I forgot to say, ‘I don’t do television.'”
Stewart revealed that he’d “told Duke he ought to consider” a tilt at TV, while Fonda shared that he’d informed Wayne that “it would be good for you now because you could become the biggest star on television.” Despite his fortunes and box office flagging on the silver screen, he still wasn’t interested.
“He laughed, but he didn’t want any part of it,” Fonda explained. “He thought he could go on making just movies and trying to stay on top. But those of our generation knew we were never going to beat the likes of Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood. But if Duke had done a TV series, everyone would have watched it.”
Fonda wasn’t wrong on any counts, but he was simply too proud even to give it a moment’s thought. He was convinced that by continuing to play John Wayne in John Wayne movies, he’d eventually be restored to his former position as Hollywood’s most popular movie star. It didn’t work, and TV could have even offered him the opportunities he wasn’t getting on film anymore, now that a new crop of leading men had emerged.
There’s also the more obvious elephant in the room: he hated the medium. Wayne once said that “there sure has never been any form of entertainment so available to the human race with so little effort since they invented marital sex.” Why did ‘The Duke’ never star in a TV series? Because of his ego, his misguided belief that the competition wouldn’t or couldn’t overthrow him, and his staunch refusal to let audiences see him in anything other than a feature film.
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