During that golden era of Hollywood where neo-noirs, screwball comedies, and westerns were commonly produced genres, certain figures stood out as icons of the period. They transcended their titles as actors and became symbols of a moment in cinema history that reflected the ever-changing times. One of actor who encapsulates this is John Wayne in his cowboy hat – an image that has come to define America.
Before he became an American icon, Wayne was a budding football player whose sports ambitions were cut short by an accident. Thus, he began working as a prop man, carrying around furniture and set pieces on film productions. During this time, he also appeared in many uncredited roles, often in films directed by John Ford. The pair would eventually collaborate more prolifically after Wayne’s career as a proper leading actor took off.
Wayne’s first leading role was in The Big Trail by Raoul Walsh, which proved to be a failure. The actor subsequently starred in smaller roles again until Ford decided to cast him in Stagecoach. This proved to be the key to his success, and he cemented himself as a promising talent. From here, Ford began hiring him regularly, becoming his most reliable collaborator.
With roles in movies like Fort Apache, Rio Grande, and The Searchers, Wayne became a western star. However, the actor once claimed that he was “all but broke”, suggesting that he wasn’t as rich as we might have thought. “Last year, I made over $500,000. Though I live conservatively in a three-bedroom house, and I don’t throw parties, I’m all but broke. Still, I don’t owe a dime in taxes!” he once explained via John Wayne: A Giant Shadow by Carolyn McGivern.
The actor ended up starting up his own production company, Wayne-Fellows Productions, later called Batjac Productions. He created the business with the aim of being more in control of the movies that he starred in, which aided the highly opinionated and difficult Wayne, who wanted to ensure that the movies he starred in aligned with his politics and ways of thinking. It also ensured that he could earn more money. Some of the films that Batjac produced included Blood Alley, Seven Men from Now, The Alamo (directed by Wayne), and Cast a Giant Shadow.
This wasn’t his first time producing – the actor had previously produced movies at Republic Pictures between the late 1940s and early 1950s. For Wayne, being able to produce his movies meant having to pay less tax, too.
It seemed as though Wayne wasn’t that good at looking after his money, though. When working on The Alamo, he poured around $1.5million of his own money (which would be around $9m today) into the movie. In the end, he mortgaged several properties so that he could make the film, nearly bankrupting himself.
That’s not all, though. Wayne was too trusting with his money and lost large chunks of cash due to incompetent management. After hiring Bo Roos to be his business manager, Roos somehow lost over $1m of Wayne’s money from bad investments. A similar thing then happened when Roos once again lost more of Wayne’s cash due to another poor investment. Evidently, Wayne wasn’t the most switched-on when it came to looking after his money.