John Wayne exuded strength in just about every role he ever played. At a towering 1.94 metres, he certainly looked the part, and even as he got older and was beset with poor health, he kept himself in fighting form as much as possible.
Toward the end of his career, however, the Duke was far from the strapping cowboy who stood atop various desert mesas and whipped out his pistol faster than you could say “Yeehaw.” He was a prodigious smoker, puffing through about six packs a day, and in 1964, he was diagnosed with cancer. He had a lung removed, and although it slowed the progress of the disease, it left him in a significantly weakened state for the rest of his life.
Four months after the operation, Wayne dove back into work, even though he’d been ordered to rest for six months. The film was The Sons of Katie Elder. Directed by veteran filmmaker Henry Hathaway, it told the story of four brothers who return to their hometown for their mother’s funeral and to take back the family ranch. Wayne played John, a seasoned gunslinger, and though he wasn’t exactly healthy, his director put him through the wringer.
In one scene, John was supposed to get dragged into a river. Most of the cast and crew assumed that Duke’s stunt man Chuck Roberson would do the honours, including Roberson himself. But Hathaway wasn’t interested in catering to his star’s frailty. In Michael Munn’s biography, John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth, the director recounted his not-so-accommodating approach.
When the stuntman offered his services, Hathaway said, “What the hell for?” Roberson responded, “That water’s freezing. It’ll kill Duke.” Legend has it that Wayne himself was the one who convinced everyone that he could do the scene, either out of pride or out of a genuine enthusiasm for his work. But according to Hathaway, Duke agreed with his stuntman and told the director that he didn’t think he could do it. Hathaway shut him down.
“I said, ‘Duke, you gonna be a baby now? Afraid of a little cold water?’ I kind of shamed him into doing the scene, and people think I was cruel.” Yes. Yes, they did. By the director’s own admission, the scene was “hell” for the actor. He got soaked through with freezing water and was so cold by the end of it that they had to have oxygen waiting for him when he finally emerged. He was only four months out from a life-threatening disease and major surgery. He wasn’t supposed to be on set, let alone get dashed around in ice-cold water.
“I knew he was suffering,” Hathaway acknowledged. “And everyone hated me and thought I was the devil for making him do it. His wife hated me. The other actors hated me.” According to the director, however, Wayne was nothing but appreciative. Apparently, he turned to Hathaway and said, “I thought I was gonna die in that water, but I didn’t. Now I know I can do anything.”
Although his cancer went into remission, Duke suffered from debilitating health issues throughout the rest of his life and often put productions in jeopardy due to bouts of illness. He died in 1979, shortly after attending the Oscars while wearing a wetsuit under his tuxedo so that no one would notice how frail he’d become.