Few actors were afforded the same opportunities or freedom as John Wayne. Rising to prominence during the golden age of Hollywood, the Iowa-born actor became something of an all-American hero sought after for his roles in westerns and war films throughout the 1930s and beyond. However, it is worth remembering how vastly different the landscape of filmmaking was all those decades ago. For starters, Hollywood was dominated by macho men like Wayne, making it very difficult for women to break into the industry.
Particularly in recent years, with the advent of the MeToo movement and revelations about institutionalised oppression within Hollywood, the position of women in film is finally improving. While there is still a very long way to go to achieve gender equality within the industry, the situation is worlds apart from the boys’ club atmosphere of Hollywood when Wayne was at his peak in the mid-20th century.
Back in those days, few women were taken seriously as performers, particularly in comparison to leading men like Wayne. As such, they were often seen as disposable and were largely limited to playing love interests rather than having their own distinct storylines. Of course, this was not much of a problem for John Wayne, who once declared, “I’ve had many friends, and I prefer the company of men.” Nevertheless, a select few women found favour with the actor over the years.
In particular, the actor seemed to enjoy the company of Angie Dickinson, who secured a breakthrough role in the 1959 western Rio Bravo alongside Wayne. “We were damned lucky to have Angie Dickinson,” Wayne was quoted as saying in the biography John Wayne: The Man Behind The Myth. “She had beauty, sex appeal, and brains. And she was one of the best actresses I ever worked with.”
It is telling of his attitude towards women that Dickinson’s acting ability only came to mind after Wayne had already highlighted her “beauty” and “sex appeal”. Adding to this misogynistic narrative, the actor recalled being on set with her for Rio Bravo. “There was none of that ‘Don’t mess my hair or makeup,’ or ‘I’m late because I had to get my hair just right,’” he remembered. “She was there on time, she knew what was needed, and she did the job as good as any actress.”
Dickinson was not the only female actor who Wayne appreciated. On multiple occasions, he worked alongside Irish actor Maureen O’Hara, of whom he said, “She’s like the female equivalent of me. She could rough me up, and I could rough her up.” In turn, O’Hara seemed to enjoy working alongside Wayne, too. “From our very first scenes together,” she once shared, “working with John Wayne was comfortable for me.”
Although he loved O’Hara for her ability to “rough [him] up,” Wayne also had an appreciation for the more gentle performers. “I liked working with Gail Russell,” he shared, “because she had such a fragile quality which played in contrast to my characters.” In fact, when Wayne’s wife, Esperanza Baur, divorced him in 1953, she claimed that Wayne and Russell had engaged in an affair together, although both actors denied the claims.
Through it all, however, Dickinson seemed to be a particular favourite of Wayne’s. “With Angie you had someone who was not the female equivalent of me, nor was she fragile, but she was a real woman who could be tough and gentle and sexy, and she didn’t have to rough me up to get her way with me,” the actor shared, before adding in the slimy conclusion: “She was the kind of woman in Rio Bravo you just couldn’t resist.”
Wayne hardly has a spotless record when it comes to supporting women in the film industry, and his accounts of the women he worked with certainly reflect this side of his personality. His praise or criticism of female performers was invariably linked to their appearance, or how attracted to them, he was, with their acting ability or professionalism something of an afterthought. This chauvinistic standpoint was typical of Hollywood’s so-called golden age and still contributes to a lack of female filmmakers in the industry today.