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John Wayne: Cancer
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John Wayne died of stomach cancer on June 11, 1979 in Newport Beach, California, and was interred in the Pacific View Memorial Park cemetery in Corona del Mar, Orange County, California. Some trace his cancer back to his work in The Conqueror, filmed about 100 miles downwind of Nevada nuclear-weapons test sites. However, it should ... be noted that until 1964 Wayne was a chain smoker, which was more likely to have caused his cancer. Other actors who worked on that movie and later died of cancer were also heavy smokers, including Dick Powell, Agnes Moorehead and Susan Hayward.
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In his last film, John Wayne stars as an aging gunslinger who learns he has cancer. Refusing to die a slow and painful death, the Duke decides to use the little time he has left to even the score with some old enemies in the hopes he can go out in one final blaze of glory. Moving, and sadly prophetic, western drama ... stars Lauren Bacall, James Stewart, John Carradine, Ron Howard. 98 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital mono, French Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English; interviews; theatrical trailer.
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Wayne's real name was Marion Morrison. Sources differ concerning his middle name, with some saying it was Michael or Mitchell, while others claim it was Robert. The son of a pharmacist, he relied on a football scholarship in 1925 to enroll at the University of Southern California, although he almost made it into Annapolis. The actor wed three times, the first in 1933 to Josephine Saenz. They divorced in 1945, and the actor married Esperanza Bauer the following year, but after eight years, the marriage ended in divorce. In 1954, Wayne took his third bride, Pilar Palette, and their union lasted until his death from cancer in 1979.
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John Wayne's courage and heroism were not only apparent on the big screen, but in his personal life as well. He fought a long and valiant battle with cancer, but he took it square on the chin and lived life to the fullest.
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A short time later, Wayne filmed a public service message for the National Cancer Society. "Get a checkup," he challenged TV audiences. "Talk someone you like into getting a checkup. Nag someone you love into getting a checkup. And while you're at it, send a check to the American Cancer Society. It's great to be alive."
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The rhetoric still rings loud for many Americans, and Wayne certainly influenced how Presidents Reagan and Bush II addressed their constituency. It was Jimmy Carter who posthumously awarded him a Congressional Gold Medal: ”In an age of few heroes, he was the genuine article,” he claimed (presumably in reference to his long battle against cancer, since Wayne notoriously defeated the Axis from the comfort of the Hollywood Canteen). “He was more than a hero. He was a symbol of many of the qualities that made America great.”
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