The Death of John Wayne

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John Wayne

"Well, I licked the Big C."

John Wayne was an American, DAMMIT! RAHHHH! If you questioned that, he would probably hit you, because he was A MAN, DAMMIT! RAHHHH!!!! His real name, however, was Marion, got his nickname Duke from a dog, and knew how to work a pair of espadrilles and a handbag. Hot.

He also smoked 5 packs of cigarettes a day, which was probably only rivaled by Lucy. He had his left lung removed in 1964, because it had a cancerous tumor the size of a golf ball.

At the end of his life, John lived in Newport Beach, in a gated community. My buddy Steve Goldstein and I decided on a trek to visit Wayne’s old cancer pad, and were gruffly refused by a guard who was over 1000 years old, who told us, “not a chance.” In fact, those were the only words he used, when he pointed for us to back up and leave. He then stroked his erection and continued with his day. We turned around at this stoplight, where Mr. Wayne no doubt did several times. When his car would continue forward, I’m sure the butts in his overfilled ashtray came spilling out. His house was roughly around here. I understand from a good source that the original house is gone now anyway.

January 2006- Hooray! Findadeath.com HERO E.J. Fleming comes through again with a great shot he took of Wayne's house from the water. Thanks E.J.! E.J.'s book below is absolutely mind bogglingly cool. A bible of celebrity addresses.

On January 12 of 1979, he went into the hospital for gall bladder surgery, and it turned in to a 9 1/2 hour operation because they found cancer in his stomach, and doctors removed it. He was released, attended the Oscars on April 9 and returned to the hospital on May 2, where cancer was found in his intestines. According to one report, Wayne was in total agony at the end, and often refused pain killers because he wanted to be with his children and his grandchildren. He was taken to the 9th floor of the UCLA Medical Center where Jimmy Carter paid him a bedside visit, and the Queen sent him a get well card. According to his daughter, John Wayne had converted to Catholicism while on his death bed. He went into a coma on Sunday the 10th, and he died at 5:35pm on Monday, June 11th, 1979. He was 72 years old.

When his death was announced several hours later, Bob Hope commented, "We've lost a big one, a jumbo in this business." His family announced there would be a "private, religious, low-key service." Wayne's body was taken to the O'Connor Laguna Hills Mortuary and placed in a $20,000 bronze casket. At 4:25am on the 15th, his body was taken out these doors, loaded in the hearse, and taken to the Our Lady Queen of the Angels Catholic Church where a funeral mass was officiated by the Archbishop of Panama. After the mass, 20 cars proceeded to the cemetery, where he was buried in an unmarked grave, for over 20 years. However, now it is.

According to my buddy Gary at www.seeing-stars.com , “Its no surprise that John Wayne would be buried in Orange County, the most Republican district in America. The conservative residents of this community admired the Duke so much that they named their international airport after him. The airport is about four miles away from the cemetery where Wayne is buried.”

If any of you smoke, and are easily offended by ex smokers, you might skip the next part.
I was a smoker for 25 years. I stopped almost 2 years ago. It is funny now that I’ve stopped, how deluded I was. I actually thought that if I brushed my teeth and had a mint, no one would be able to tell I smoked.

I had no idea.

The other day I had two people on my tour, very nice people, so I mean them no harm, but these guys stank. Thing is, I wasn’t even near them when they were actually smoking, and they sat several seats behind me on the bus. Several hours later, I could still smell it on me. My point being, it really is unglamorous and unhealthy. Sure, there are a lot of other things that are bad for you too – but this, it really is anti social, it really is smelly. It also does horrible things to your skin as you get older.

I quit using the Allan Carr method. I paid a couple of bucks, sat in front of the computer and listened to an online lecture in 4 hours, and haven’t had one since. I’m not saying it’ll work for everyone, but it worked for me. It’s also a lot cheaper than those patches and other methods. Or you can just tell me to go to hell, and go here.

Trivia: Wanna see John Wayne in wax?

In September of 2004, the US Postal Service unveiled a stamp commemorating John Wayne, and had a manly ceremony in the forecourt of the Grauman’s Chinese Theater, where his footprints are located. The concrete for his footprints was made from sand brought in from Iwo Jima. This made it very patriotic. Wayne didn’t put his normal handprints in the concrete - he punched it. My theory is that he was self-conscious that possibly his hands were small, and felt the need to butch it up. You should see the look of horror I get when I tell tourists that he wore fishnets and a boa to the ceremony. At the stamp unveiling, they blew up a picture of Wayne's footprints for the event. What a lot of people don't know, is that the actual prints were back here. I just found that funny. It's ALL about the show.

There is a theory that Wayne contracted cancer while filming The Conqueror. My friend Mark is from that area, and provided me with my own memento of the film shoot. Thanks Mark! I'm sure some of you are wishing I would snort it right about now. : )

More: The bit of fuselage and control tower are apparently both were props from Howard Hughes' first epic Jet Pilot.

PS: No truth to the rumor that Wayne had 40 pounds of fecal matter in his intestines.

There is a John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California

Thanks to Steve, Warren, Harry and Kim

UPDATE February 2006, from Findadeath friend Jeff:

Hi Scott, I'm Jeff from Australia. Luv your site I tune in every now and then to check out updates, etc. just Reading up on the duke, when he was putting his 'Ray Milands' in concrete you said, "Wayne didn't put his handprints in the concrete, he actually punched it, my theory is that he was self conscious that possibly his hands were small, and felt the need to butch it up."

Well, a few years back I saw an interview (on TV), with director Peter Bogdanovich and he made the comment that on first meeting JW and shaking hands with him, "He had the biggest hands I'd ever seen & my own hand which is not small either completely disappeared inside his. " So I dunno. I look at his hands in his movies, but bit hard to tell.

Anyhow, cheers from Down Under, 2006.

Thanks, Jeff!

UPDATE April 2007, from Findadeath friend John: As to John Wayne, for all his machismo, it is ironic that he never served a day in the military. Wayne obtained 3-A status, "deferred for [family] dependency reasons,” which was later changed to 2-A classification, "deferred in support of [the] national . . . interest." The Selective Service revoked many previous deferments and reclassified Wayne 1-A but Wayne 's studio appealed and got his 2-A status reinstated until after the war ended. (you may check the details at http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_004.html).

During the filming of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Wayne ’s draft dodging became the brunt of jokes between Lee Marvin and Woody Strode, two ex-marines who served in WWII who also starred in the movie. Wayne took offense and attempted to pick a fight with Strode. Lee Marvin intervened, saving Wayne considerable embarrassment, since Strode, a star athlete at UCLA who went on to play pro football and to wrestle professionally, would no doubt have put the dukes to the Duke.