In the annals of Hollywood superstardom, few actors have achieved the same level of fame or left such an indelible mark on American culture as John Wayne. This iconic hero of the silver screen is perhaps only comparable to some of the other greatest Western stars of all time, including names like Clint Eastwood, James Stewart and Gary Cooper. And back then, such heroes rarely, if ever, lost the upper hand.
John Wayne has been portrayed as a hero in almost every film he has made. In his unique career, he played the white-hatted hero who saves the day more often than not, so much so that it was incredibly rare for one of John Wayne’s characters not to survive to the end of a film, especially in westerns. However, there are several notable instances where his character does not make it to the end of the film.
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5 In “West of the Divide” Wayne dies and lives
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John Wayne is one of the most famous actors in the Western genre and films such as “El Dorado” and “The Searchers” have shaped his career in Hollywood.
1939s Stagecoach served as John Wayne’s breakthrough role, but he had been acting in Western films long before. In West of the watershed,Wayne plays a dual role. One is Ted Hayden, a man who is searching for his missing brother and at the same time wants to find out the truth about their father’s murderer. When he discovers that he bears a certain resemblance to the deceased wanted murderer Gat Ganns (also John Wayne), Ted uses this opportunity to assume the dead man’s identity and get to the bottom of the matter.
West of the watershed was a significant outlier in John Wayne’s filmography. Not only did it see Wayne play a villain for the rare time in his career (albeit briefly), but it also offered the cowboy star a unique opportunity to both die on screen and live to the end. As wanted hitman Gat Ganns, Wayne dies by drinking water from a poisoned watering hole, while his counterpart Ted Hayden survives the entire ordeal, which would soon become commonplace for John Wayne.
4 John Wayne’s sacrifice in “The Alamo” will never be forgotten
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As the main actor in the historical epic The AlamoGiven the film’s historical reference point, it should come as no surprise that John Wayne does not make it out alive. This film tells the infamous story of the last stand of the Texan forces, which included memorable names such as Sam Houston, William Travis, Jim Bowie, and of course folk legend Davy Crockett himself, all of whom fought fiercely to the end against the Mexican forces under General Santa Anna.
In his role as Davy Crockett, John Wayne stepped into the shoes of an absolute American legend. As such, he could not change the fate of the man in whom Crockett (and Wayne in the film) meets his end at the end of that bloody battle. Crockett fights to the end and is stabbed to death by a Mexican soldier with a lance. Nevertheless, with his dying breath, Crockett throws his torch into a cache of gunpowder and blows it up, sacrificing himself to eliminate the enemies that were coming at him. As historically inaccurate as this may be (Crockett’s body was found intact and unblown), it served its purpose by making Wayne’s sacrifice even more heroic.
The Alamo (1960)
In 1836, a small group of soldiers sacrifice their lives in a losing battle against a huge army to prevent a tyrant from destroying the new Republic of Texas.
- director
- John Wayne
- Release date
- October 27, 1960
- Pour
- John Wayne, Richard Widmark, Laurence Harvey, Frankie Avalon
- Authors
- James Edward Grant
- Duration
- 162 minutes
- Main genre
- adventure
3 The man who shot Liberty Valance turned John Wayne’s death on screen into one of the most famous westerns of all time
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In John Wayne’s extensive filmography, there is only one film in which the acting giant died a “natural death”. This film is the western classic The man who shot Liberty ValanceIn this cult film by John Ford, Wayne plays Tom Doniphon, a man whose funeral serves as the framework for the rest of the film.
The majority The man who shot Liberty Valance is devoted to a flashback showing Tom Doniphon’s relationship with Ransom Stoddard (played by James Stweart), and John Wayne notably does not die on screen. His dead body is not seen once, even when an older and wiser Ransom pays his respects next to Tom’s coffin. That being said, his death is central to the film’s plot, and since Wayne was unwilling to portray a dead man, there’s a good chance Liberty valance would not have achieved the incredible reputation it deserves as one of the best Westerns of all time.
The man who shot Liberty Valance
- director
- John Ford
- Release date
- 22 April 1962
- Pour
- James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O’Brien, Andy Devine, Ken Murray, John Carradine
- Authors
- James Warner Bellah, Willis Goldbeck, Dorothy M. Johnson
- Duration
- 123 minutes
2 The cowboys caused controversy because they were willing to kill the Duke
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Based on a novel by William Dale Jennings, The Cowboys John Wayne plays rancher William Andersen. Driven by desperation to teach a group of inexperienced schoolboys how to herd cattle, Andersen must teach these boys more than just cattle; he must also teach them how to be men. As they embark on their journey, the group is dogged at every turn by the villain Asa Watts, played by Bruce Dern, who attacks whenever the opportunity presents itself.
During the ensuing fight, Andersen does what he can to protect the boys, but is soon shot in the chest and stomach (not to mention the arm, leg, and shoulder) by Watts, who is unarmed. After their mentor’s death, the boys use the lessons he taught them to seek revenge on Watts before ending Andersen’s cattle drive. It’s clear from the number of shots it took to take Wayne down that he wanted to go out with a bang, and Dern later complained that angry fans still expressed their frustration with him years later for so ruthlessly taking out the man who was still one of the biggest movie stars in the world.
The Cowboys
In order to get his herd to market on time, rancher Wil Andersen has to hire inexperienced boys as cowboys. But the rough ride is full of dangers and a gang of cattle thieves is on their heels.
- director
- Mark Rydell
- Release date
- January 13, 1972
- Pour
- John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Bruce Dern, Colleen Dewhurst, Alfred Barker Jr., Nicolas Beauvy, Steve Benedict, Robert Carradine
- Authors
- William Dale Jennings, Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr.
- Duration
- 134 minutes
1 “The Shootist” ended John Wayne’s character, career and life in a poetic way
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John Wayne’s last film has a secret meaning that most fans have overlooked
John Wayne was a legend of the Western genre and his last film, “Sharpshooter,” is of great significance for cinema and the Western.
In many ways, The Shooter was the perfect end to John Wayne’s illustrious career. In this final film by the Duke, Wayne played famous gunslinger JB Books, who is dying of cancer, making him a target for all the gunslingers in the region, who want to make a name for themselves by taking him out before the disease does. While Books awaits his inevitable death, he becomes a father figure to a young boy, played by Ron Howard, who of course glorifies Books’ many achievements.
Survive until the end The Shooter In this story, JB Books takes out any challenger who wants to end his life prematurely. Or so he thinks. In a last-minute shock, Books is taken out by a bartender, who in turn is killed by the boy who Books was a mentor to. Afterward, the same boy rejects the idea of living his life as a gunslinger, for which the dying Books is extremely grateful. Since it plays on John Wayne’s legacy as a cowboy on the silver screen, The Shooter was a fitting end to John Wayne’s career, and the fact that his character died at the end seems entirely appropriate for a man who has so rarely allowed that to happen in the past. It made the moment feel all the more monumental when it happened, and it justified Wayne’s attitude toward dying on screen in his 200+ film appearances.
The Sniper (1976)
- director
- Don Siegel
- Release date
- July 21, 1976
- Pour
- John Wayne, Lauren Bacall, Ron Howard, James Stewart, Richard Boone
- Authors
- Glendon Swarthout, Miles Hood Swarthout, Scott Hale
- Duration
- 1 hour 40 minutes
- Production company
- Paramount Pictures, Dino De Laurentiis Company, Polyphony Digital
